Digital gets greener at Exeter conference

The organisers of the largest ecommerce conference in the South West are greening up the event to make sure it achieves carbon neutral targets.

Swanky has put measures in place to offset the environmental impact of ‘Ecommerce Unlocked’, its September 10 event for retailers and technology vendors wanting to learn more about ways of optimising online selling.

They include the screening of a new video by Devon Wildlife Trust highlighting the charity’s Saving Devon’s Treescapes project, a replanting programme to counteract the Ash Dieback crisis. Swanky is also contributing to fundraising for the project.

At the conference there will be no single-use plastics such as cutlery and drinks containers. As a bonus, delegates will receive packs of wildflowers seeds in their goodie bags to plant at home next spring.

Swanky’s Head of Agency Marketing, Sarah Sennet says “There’s a common misconception that digital doesn’t have an impact on the environment. But the reality is sobering. A recent report in Science Focus highlighted that 0.4g of carbon is emitted with every email sent – rising to 50g when the email has an attachment.

“As an established digital business, we have put effort into understanding the impact of our work – and while some tech companies have yet to cotton on, we believe we are ahead of the game in terms of proactively mitigating our digital waste and carbon footprint.”

In January, the forward-thinking ecommerce experts signed up with climate action platform Ecologi which funds planet saving projects across the world. Through Ecologi, Swanky has so far planted 5,138 trees in locations as far flung as Madagascar, Mozambique and Scotland, and offset 371.85 tonnes of CO2e by supporting projects around the world, including Peru, Turkey and Taiwan.

Swanky is also ensuring that alongside achieving green aims, the conference at Exeter University meets ongoing Covid-19 safety precautions. The venue is not being sold to full capacity so seating arrangements give delegates additional space. And although not mandatory, delegates are being encouraged to use track and trace and wear masks if they are comfortable with this request.

To book a space or find out more about the event visit www.ecommerce-unlocked.com