The simple blueprint to build into your event planning - and keep your materials out of landfill. 

STEP 1. Start Thinking Circular About Your Materials 

Signs. Banners. Lanyards. Event textiles. These are already line items in your event budget. The missing piece is simply what happens to them when the event ends - and whether a plan, a budget or both need to be put in place now. 

Making that decision before the event starts can be the difference between keeping materials in motion and having the venue waste stream become the default. It also gives you an opportunity to bring your client a sustainability solution while there is still time to act on it. 

Add Circular Event Materials to your planning sheet and start the conversation early. Explore what can be reused, shared, upcycled or put toward community impact. Present the options and costs, and have the plan approved well before anyone arrives on site. 

And don't make it overwhelming. Start with one material. Pick the signs, banners, lanyards or event textiles with your client and build a plan for that one item. If your client wants to do more, great. But trying to tackle everything at once can make it harder to get started. 

You don't have to do everything. Just do one thing. 

STEP 2. Bring the Event Material Possibilities to Life 

Once you've talked to your client about keeping event materials out of landfill, it's time to show them what is possible. 

Reuse is always a great option if your event doesn't warrant the extra spend - especially when your client has office or warehouse space to store materials for a future event. But reuse isn't the only option. Event materials can be shared with another organization, upcycled into new products, transformed into employee or attendee experiences, or used to create meaningful community impact. 

Rigid signs can become educational clipboards for a youth program. A fabric banner can become travel bags for keynote speaker thank-yous. Conference lanyards can become artwork through a hands-on employee or youth experience. 

The possibilities can be as practical, creative or impactful as your client wants them to be - whether you have a few signs or 10,000 lanyards. 

STEP 3. Make the Connection 

You've had the conversation. Your client has chosen what they would like to do. Now you need a way to make it happen. 

That's why MB Designs Inc. created Event Material Network (EMN) - a Canada-wide network built to help planners and organizations keep single-use and retired event materials in motion. 

Plan a pathway before your event. Upcycle materials you already have. Find materials instead of producing something new. Or share materials you no longer need. EMN connects you to practical options in one place. And when your materials are transformed into new products, they're made right here in Canada. 

When those materials become products to keep or donate, employee or attendee experiences, youth initiatives or community impact, something else happens. 

We call it the Ripple Effect. 

EMN documents that story through a Community Impact Report - featuring both you, the planner, and your client at the centre of the impact you created together. 

You brought the idea forward. Your client supported it. Together, you put the circular pathway in motion. Both organizations are recognized in the final impact story, along with the materials transformed, employee participation and community or youth impact you helped create. 

The report becomes shared post-event content that you and your client can use across your own marketing and communications. 

And for you as the planner, it creates another reason to get back in front of your client with something pretty great to say: 

Look what we created together. 

Have event materials? Start here. 

Tell us what you have and let's explore the possibilities. 

Event Material Network 
Connecting Canada's event materials. 
Powered by MB Designs Inc.