RFP Best Practices
How to Evaluate Venue Sustainability: Expert Tips for Event Planners
Melanie Zeidlhack
Mar 18, 2025
If you’ve felt like you’ve struggled to balance good intentions and sustainability with other critical event requirements, you are not alone.
Enter Romina Kwong, an event planner with an environmental studies degree and over 12 years of hospitality experience. She’s built her consultancy around bridging the gap between environmental sustainability and the practical demands of event execution.
Sitting down with Kwong, she shared her advice and practical approach to navigating sustainability in events, specifically at hotels, to help planners make more sustainable choices without sacrificing event quality or breaking budgets.
Where to Start with Sustainable Event Planning
Kwong starts initially by saying, “Go back to the basics of reduce, reuse, recycle.” The key to success is following the waste management hierarchy.
Here’s how Kwong applies reducing, reusing, and recycling to sourcing and working with hotels:
Reduce First
“The first thing I look at is location,” says Kwong. She recommends evaluating a venue’s accessibility and impact on overall event transportation needs. “Do you understand where most of your attendees are coming from? Are they on the East Coast or the West Coast? Pick a city closest to most of them,” she advises. Additionally, look for venues “accessible by multiple modes of transportation, so you don’t have to drive there, you don’t have to take an Uber — you can take public transit, train, walk or bike.”
Reuse What’s Available
Next, Kwong points out an often-overlooked sustainability advantage of hotels: existing infrastructure. “Hotels have a lot of equipment or built-in AV that’s already on site, so you’re already reducing the transportation of items to and from the event venue itself,” she explains. This built-in benefit means “you’re not trucking thousands of chairs” or other equipment, reducing both costs and carbon footprint.
Recycle and Manage Waste
Planners should focus on recycling and waste management only after maximizing reduction and reuse. “Understand what can be tossed out in what bin and know that it’s different at every venue and city,” Kwong notes. She recommends speaking to the venue to find out who their waste management provider is and get the information from them directly.
Evaluating Venue Sustainability
When asked about finding venues that will support sustainability goals, Kwong outlines a systematic approach that any planner can follow:
Start with Location Strategy
“Look on Google Maps or a map to see where the hotel is in the city. Is it close to the airport? Is it far from the airport?” suggests Kwong. This broader view helps planners understand how the venue’s location will impact the event’s overall carbon footprint through transportation needs.
Research Digital Presence
“The second thing I look at is the property’s website,” Kwong explains. “Do they have a dedicated sustainability page? Do they address anything environmental related at all?” This initial research can quickly indicate whether sustainability is a priority for the venue and can suggest a like-minded partner.
Ask the Right Questions During the RFP process
Kwong recommends focusing on several key areas:
- Waste Management Policies: “Understanding what is and isn’t allowed on site” helps planners plan for proper waste sorting and disposal.
- Food Recovery Programs: Look for venues with established partnerships with food recovery organizations that can repurpose excess food.
- Default to Reusables: “Prioritizing the reusables on site. Do they offer that first versus single-use cups or single-use water bottles?”
- Building and Energy Efficiencies: Check if the property has implemented energy-saving features such as low-flush toilets, LED lighting, and movement sensors for lighting control.
Turning Sustainability Goals into Action
Once you’ve selected a venue, Kwong emphasizes that success lies in clear communication and proactive planning.
Communication is Key
“Sometimes you talk to the sales rep or your event manager at the hotel, and it doesn’t always get passed down to the people managing the event on-site that day,” Kwong notes. Her solution? Reiterate sustainability requests and reconfirm arrangements with on-site teams.
Simple Changes, Big Impact
Kwong shares a powerful example of an easy win: “We showed up at the hotel, and there were a lot of single-use cups and reusable cups at the coffee and tea stations. I said, ‘Hey, can we eliminate all the single-use items?'” The result? People used reusable mugs, and it didn’t cost any more money.
Measuring Success
When it comes to tracking sustainability efforts, Kwong recommends starting with waste management metrics: “The easiest one to tackle first is waste management, so the weight of everything — how much after your event went to landfill, how much went to recycling, and how much went to compost.”
Don’t forget about travel impact too. Track attendee travel emissions by collecting postal/zip codes or cities during registration, then use a tool like Purpose Net Zero to calculate the carbon footprint. Since transportation often accounts for the largest chunk of your event’s environmental impact, having this data gives you a more complete picture of your sustainability efforts.
Looking Ahead: Making Progress, Not Perfection
The Future of Sustainable Events
Kwong emphasizes that the events industry is at a turning point, similar to how food and beverage have evolved. “7 to 8 years ago, there were not a ton of options when it came to vegan or vegetarian options on a menu. And I think the more people demanded it, the more the industry had to shift and change,” she explains. “It’s the same thing here. The more planners ask for it, the more venues and everybody in the industry has to change and evolve.”
Key Takeaways for Planners:
- Start Small and Build: “You don’t have to do everything,” Kwong emphasizes. Pick one or two things this year and add to them once you’re successful the following year.”
- Focus on Communication: Include sustainability requirements in your RFPs and ensure they’re communicated to all levels of venue staff, from sales to on-site operations.
- Look for Low-Hanging Fruit: Focus on changes that don’t increase costs first, like eliminating single-use items in favor of reusables already available at the hotel.
- Track and Measure: Start with basic metrics like waste management, then expand to more comprehensive measurements as your program grows.
Kwong says, “Everyone wants to do their part, but they don’t necessarily know how to.” The key is taking that first step, no matter how small, and building on each success.
