Event Ticket Printing and Sustainability

4/22/2024

Can event ticket printing be sustainable?

That’s a good question, and with Earth Day upon us, we thought it was important to explore.

As a product, event tickets are printed on paper and shipped hither and yon. Once used, they either end up in someone’s scrap book or in the bin. 

The answer to the sustainability question then is…it depends on the materials, production, the printing provider, and the consumer (you!).

At Eventgroove, we take stewardship of the environment to heart. When our company was born in 1997 (then known as TicketPrinting.com), we envisioned print-on-demand done sustainably.  We’re based in Montana, a place abundant in natural beauty, biodiversity, and untamed space, and preserving it is essential. So, we make every step of our online printing services as green and conservation-forward as we can. 

Eventgroove and sustainable event ticket printing

Green printing isn’t just about the actual product, it’s about the process. Are we conserving energy? Minimizing waste? Mitigating our carbon footprint and environmental impact? Contributing to conservation? Sustainable ticket printing starts with the materials and manufacturing process used to create your music festival’s glossy, professional-looking tickets. 

Our Montana production facility and offices:

• Eventgroove has donated 42% of its profits to conservation organizations since 2007.
• Run on 100% wind energy, meaning we don’t rely on non-renewable resources to produce our products. Additionally, our webhosting service runs on 100% hydroelectric power.
• Are a hybrid workspace, meaning that over 60% of us (outside of production staff!) work remotely. 
• Have rigorous quality assurance programs to ensure minimal paper byproduct, helping us reduce paper and toner consumption. Reprints are less than 0.5% of total sales!

Print materials and waste

• Eventgroove is FSC® certified. This certification ensures responsible use of forest resources, including paper made from sustainable forests.
• Recycled paper. We offer the best recycled paper we can find. It’s made from 80% post-consumer use paper and bleached without the use of chlorine. Even better, the quality is not a compromise and is equal to that of non-recycled paper. 
• Green printing. Every order from Eventgroove is printed using EA Toner, a chemical toner prepared by emulsion aggregation (EA). EA is a chemical process used to “grow” very small, uniform particle sizes from even smaller (sub-micron) size toner components. This small size and the relative uniformity of all the particles in a particular “batch” of EA Toner is more predictable than the conventional mechanical process of pulverizing extruded plastic for toner. It is also less energy intensive to produce and printing with it uses 45% less toner. 
• Low waste policy. We recycle everything—cardboard boxes, packaging materials, anything used in operations, paper…if we can reuse, repurpose, or rehome, we do!

 Shipping

100% of Eventgroove’s shipments distributed across North America are carbon neutral.

How Eventgroove customers can close the sustainable loop

 The final part of the eco-friendly event ticket printing and sustainability equation is you!

 Minimize paper that goes to the landfill

• Whether you’ve purchased event tickets, posters, postcards, raffle tickets, or wristbands, actively encourage recycling after your event.  
•  Break down any shipping materials and recycle, or, even better, reuse!
• Place clearly marked recycling cans at your event’s exits. Throughout the event, remind guests to recycle if they aren’t planning on keeping their tickets as souvenirs. 
• Once you’ve handled any bookkeeping with stubs, put them in recycling. 
• If you distributed posters and flyers, gather them up and recycle. 

Offer electronic ticketing and check-in

We love printed tickets—they create a physical connection between your guests and the event and act as terrific souvenirs of time well spent. However, mobile ticketing is great for customers who’d rather not opt for printed tickets, and there’s no use of paper.

Using our integrated events and fundraising platform, you and your staff can check in guests using mobile devices and a browser—no app required. Plus, Eventgroove has committed 0.5% of revenue to help fight climate change and empowering organizers to do the same. To reduce your carbon footprint, all you’ll have to do is enable the option to request donations to Stripe Climate at check out.

The downside of electronic ticketing is that event re-entry can get a little bottlenecked with everyone fishing out their phone to flash their e-ticket. This is where wristbands come in handy, since they provide a quick visual identification of paying guests. But then you’re back at square one with a printed material. The good news is that Tyvek wristbands are recyclable, too. We’ll share more about how awesome Tyvek is and its maker DuPont’s forward-thinking sustainability strategy in our next post.

Putting Green Plans into Action

Now that you’re equipped with actionable tips for greening your event ticketing, let’s bring those plans to life! Eventgroove simplifies event management by integrating marketing, planning, and ticketing into one user-friendly solution. Our integrated printing services make ordering on-brand printed products a snap. Plus, we’re committed to conservation, reducing our climate impact, and incorporating green practices.