How to organise a Green Eco Sustainability Fair

Organising a Green eco or sustainability Fair is a great way to introduce, encourage and support people in your local community with ideas and tips on reducing their carbon footprint and waste. It's also an opportunity to showcase local producers and retailers and highlight local sustainability initiatives.

Many people understand they need to make changes to their lifestyles but often don’t know where to start or what will have the biggest impact. A Green Fair aims to answer some of their questions and leave them feeling equipped to take action.

This particular model is designed as a relaxed drop-in event. You can choose from a variety of topics and also tailor the event to your local community. A useful list of topics can be found in this accompanying guide. The guide is also helpful to direct people to for further information after the event and contains lots of links to useful resources.

What is a Green, Eco or Sustainability Fair?

The setup is very simple. All that's needed is a hall and some display tables. Volunteers look after different information stands, and people are encouraged to browse, look at ideas, chat and ask questions. A good time slot is around two hours. The volunteers for the information stands should be people who know a reasonable amount about the subject but they do not need to be experts! There is lots of information on all the topics in this Green Fair Guide.

Green Fair Topic Suggestions

Below is a list of broad topics that are easily manageable for people starting out. You might also want to consider the type of community you live in. The needs and concerns of a rural or seaside community for example will be different from those in an inner city.

Eating Sustainably and reducing Food Waste
Eco Cleaning and Household swaps
Eco Personal Hygiene
Clothing and the Impact of Fast Fashion
Green Energy, heating and insulation, energy-efficient appliances
Recycling and Repurposing
Reducing Plastic Waste
Composting and an Eco-Friendly Garden
How to use your car less

You may wish to ask your local council to help with the stand on recycling. This event is an excellent opportunity for them to meet with local residents and hear their questions. Local councilors and MPs are also good people to invite along as it can help them understand how important these issues are to local people.

Other local organisations you could invite

Letting people know about local initiatives they can get involved in can help build engagement in your local community.

Traidcraft / Oxfam / Cafod Charity Shop to bring along Fairtrade products to sell
Local Real Nappy Network
Repair Cafe
Upcycling group
Local Climate Action Group
The National Cycle Network
Local Zero Waste Shop (useful for household & personal hygiene swaps)
Local milk delivery company for swapping to glass bottles/plastic-free veg boxes
Allotment Society
Local Farm Shop
Local veg box or egg delivery scheme
Litter picking/beach cleaning groups
Local car share schemes
Nature and Tree Planting groups

Some national organisations may be able to send a local representative such as Sustrans, the cycling network or the Energy Saving Trust.

Advertising Ideas

Advertise your event in plenty of time and signpost the event on the day. A Green Fair can be beneficial to local businesses so ask for their support in advertising. Local churches, schools, community groups, and social media groups are all good advertising opportunities.

Handouts?

Printing handouts can be costly and is not very environmentally friendly. However, it can sometimes help to have a few things printed for those people who don't have easy access to the internet. For everyone else, you'll find all the information for the stands in this Green Fair Guide. You could also encourage visitors to take photos of information sheets on their phones.

Feedback & Follow Up

It’s always helpful to collect feedback after all your hard work. Collect comments on Post-It notes (which are fully compostable) so you can see what people enjoyed or found useful. This can also help in planning possible follow-up events such as a Clothes Swap or Repair Cafe for example.

Finally, if you are running an event, drop the name of the village/town in the comment section below. It would be great to have a list of where other events have been held. Our first event attracted well over 250 people to our village hall & was just what people were looking for. Good luck & thank you!