An internal launch of the Sea Change strategy for 180 staff at the UK's busiest ferry port. Measured at 1.67 tonnes CO2e across logistics and AV energy, offset in full with validated carbon credits.
Port of Dover · Port of Dover · Dover, UK · 2023 · Travel, transport, and hospitality · Design; Production; Project Management
Sea Change is the Port of Dover's strategy, and the launch was internal: 180 members of staff in one room, told what the organisation is committing to. An internal launch has a different test from a trade show. Nobody is being sold to. The staff either believe the commitment or they do not, and an event that talks about environmental change while generating waste and giveaways undermines the message in the room. The brief was an event whose production matched what was being announced, measured, and reported back afterwards.
The build was deliberately small. The main structure was a hired wall frame, brought in, dressed and returned, so nothing was manufactured to be stored or thrown away afterwards. In place of printed handouts and branded giveaways, the takeaway was a set of stamps: FSC oak blocks with natural rubber faces, made by The Green Stamp. A stamp is used, kept and reused. There were zero physical giveaways of any other kind, which removed the whole category of production, freight and disposal that an internal event of this size normally carries. Catering came from within the South East, and 2.14kg of food waste went to a local smallholder rather than to a bin. AV was hired, using 16.8kWh and producing 99.1kg CO2e. The supply chain was drawn entirely from the South East of England, with 22% of suppliers based in Kent, the port's own county.
The failure worth reporting is the floor vinyl. The event was specified with no single-use plastic. A supplier produced a floor graphic in vinyl without it being asked for, and it went down. Total single-use plastic for the event came to under 100g, all of it that one item. It is a small number and an instructive one: on an event this tightly specified, the residual impact came from a supplier decision made outside the specification, not from anything designed in. The fix is not a better material. It is written material requirements issued to every supplier and checked on delivery.
1.67 tonnes CO2e on a scope covering logistics and AV energy use, offset in full with validated carbon credits. AV accounted for 99.1kg CO2e from 16.8kWh. Waste to landfill or incineration was under 100g. 0kg of materials was left on site. Single-use plastic was under 100g. 2.14kg of food waste was passed to a local smallholder. 100% of suppliers were based in the South East of England and 22% in Kent. There were zero physical giveaways. The scope excludes the embodied carbon of materials, so this is not the event's full footprint. Indicative, calculated in house, not independently audited.