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Talking Sustainability with Gen Z

Rachel Crick recently spoke with Emily Zientek, the sustainability coordinator for Sodexo Live! about the importance of sustainability in the events industry and how to tackle it at future meetings.

Emily Zientek is the sustainability coordinator at Sodexo Live!, hospitality partner to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social entrepreneurship from Rollins College in 2022 before earning her master’s degree in sustainable management from University of Wisconsin Green Bay. Zientek was hired by Sodexo Live! over two years ago after completing a sustainability internship there, and was also recognized as a member of PCMA’s 20 in their Twenties, Class of 2025.

Q: What is the importance of sustainability in the events industry?

A: I think it’s of huge importance. Every event has an association or corporation that goes with it, and every single one of them has a sustainability policy or sustainability guideline that they like to follow. They also like to bring that down to their events. So helping to meet those goals is super important to them. It may look different for every event depending on what goals they have. But either way, attendees are calling events out and saying, “I’m doing a lot to be here. What is your convention doing so that I can attend? I can tell my corporation although I will be emitting these emissions with my travel and everything that I will be consuming, look at what the event is doing to combat that, equalize it or reduce the amount of emissions that will be produced.”

Q: Where do you see event planners ushering in the most progress when it comes to sustainability?

A: I think the supply chain is huge. I think people are starting to realize that it’s not just about what attendees are seeing us do that is more sustainable, but what we are actually doing behind the scenes. And I think that goes down to looking at what suppliers we are utilizing not just for food, but to supply the cups, to supply the bags. For example, it could be about asking, “Can we look at that beef supplier for the lunch on Tuesday? And can we as a company determine if we would like them to be our supplier if they meet our sustainable criteria and initiatives for our organization or association? And if not, can we explore alternatives that we can work with on this journey?” Because I think the effect of that is just extremely high, and it’s going to come back to the community as well.

Q: Do you think the newest generation of event planners will have any advantages or disadvantages when working towards sustainable events?

A: I think they’re going to have great advantages because we’re starting to learn more about sustainability. It’s a trend, and it makes people feel good. People love to market it. And there are so many news articles talking about it, not just on actual news outlets, but it’s also being talked about on Instagram and TikTok and Snapchat and Twitter. And I think because this topic is so often talked about, especially in this new generation, they’re going to be set up for success if they just dive into that knowledge that is offered. Some disadvantages could be that there is a learning curve. And I think there are so many avenues in sustainability. I only work on the food and beverage side of it and the community side of it, but there’s also buildings, there’s also HVAC, there’s also construction, there’s also gas and oil companies. And I think that is also going to be one of the downfalls because there’s so many different avenues and so many ways that sustainability can be interpreted within companies. Because of all the knowledge that is out there, someone might be overwhelmed.

Q: Do you have any takes on getting colleagues into a sustainability mindset?

A: I faced that really early on, and I even face that sometimes today. And one thing that I have found is gamifying it and making it fun. So if it’s something small, like doing a canned food drive, I know that is so small and so minor. But to my coworkers, that’s a big deal because they have to take the time to go out to a store, get the cans and bring them to me. So even just that action makes them say, “Hey, where is this going? What are you doing with this? Why are we doing this?” This is our community action for this week or for this month, and I’m just kind of connecting them with that and giving them that little tidbit of information that makes them curious. It’s making it a competition as well. So feel free to interact with them and make them feel like they are also doing the sustainability and the good stuff with you.

Q: What sustainability issues do you think the next generation of event planners is preparing to tackle?

A: I know there’s a whole taboo right now going on of net zero. People say, “our company wants to be net zero by 2030, or by 2050.” But I think some associations and organizations lack an action plan for that. So they’ll have these great statements and these great words for it, and it’ll look so good. But how are they actually doing it? What are the actions they’re taking for it? And I think events now are getting to that point where they are working towards this action. Now, it’s about thinking, “My association has committed to being net zero by whatever date. So what can I, as an event planner of this association, do to reach that goal and just being open about that?”