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Green Event Guide
Green Event Guide

Tap the image above to learn how to green your event.

Any event can be a green event! Green event practices help hosts implement green options for any type of event. Greening your event makes it a more unique, memorable, efficient, and eco-friendly experience.


Minimize Waste
  • Visit your event location to see if there are recycling bins available. If there aren’t recycling bins, contact the Facilities Service Center at 644-2424 to request additional bins. If your event is in the Union, contact Guest Services at 644-6860 to request additional bins.
  • Clearly group together and label trash and recycling cans to limit confusion.
  • Utilize digital communication such as e-mail blasts, listservs, websites, and social media to publicize your event. Use Qualtrics, Google docs, and e-vites to manage registrations.
  • Say NO to bottled water by hosting a BYO event. Provide reusable water bottles or encourage participants to bring their own bottles or mugs.
  • Serve beverages in coolers or large pitchers instead of single use bottles.
  • Ensure that condiments, sauces, spreads, chips, and other items are served in bulk to avoid unnecessary waste from individual packaging.
  • Choose food platters over individually-packaged boxed meals. Food platters create significantly less waste!
  • Ask catering to provide to-go containers and encourage participants to take leftovers with them. Or coordinate with FSU’s Food Recovery Network to donate leftover food by e-mailing sustainablecampus@fsu.edu.
  • Think about your swag. Provide useful or eco-friendly products as promotional products or giveaways.
  • Decorate with plants or reusable items.

Utilize Low Impact Products
  • For recurring or annual events, avoid printing dates on signs, posters, and banners so that they may be easily reused year-to-year.
  • Clearly group together and label trash and recycling cans to limit confusion.
  • Purchase items that can be reused for other events such as A-frame chalkboards, generic decorations, or non-perishable snacks.
  • If your event requires print materials try printing on the back side of spare/scrap paper or try purchasing recycled content paper.
  • Eliminate the use of Styrofoam products by looking into replacements such as reusable cups and plates or those made from recycled paper products.
  • If your event requires disposable items, paper is a better ecological choice than plastic.
  • Try to go meat free! Talk with your food service provider about offering vegetarian options, which can also be cheaper!

Encourage Sustainable Transportation
  • Ensure the venue you’re using is accessible by foot, skateboard, scooter, bicycle, campus bus, or public transit.
  • If you are hosting an on campus event, choose a convenient location and encourage participants to walk or to choose sustainable transportation by informing them about options like carpooling or public transportation. Visit https://starmetro.transloc.com/ to find which bus route connects to your location.
  • Provide a map of your event location and share information about nearby bicycle racks.

Share Information & Success

Be sure to tag us on social media when sharing your sustainable event successes @fsusustainable so we can see and share your hard work!

  • Before the event, inform attendees about the green event goals and ask participants to help meet those goals.
  • The day of the event, use signage and labeling as well as verbal announcements and social media to highlight the sustainability features of your event. Examples include:
    • The event location was chosen for its accessibility by sustainable modes of transportation.
    • Why no Styrofoam? Styrofoam is commonly provided for single-use containers, but once at the landfill, it never decomposes!
    • Where is the leftover food going? The FSU’s Food Recovery Network, a student organization, organizes pick-ups around campus and donates unused food to local hunger and poverty-fighting organizations!
    • Why a vegetarian option? Meatless meals are less energy intensive to produce!
  • After the event, share the sustainability successes you had during your event via social media and publicly congratulate those who took action. Examples:
    • Our event donated 50 pounds of uneaten food to the local community!
    • Our guest speaker received a potted plant to show our gratitude!
    • Our event reduced paper waste by printing double-sided!
    • 70% of our guests arrived by sustainable forms of transportation!
    • We said NO to bottled water during our event!