We asked ourselves what the environmental impact of a fair is for? And how can we do our part to be more sustainable and consistent with our way of doing business?
From 22 to 26 October, hall 10, at stand M01-07 of the Sicilian Region, Boniviri took part in TUTTO FOOD in Milan. One of the most important international fairs for the world of food. It is a great emotion, and it is also an opportunity to present Boniviri at an international level. ’ the environmental impact of a fair? And how can we do our part to be more sustainable and consistent with our way of doing business?
We did some research and Chiara Civardi's article, “Making industrial exhibitions green” (1), sheds light on the impact of the exhibition sector and the less sustainable practices
related to tradeshows. To give an idea of the scale of these events, as mentioned in the study, pre-covid, in 2018 the number of trade fairs organized in Europe exceeded 2,670, bringing together over 735,500 exhibitors and 75.4 million visitors. Despite their importance, conventional industrial events have substantial environmental impacts. Indeed, these gatherings require energy and resources, and in addition they are responsible for emissions in all environmental compartments: air, water and soil”.
Suffice it to say that a 3-day conference with 800 participants has an estimated carbon footprint of 455 tons of CO2 equivalent, corresponding to an average of 0.57 tons of CO2 per participant - see Neugebauer's study (2). The main contributors to these emissions are travel activities, about 80% of this emission impact.
For its travels, the Boniviri team generated an emission impact of about 1 ton of CO2 eq.
For this fair, the Boniviri team (made up of 5 people), considering the travel by plane, car, motorcycle and metro, generated an emission impact of about 1 ton of CO2 eq. This impact will be included in our 2021 Impact Report and will be compensated for.
In addition to the issue of emissions, material waste is central to the analysis of the environmental impact of a trade fair event. Just look around, to see how many components of the stands prepared by the companies are destined not to be reused. Given the nature of Boniviri as a benefit company and the social and environmental objectives that distinguish our startup, already from the stand, we wanted to give a strong, clear and direct message of the commitments made. We have thus imagined a stand where all the components used could find a second life, where material waste is reduced to a minimum and where the origin of the materials is considered with a view to sustainability.
- At the center of the stand we placed three trees donated by our partner Rete Clima: those used for reforestation projects of the non-profit. The bottles of our 750 ml extra virgin olive oil, the first carbon neutral Italian organic oil, cling to their roots.The eco-pallets that
- support them are unique. Healthy, systemic and ethical. The wood with which they are made comes from the PEFC supply chain, which certifies the entire wood supply chain, from production to processing. They are the work of PALM SB Ecosustainable Pallet and Packaging in Wood, the first company to have B Corp certification in Italy in the world of pallets, arrived at
- the fair thanks to the tenacity of Primo Barzoni and Matteo Consolini.All paper communication is made of crush Favini paper ,
- made from agri-food waste from #olives and with a carbon footprint reduced by 20%. Boniviri displays and panels are all made of cardboard and eco-sustainable materials.
'Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away' (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
We can call it an ecostand, small, but that has a great desire to tell and be told. After 4 days of the fair, we can say that it aroused great curiosity on the part of visitors, other exhibitors
and organizers. We have found that it is often rewarding to remove rather than add. We hope that our small test can be replicated and allow other companies in our and other sectors to rethink the way they communicate and present themselves at trade fairs: looking at sustainability first of all as an ethical driver, to which one cannot anymore ù giving up, but also as a competitive lever, which can help stand out from those who do business in the old way ”.
1 Chiara Civardi, “Making industrial exhibitions
green”, https: / / www.v -ex.com / wp-content / uploads / 2020 / 06 /Sustainability-Report_Whitepaper.pdf
2 Neugebauer, S., Bolz, M., Mankaa, R., & Traverso, M. (2020). How sustainable are sustainability conferences? – Comprehensive life cycle assessment of an international conference series in Europe. Journal of cleaner production, 242, 118516
