Let’s Go Green Together!
Our environment is in dire shape, and we seem to be running out of everything, while trash and pollution seem to never stop increasing.
At ESPID we believe that everyone plays an important part in keeping the environment clean and safe. And even the small steps matter! Therefore, we have taken some actions to make the Meeting more sustainable.
Background:
From newspapers and magazines to paper wrappings and fillings, paper is everywhere and most of it is ending up in our landfills creating a staggering amount of paper waste. Producing paper not only takes a lot of energy but it also involves cutting down excessive amounts of trees. As we all know, deforestation is one of the main environmental problems we’re facing nowadays.
Our response:
Replacing the printed programme with the mobile app will not only reduce printing waste, but the mobile app also provides improved functionality, more information and faster navigation through the Meeting.
Background:
Between 33-50% of all food produced globally is never eaten, which not only results in economic losses but also causes environmental damages. All the resources that went into creating the uneaten food are wasted (land, water, labour, energy, manufacturing, packaging, etc). Moreover, when food waste goes to landfill, it decomposes without access to oxygen and creates methane.*
Our response:
The option to choose whether you want to have lunch included in your ESPID ticket not only lets you save on registration, but it also allows us to prepare adequate food quantities ahead of the Meeting and reduce waste during lunch.
Background:
As of 2018, about 380 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide each year.* However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation. Plastic pollution can afflict land, waterways and oceans. Living organisms can be harmed either by mechanical effects, such as entanglement in plastic objects, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that interfere with their physiology.
Our response:
We will provide recyclable cutlery for ESPID 2019, which is not only more convenient and pleasant to use, but will also help us do our bit in reducing plastic pollution.
Background:
Drinks bottles are one the most common types of plastic waste. Some 480bn plastic bottles were sold globally in 2016 – that’s a million bottles per minute! The estimations are that this number will jump another 20% by 2021, far outstripping recycling efforts and jeopardising oceans, coastlines and other environments.
Our Response:
This year we will hand out a reusable water bottle for those who purchased lunch with their registration, thus encouraging everyone to refill their bottle, instead of drinking out of plastic ones.
Background:
Using plastic cups not only creates extra plastic waste but it could also have negative effects on your health. When drinking hot tea or coffee, heat from the drink is transferred to the plastic cup, accelerating leaching out of additives from the plastic into the hot drinks or food. Some of these additives can be harmful and may cause hormonal disruption and other negative consequences in the human body.
Our response:
At ESPID 2019, we will offer a hot drinks cup onsite, thus encouraging participants to use this cup for their hot drinks not only onsite but also in their daily lives, when on-the-go. The collected money will go to a local children’s charity, The Foundation for New Children’s Hospital in Ljubljana. To learn about the charity, please click here.
