Greening ELT 4 : Reducing the environmental impact of the ELT Freelancers Awayday

We are mindful of the environmental impact of the Awayday and strive to keep it to a minumum. We have referred to the document Sustainability guidelines for event organisers, which can be found on the ELT Footprint website (check out the Templates or Work in Progress tabs).

• All of our communication is electronic and we do not print any marketing materials.
• Ticketing is electronic and no printing or postage is necessary.
• In place of conference lanyards, we use simple badges which we print ourselves. We ask delegates to return their badges at the end of the day and we re-use them at the next event.
• Pens and paper pads are not automatically issued to all delegates. A smaller quanitity is available on a ‘help-yourself’ basis if anyone needs them.
• We don’t have any kind of ‘goody bag’, but instead aim to keep the ticket price as low as possible. We also offer discounts on useful services and products each year.
• This year we are for the first time hosting a ‘bring and swap’ table, where people can exchange and re-use unwanted items such as ELT reference books or smaller pieces of office equipment such as computer mice, webcams, keyboards, wrist rests, USB memory sticks, etc. After the event, any surplus items will be donated to charity or recycled.
• We discourage the use of hard-copy hand outs and instead we circulate electronic documentation after the event, if needed.
• All food and drink offered during the conference is served using re-usable crockery and cutlery.
• The venue is easily accessible by public transport (approximately 1 mile from Oxford train station; on a main bus route)
• We enable and encourage lift-sharing to and from the conference by putting people who live near each other in contact with each other.

To find out more about the ELT Freelancers, you can visit their Facebook page.