Port Moody council wants events held in the city to be more environmentally sustainable.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Port Moody council was expected to consider a proposed corporate policy requiring organizers of special events in the city to follow procedures such as serving food on compostable paper-based containers or plates and offering utensils and drinkware made of recyclable plastic or compostable materials. The policy, if passed, would also require a waste management plan to ensure waste is collected and sorted by type, free of contamination, and can be disposed of properly.
As well, grey water from hand washing stations, food preparation and even face painting would have to be collected and disposed of properly instead of just poured into the ground while black water from portable toilets would have to be contained and removed from the site entirely.
The new policy would also mean the demise of helium-filled balloons at events.
The new procedures would be in addition to a policy previously adopted by city in 2015 that food served at city-sponsored events couldn’t include open-net farmed salmon.
In his report to council, Port Moody’s manager of cultural services, Devin Jain, said event organizers could use the new requirements as a promotional advantage by taking “pride and promote to the public that you are planning a sustainable event.”
Jain suggested other ways to achieve sustainability could include providing a filling station for drinking water instead of selling bottled water; encouraging food vendors to serve locally sourced, fair trade items; not providing straws; promoting walking, cycling and transit to get to their event; and avoiding the use of generators.
The report also said the city’s general manager of environment and parks could limit the number of special events at any one location if the frequency or nature of those events could pose a risk to the grounds or not allow enough time for the site to recover.
