Organizing an eco-responsible event comes with many challenges. In Tunisia, as elsewhere in the world, we are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues. Organizations are also invited to consider the environmental impact of their events (workshops, bootcamps, training sessions, etc.) and think about reducing their carbon footprint. We at Future Islands do our best to organize successful bootcamps while respecting the environment and nature. We believe that every experience is a lesson to be learned. That’s why we’d like to share with you our experience of running two bootcamps as part of the Prototyping for Green Solutions incubation program. To successfully organize a three-day Bootcamp, we had a few key factors to guide us in planning the event.
FIRST: Choosing an eco-responsible location
Choosing an eco-friendly venue that truly respects the environment and has implemented a whole ecological system is proving to be a challenge. The “ecological” and “eco-responsible” labels are increasingly used for marketing purposes. Dar Zaghouan presents Tunisia’s first ecological farm and a self-catering cottage. With its various ecological services and practices, it sets itself apart from other places. Dar Zaghouan has provided us with everything we need to reduce our use of plastic to 100%, optimize our consumption and optimize waste management thanks to personalized containers. To introduce our young entrepreneurs to best practices, we’ve put in place a few simple and effective self-organization rules. In terms of water consumption, we used tap water in glass bottles (the water in Zaghouan is potable). As for food, we decided to limit our consumption of sweets and opt instead for seasonal fruit. At mealtimes, participants and organizers were asked to clear the tables themselves, reduce the amount of food and ask for more when they wanted it. The venue itself is very well maintained, with antique decor and spaces designed using ecological and recycled materials. For our training sessions, we chose a fully-equipped, eco-friendly wooden room with a capacity ranging from 50 to 150 guests. The room allowed us to respect sanitary measures and maintain a safe distance. It’s a place of peace and tranquility, and a great opportunity to strengthen human relations during Bootcamps. Future Islands chose this venue to provide its participants with the opportunity to be close to nature while focusing on the development of their green projects.
We collaborated with Colibris throughout our training sessions, which took place in Dar Zaghouan and SafSaf, La Marsa. Our common goal was to have a collective selection of waste, avoiding its destruction by incineration or landfill for better management and recycling.
SECOND: Better waste management thanks to Colibris
In its work policy and organization of its bootcamps, Future Islands resorts to limiting the use of plastic to minimize damage to the planet. To eliminate all use of plastic (plastic bottles used outside training, packaging, etc.), Future Islands called on Colibris, the first Tunisian startup specializing in door-to-door collection of recyclable waste from households and SMEs.
THIRD: Our marketing materials
To advertise Future Islands during past holidays,
Commonly, during events, organizations use a Roll-up consisting of an aluminum structure, a printed tarpaulin and a case for rolling up the printed visual. To stay true to our values, we opted for MDF, an ecological, durable and above all recyclable material.
Our creative team has designed a model that goes hand in hand with the “Prototyping for Green Solutions” support program. This device comes in the form of a tree where we’ve displayed our logo, the logos of partners and participants, our contacts and so on.
This device enabled us to do away with polluting materials, while retaining the usefulness of such a support, which can be used on other occasions.
We went round the agencies to find one that suited our budget, deadlines and needs. “Media Pub”, an advertising and multimedia agency, helped us build our tree using MDF.
