Behind the scenes: the first Zero Waste Startup Weekend in Bali
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A couple of weeks ago was the Startup Weekend Bali, from November 16 to November 18, organized by Hubud (Hub in Ubud), the first coworking space in Bali.
Startup Weekend is about working in teams, developing a business idea in 54 hours: some of the participants will first pitch their ideas, the rest of the participants will vote for their 3 favorite ideas, and then teams will be formed (with all the participants) to work on the chosen business ideas. It’s here if you want to know more about Startup Weekend.
I was working remotely from Hubud a couple of months ago and we had the idea along with the Hubud team, to organize a Zero Waste Startup Weekend, logistically speaking.
I was so thrilled (and still am) to have been a Zero Waste consultant for this Startup Weekend 2018 Edition in Bali.
But why have we decided to go for a Zero Waste event? For an event such as a Startup weekend, stationery items, catering and swags need to be taken into account. Unfortunately, these props are most of the time single-use ones and/or not recyclable; for example: disposable cutlery, stickers, post-its, tape, flag chains, banners… And we were very eager to leave less footprints behind us and contribute to the global effort of reducing/avoiding waste pollution, particularly plastic pollution.
Here are the Zero Waste alternatives we came up with for a Zero Waste Startup Weekend.
1. Zero Waste Name Tags
Name tags were made from paper for the previous Startup Weekend editions. We’ve decided to use beautifully carved wooden name tags for this edition: we’re in Bali afterall! 🙂
The name tags can be used as luggage tags afterwards or can be reused as name tags for future events.
2. Zero Waste Brainstorming
At some point during the Startup Weekend, the teams would brainstorm, and potentially write down their ideas.
For the 2017’s Startup Weekend Bali, participants were given A3 papers; this year, we’ve used whiteboards that could be reused later at Hubud for future meetings/events. And participants were given refillable whiteboard markers. And if they needed paper, scrap paper (one-sided printed paper) were used instead of brand new A4 paper; not to mention that Hubud has a waste separation policy (paper, plastic and compost), which means the paper will be recycled properly afterwards.
3. Zero Waste Voting
For the voting process, we’ve opted for online voting instead of using stickers. Last year, the participants who pitched an idea had small whiteboards on which the voters put heart shaped stickers to cast their votes: very cute but not recyclable 🙂
We’ve opted for the online voting platform Slido.
4. Zero Waste Decorations
The space at Hubud is always nicely decorated with flag chains during Startup Weekend events. But the usual flag chains are mostly made from Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is not recyclable.
This time, we chose flag chains that are made from recycled paper with Hubud’s logo on them. Not only we cut the plastic waste but the flag chains can be reused later at Hubud: how cool is that? ^^
As for the banners, we only had 3 of them: we couldn’t find any other options than the classic PVC banners but they will be donated to Kembali, the Green School’s reduce/reuse/recycle centre.
5. Zero Waste Catering
Hubud is well equipped in terms of Zero Waste catering: they have woven bamboo plates and “real” cutlery, glasses and mugs; the caterers just had to come with the food.
Let’s also highlight the fact that Hubud has a compost bin so no food scraps were left behind.
We’re very proud and happy to have cut the waste on single-use items, and to have chosen recyclable/reusable options instead, such as the paper flag chains and the banners that will be repurposed by Kembali for example.
The Zero Waste concept relies indeed on the 5 R: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot (Compost). And we can say “Mission accomplished!!!”: refusing and reducing single-use items, opting for reusable and recyclable props and composting the food waste.
That’s how we’ve organised a Zero Waste Startup Weekend in Bali: yay!
Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you want to follow our steps and leave less trash behind you: #onelesstrashatatime! 🙂
