Green Living: Setting standards

What started out as a way of increasing efficiency and ensuring excellence becomes an expensive waste of time.

The event industry is no stranger to rules and regulations and we've had plenty of consultation over health and safety, risk management and the like. Now it is the turn of sustainability to come under the watchful eye of the auditors.

A few years ago, we were involved in the development of BS8901, a management system for sustainable events. This is an unashamedly Olympics driven project, with the prospect of the greenest games ever driving the creation of a standard which should help the whole industry become more sustainable.

Now, the British Standard has begun the long journey towards becoming an ISO standard, ISO20121 to be precise. A nice nod to the Olympics.

I'm attending a meeting tomorrow of the UK committee which will collate feedback from the industry and shape the standard into a document that is practical as well as effective.

There is an element of global politics here, as countries vie to prove their systems are the ones that everyone else should adopt.

The final product should be ready in two years' time, ready to be unveiled as London hosts the games.

The drawback to standards is that they are often easy to comply with the letter of the law, while ignoring their spirit. We hope that regardless of kitemarks or rubber stamps more events focus on how to make their outcomes more sustainable in the future.

- Do you or your company have an environmentally friendly product or service you'd like featured in this column? Let us know by contacting Seventeen, a sustainable alternative for your event management needs, at andrew@seventeenevents.co.uk.