We have been working hard over the past 18 months to make sure the events that we organise are more sustainable. To do this we have implemented the internationally recognised ISO 20121 Sustainable Events Management Standard.
It is a management system that any event organiser, contractor or supplier can follow to ensure that their event activities, products and services are done sustainably.
In April of this year we were successful in being awarded the ISO 20121 Certification. The certification lasts for three years but in order to us to keep it for the three years, annual audits by SGS are carried out on our events.
The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is an important historical occasion on Trafalgar Square. Every year the ceremony is held on the first Thursday in December.
The tree is brought over from Norway and installed on the square a few days beforehand. A specialist rigging team erects it in the square using a hydraulic crane.
This year the Christmas tree installation was chosen for our ISO 20121 annual audit. The teams and contractors did a great job on the planning and installation for the event and we are pleased to say that we have upheld our ISO 20121 certification.
The Christmas tree has energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lights, reducing the amount of power that it uses by 28%. This year we have installed a timer which reduces the power used by a further 11%, a total saving of 39% on previous years.
The Christmas tree will be on Trafalgar Square until just before the Twelfth Night of Christmas (6th January). It is then taken down for recycling, chipped and composed to make mulch.
Learn more about what we're doing to make our major London events more sustainable.