Conference Compass Joins IAPCO Plastics Pledge

An afternoon of plastic fishing in the canals of Rotterdam left our team inspired. Last week, Conference Compass became the 30th organization to sign the IAPCO Plastics Pledge. The International Association of Conference Organisers launched the campaign for its 50th anniversary in 2018. With the help of their mascot “Ticky the Turtle”, IAPCO wants to inspire 50 organizations to make measurable changes at their events by the IAPCO Annual Meeting in February 2020.

The Conference Compass team spent part of our annual company day out in the canals of Rotterdam. But the trip was not about sightseeing: Inspired by the plastics crisis, we joined the team of Plastic Whale to go plastic fishing. The Amsterdam-based company made it their mission to clean Dutch waterways and equipped with nets, trash tongs, and gloves we were eager to see what we can find. The two (electric) boats are made out of approx 7.00 recycled bottles as well. A circular solution: The more plastic collected, the more boats can be built and the broader the clean-up operation. After 2 hours of fishing, our proud group was left with more than 3 bags of trash and the thought: Why stop here? What else can we do in our personal and professional lives to make a change?

The activity did not only spark conversations within our team. Back in the office, a tweet from IAPCO read:

https://twitter.com/iapco/status/1163419648613847040

And we followed their invitation. In our Plastics Pledge, Conference Compass commits to:

• Educate, advise and guide our clients in the elimination of printed program books
• Encourage our team members to avoid single-use plastic and educate them on good recycling practice
• Raise our office building’s environmental awareness

We hope that joining the pledge will not only make us but also our stakeholders more aware and inspire them to sign the Plastics Pledge, too. Find more information on how to join the IAPCO website.

If you would like to go plastic fishing with the team of the Plastic Whale, contact them via their website.