PomPom delivering conscious events

PomPom is an Event and Marketing company formed by a partnership between Charlotte Tollervey and Natalie Rutene, with Charlotte located in Waikanae. Servicing clients across Aotearoa, PomPom creates fresh initiatives for promoting and finding exposure in an ever-evolving world of live events, digital media, and communications.

Charlotte and Natalie bring together 25 years of experience across these sectors with the goal of giving back and impacting positive change in the world. Sustainability is a driving force behind their business and is a key consideration across all events and projects they work on. We spoke with Charlotte about PomPom’s sustainability initiatives and how it has shaped their business.

“Factors such as waste management, single-use theming items, and printed materials are all approached with a sustainability lens. In terms of waste management, the team works closely with venues to determine current capabilities or whether additional improvements need to be made. This can result in third-party companies providing recycling services and educating attendees on how to sort their waste.” says Tollervey.

For aspects like ticketing and marketing materials, digital is the preferred way for PomPom opting for digital tickets and online marketing resources for events. Theming items are almost always hired so they can be re-used in future.

“We try to engage local contractors to further reduce carbon footprint where possible. The team is always on the lookout for innovative and sustainable ways to create great event offerings. We research emerging ideas in this space online and through event networking groups along with attendance at trade shows that showcase emerging event technologies to ensure we stay on top of innovations in this area.”

Sustainability has always been important to both Charlotte and Natalie, with their business aiming to support good people, to do good things within the community.

“As business owners, it is our responsibility to lead by example and show what can be done with a sustainable approach. We hope that by integrating sustainable elements into our events it educates attendees and other contractors we work with as to what sustainability looks like in action, and inspires others to make better choices in caring for our environment in Kāpiti and beyond.”

PomPom has established a formal sustainability policy for their business. The team acknowledged the need for a written policy surrounding this. The policy is used for guiding their planning and actions for their business, ensuring the whole team is across it.

Despite their best efforts, the team can often face challenges with budget constraints when it comes to operating more sustainably Charlotte shares. 

“Doing the right thing can often cost more, so our biggest challenge has been budgets. When we use compostable items or hire items for events, this can often come at a higher price point. Also when venues don’t have thorough recycling processes in place, we need to bring in a green waste management company, which again comes at an additional cost.”

In the future a key focus area for the business is engaging in new technology where possible, to deliver sustainable events.

“When working with venues, you need to ensure recycling and waste management is dealt with appropriately.”

Over the years, Charlotte and Natalie have worked to bring to life some incredible events, a particular highlight being the Horowhenua Taste Trail.

 “For the Horowhenua Taste Trail we engaged Organic Wealth a local waste recycling company to supply bins across seven sites. We had seven volunteers that managed these stations throughout the event, educating attendees on recycling and supporting them to dispose of any items correctly. This significantly reduced the amount of waste that went to landfill for the trail in 2022.”