Event planners have many things to consider for their events to go off without a hitch. They’re responsible for implementing a plan to keep everyone safe and satisfied. Unfortunately, this can be an overwhelming experience, especially if one of the things you need to consider as an event planner is hydration.
Hydration, in general, can be a matter of life or death. Ensuring everyone attending your event has access to clean drinking water to prevent the problems, minor and major, associated with dehydration is one of your most important tasks as the event planner or event planning committing. One of the best ways to accomplish this task is to embrace water refill stations.
What Are the Benefits of Water Refill Stations?
Refillable water stations for an event might seem like a drastic shift in how you do things, but it’s one of the most beneficial decisions you can make in eco-friendly event planning. Water refill stations provide a variety of benefits, including:
Better for the Environment
Refill stations allow event organizers to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated at an event. One of the most popular options for keeping people hydrated at events is supplying single-use plastic bottles of water. While this can go a long way in keeping people hydrated, it’s likely the least sustainable option because it results in discarding so much single-use plastic.
Bottles take centuries to break down, and when they do, they contribute to trace amounts of plastic in our food and water sources that eventually end up inside our bodies. These are called microplastics.
As they are breaking down, they wreak havoc on outdoor spaces. What seems like a simple enough solution on the day of an event to keep attendees from getting thirsty turns into years of problems for society.
Access to clean drinking water via refill stations is an excellent alternative to plastic water bottles and is far better for the environment.
Cost Savings
It’s no secret that event organizers have to prioritize budgeting. This is one of the primary reasons they dismiss the idea of purchasing or renting a refillable water station. The truth is, though, that this could save them money in the long run.
The initial cost of offering or selling plastic bottles of water to event attendees might seem cheaper at first glance. But when you factor in all the other costs this creates, including disposal and cleanup, you’re dealing with the most expensive options.
Health and Safety
Another benefit of opting for a more sustainable option for keeping event attendees hydrated is that it’s better for everyone’s health. One of the greatest barriers to preventing dehydration at events when attendees only have the option of purchasing bottled water is that many attendees won’t bother.
They don’t want to spend the money because they aren’t prioritizing hydration. They’d rather sacrifice their comfort than deal with the cost of staying hydrated. Unfortunately, their comfort isn’t the only sacrifice they’re making. They’re also sacrificing their health.
Providing access to clean, filtered drinking water that doesn’t come from plastic bottles attendees must purchase is a great way to encourage hydration and give everyone the best opportunity to have a great time during the event. It also reduces your risk and liability as an event organizer. You truly are doing your best to keep everyone happy, healthy, and hydrated.
How to Make the Switch to a More Sustainable Hydration Option
If you understand the benefits of offering the most sustainable hydration option at your next event, you’re likely wondering where to begin. Achieving success with a refillable water station requires a bit of planning. For example:
Assess Your Needs
First, you’ll want to begin by assessing the hydration needs of your event’s attendees. You’ll need to consider how many people attend the event, but that’s just the beginning. Other considerations when determining how much water you’ll need to provide to event attendees include:
- Weather conditions if your event is outdoors or in a non-temperate indoor climate
- Age of attendees
- Health of attendees
- Activities event attendees will perform while at the event
- Length of event
Depending on your event, there might be other considerations specific to your circumstances.
Choosing the Best Option
Once you know approximately how much water you’ll need, you’ll want to consider the various sustainable options for hydrating event attendees. Generally, your options fall into two categories: fixed or portable.
You also want to consider whether the water must be filtered, if you’ll have all you need onsite (if you’re connecting to a local water source), and how many stations attendees will need access to. Regarding the latter, you don’t want hundreds of people spending hours in line for a drink, so you might need to provide several separate stations.
An important part of planning a sustainable hydration station at an event is considering the logistics of the situation. You’ll want to assess your highest-traffic areas at the event and determine how people will know where to go to get the water they need.
It’s not enough to just provide access to water. You need to get the word out to attendees about how they can gain access to drinking water while onsite.
If you’re planning a future event and wondering how to offer a sustainable solution to keeping event attendees hydrated, we can help. Book a quick call to learn more.