The first Regional Session event in London, and the first stop in a series of regional events. 67 attendees, 8 purpose in business talks and workshops, 11 local partners, 6 charities and NGOs, 100% vegan day catering.
1% For The Planet · x+why People's Mission Hall · London, UK · 2022 · Retail and consumer · Design; Production; Project Management
1% For The Planet is a global network of member businesses funding environmental causes. In October 2022 it ran the first Regional Session event in London, the first stop in a series of regional events. Pie Factory delivered it. The brief was to put purpose in business content in front of a local audience, connect members to local partners and causes, and keep the event's own material and catering impact as low as the programme allowed. Three venues were used across a day programme, an evening celebration and a pub takeover, all within Whitechapel and Shoreditch.
The day programme ran at x+why People's Mission Hall in Whitechapel: eight purpose in business talks and workshops for 67 attendees, with eleven local partners and six charities and NGOs taking part. Signage and graphics were cut from ReBoard, made from 100% recycled fibres. Lanyards were recycled PET by Oomph Made, specified to be kept and reused at future events in the series, so the same lanyards travel rather than being reprinted. ID badges were made from 60% recycled plastic taken from internal factory waste, but each was branded with event-specific information, which makes them single use. That trade-off is recorded rather than hidden. Tote bags came from Beechfield Brands, blending pre-consumer cotton waste with post-consumer recycled polyester. Catering at the day events was 100% vegan. The evening reception served food that was 100% surplus, avoided from landfill. A pub takeover at Leman Street Tavern completed the programme. Waste was handled by First Mile.
The evening celebrations were held on the second floor of The Light Bar, and that floor had no accessibility lift. The event report records this as an oversight by the team rather than a venue limitation. It is published here for the same reason it was written down: an event about responsible business that cannot be reached by every attendee has failed part of its own brief, and venue accessibility has to be a selection criterion at the point of booking, not a check after the fact. Nothing in the rest of the programme offsets it.
No carbon footprint was calculated for this event and none is estimated here. What was counted: 67 attendees, 8 talks and workshops, 11 local partners, 6 charities and NGOs, 100% vegan food at the day events, 100% surplus food avoided from landfill at the evening reception. A post-event survey returned a 34% response rate. Of those who responded, 100% said they would attend the next event, 100% walked away with an actionable solution or new learning, and 100% made a meaningful network connection. Those percentages rest on roughly 23 responses from 67 attendees, and the base is published with them.
First Mile (waste), Surplus to Purpose and Greedy Vegan (catering), Spitalfields City Farm, Trash Free Trails, Protect Our Winters, Bikmo, SHE Change Climate, Pawprint, The Better Business Network. Oomph Made (lanyards), Beechfield Brands (tote bags).