Should there even be an event about sustainability? That question was the starting point for the organizers of Sustainability Day. The answer was yes, but then it should be as sustainable as possible, says Erwin Kerkhof of the TU/e Sustainability Office. One of his main tasks in hosting the event was to justify the organizational choices that were made. “You start by thinking: what are we going to do and what do we need. Take lunch, for example: we could order it from Appèl, but then you don’t know exactly what you’re going to get. Another option is to have three one-hour meetings to work out exactly what you want and why. And then hope that Appèl sees it as a challenge to get on board.”

Fortunately, that was indeed the case, Kerkhof reflects with satisfaction. The catering company was very cooperative, he says. For example, the organization wanted to work with local suppliers, and they were partially able to accomplish that. “Het Wasven provided the soup and cake; we got the fruit from the Philips Fruittuin and the cheese came from the Genneper Hoeve.” But what do you serve all that food on? Reusable or disposable tableware? Because if you consider only that one moment of use, the production of a ceramic plate has a much larger CO2 footprint than that of a palm leaf. And how do you make name tags as sustainable as possible? Should you even have a large banner printed? Yes, the organization decided, but only if it is made from recycled PET bottles.  

Just do it

And there were many more sustainability-related questions that were discussed. “Organizing an event like this for the first time is quite challenging. But now, we know how to go about it for next time: just do it. It may not be perfect, but we do everything as best we can and then we’ll try to do even better next time,” says Kerkhof.

The Sustainability in Education Award itself, which was presented during the event, was also as sustainable as possible. It was made of sustainable materials and had coordinates engraved on it stating where a linden tree will be planted in November – which is tree planting season – in honor of the winner Arjan Kirkels (resulting in -22.5 kg of CO2, according to the organization, Ed.). The assistant professor at Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences is pleased that attention is being paid to sustainability, something he says he has always been concerned with. This year alone, he is setting up four new courses that deal with sustainability.