EC&O Venues Earls Court And Olympia

EC&O Venues scoops Visit London Award for Best Sustainable Tourism and hosts UK Aware, the first and only consumer exhibition dedicated to greener living

EC&O Venues (EC&O) scooped the Visit London Award for Best Sustainable Tourism Event, adding to EC&O’s leadership position over the past four years for venue sustainability; EC&O won the AEO Award for Sustainability in 2006 and 2008 for its pioneering sustainability initiatives.

EC&O Venues also announces new show, UK AWARE, the first and only exhibition within the UK dedicated to educating consumers about all aspects of greener living. UK AWARE will take place on 17^th- 18^th April 2009 in Olympia Two. The show is the brainchild of brothers Danny Carnegie (a fire-fighter) and Jodie Carnegie (a teacher). They were so baffled about how to make positive sustainability changes in their day-to-day lives they decided to take action by launching an event. Their aim is to bring business and consumers face to face to understand more about the sustainability issues that consumers encounter on a daily basis.

The show will be a totally interactive event; visitors can expect lively debate, interesting and different exhibitors plus the opportunity to experience the future of consumerism for the benefit of the planet.

Danny Carnegie, Show Director commented:

UK AWARE has chosen Olympia because it was imperative to use a venue which aligned itself ethically with our event. EC&O has recently won awards for its sustainability initiatives, so it was a natural choice. In an industry which traditionally has a large carbon footprint it is great to be able to work with a venue which is setting the industry standard, not just as a venue, but as a sustainable one and we are really looking forward to working with them.

EC&O Venues has also led the way with regards to the drafting, trialling and launch of BS 8901, the British Standard for event sustainability. EC&O Venues Sustainability Advisor, Emma Wellman, was instrumental in the development of the standard and the venues are currently in the process of their stakeholder engagement programme in order to build awareness amongst organisers, contractors and service partners.

Emma Wellman commented

We’re thrilled with our Visit London Award win and delighted to be hosting UK AWARE, it makes sense for us to host their event as we share very similar ideals on sustainability. A new initiative we have recently rolled out across EC&O is a Biogen food disposal system. The venues are working with Cawleys, a waste management and recycling specialist. The food waste from our venues is mixed with pig manure and then turned into energy to generate electricity, plus it’s also used as fertiliser and is a carbon positive process so we are directly helping the environment, plus lowering our carbon footprint.

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Notes to editors:

Exhibitors and speakers at UK AWARE include Oxfam, Trevor Bayliss OBE, Fairtrade Foundation and Greenpeace. 

Zac Goldsmith, The Ecologist also supports UK AWARE and commented: “The sheer diversity of activities on show at UK AWARE is testament to how much we can all do to make a difference. It’s inspiring.”

Visit www.ukaware.co.uk

For further information please contact:

Lynne Marie Cox, Communications Manager, EC&O Venues

lynnemarie.cox@eco.co.uk / 020 7370 8838

www.eco.co.uk

EC&O Venues is the UK’s premier exhibition and conference venue manager. The business comprises Earls Court, Olympia and the Brewery, London’s leading venues for exhibitions, conferences and special events. The three venues hold over 1000 events each year, attracting over 2.3 million visitors and 30,000 exhibiting companies.