How to attend your next event in Greater Manchester well

Whether you’re attending a corporate conference, industry expo, arts event or concert, there are many reasons to visit Greater Manchester, our events calendar is always jam-packed.  

Whatever event you’re attending, there are ways of minimising your impact on the environment and supporting our local communities which means your visit can be truly sustainable, and can help our region to meet our sustainability goals. From how you travel to the food you eat, everything you do while in our city can leave an impact, and we’d like to help you make sure it’s a positive one.  

Our people and our natural environment are two of our most important assets, and by encouraging visitors like you to attend an event ‘well’, we can help to protect them and support them for generations to come. 

Attending an event in Manchester soon? Here are some of our top tips doing it in a sustainable and community friendly way. 

Take sustainable transport 

Greater Manchester makes it easier than ever to get to your event sustainability, with a wide range of public transport and active travel options across the region. 

Travelling from outside of Greater Manchester? Not to worry, our region is incredibly well connected with three major train stations in our city centre and many others across our towns. These stations offer routes across the country and to all major cities, so relax and leave the car at home. 

Then, once you’re here, make the most of the Bee Network. Linking together buses, trams and active travel such as bike and scooter rental, the Bee Network is Greater Manchester’s newly integrated transport system and makes getting around our region simple. Most of our city-centre venues are close to tram and bus stops, so you can make the most of low cost public transport. Or if you’re feeling active, you can download our app and hop on one of our low-cost rental bikes, taking advantage of new safer active travel routes.  

Manchester is also an incredibly walkable city centre, and the best way to explore a new destination is on foot, so why not give yourself a few extra minutes to take in the sights? 

Staying over? Pick a sustainable hotel 

If you’re lucky enough to be staying overnight with us as you attend an event, think about where you’re staying. Greater Manchester is home to many wonderful hotels, and many are prioritising their impact on the planet and supporting local communities. By choosing a hotel that is monitoring its environmental impact and giving back to the community, you can be confident that you’re Visiting Manchester Well and supporting good causes. 

Hotels at all different price points have sustainable practices engrained in them, so you’re sure to be able to find one that works for you. For example, The Lowry Hotel in Salford is working hard to reduce its carbon footprint and has supported community groups and charities including Woodstreet Mission (for local families and children), Mustard Tree (homelessness campaign) and Maggies Trust (cancer support) for many years.

Roomzzz Aparthotels support vulnerable communities through online donations and offering rooms to those in need. While the soon to open Treehouse hotel has the environment at its core, making use of reclaimed and recycled materials, using living walls and plants and discouraging single-use items. 

Many of our hotels have been certified by Green Tourism or Green Key, ensuring that your overnight stay is as green as possible. You can view our roundup of eco-friendly hotels across the region here, to help you decide where to stay with minimal impact on the environment.  

Eat Well 

Manchester is a must-visit destination for foodies with a huge array of restaurants and bars serving almost every cuisine imaginable. During your visit, if you wish to eat well and reduce your impact on our planet, look for restaurants that make the most of locally sourced produce as well as considering vegan and vegetarian options, which we all know are better for the planet. 

Finding restaurants that make the most of local produce usually means you’re benefiting from seasonal and quality ingredients, so it’s often a win-win. Again, every price point will have locally sourced options, so it’s just about doing your research and working out where suits you. Some recommendations of locally sourced eateries include Madre, Higher Ground, Another Hand, TNQ, Christe’s Bistro and Trof but you can find our full list of recommendations here.

Similarly, Manchester has many vegetarian and vegan restaurants specialising in meat-free options including Bundobust, The Allotment, Herbivorous and Purezza, a vegan pizza specialist. You can see a full list here. 

Many of Manchester’s event venues are already working to ensure they serve more vegan, vegetarian and locally sourced options, so if you’re attending a catered event you needn’t worry. Venues like Manchester Central have worked hard to reduce the carbon footprint of their menus and also reduce food waste from events as part of their commitment to the planet.  

Reuse and recycle 

Where possible on your visit it would be great if you could reuse or recycle your litter to reduce our region’s waste. Bringing a reusable water bottle and coffee cup may seem like a small step, but it can seriously cut down on the amount of rubbish our region generates, and it means you can benefit from free water refill points and discounted coffee. Discover water refill points around Manchester by downloading the free Refill app here.   

Greater Manchester is aiming to reduce the use of single use plastics, following national policy to ban single use cutlery, trays, cutlery. Our regional campaign PlasticFreeGM asks businesses, organisations and individuals to reduce the use of avoidable single-use plastics. You’ll find many of our hospitality businesses have taken this on board and are reducing their usage. 

When you’re in our event venues, cafes and hotels, please be mindful of any recycling policies they have and where possible and use the correct bins. You’ll be helping our hospitality businesses do the right thing and reduce their carbon footprint. 

Give back to the community 

Like any city-region, Greater Manchester is full of community projects and volunteering projects that can help you give back to the community. From giving up your time to donating to people in need, there are many social enterprises looking for support that can help your visit to the city have a lasting impact.   

Whether you’re an event organiser in Manchester, or are sending a few delegates to a conference in the city, there are many volunteering opportunities your teams could take advantage of to improve the legacy of the event. There are over 17,000 community groups, voluntary organisations and social enterprises across our region, ranging from support for the homeless to nature recovery, community arts to food security.  

Some sustainable organisations you can support include foodie favourites Eat Well MCR, an organisation that cooks meals to send out into the community, and Open Kitchen which aims to reduce food waste by cooking with leftover ingredients. Or you can dedicate time to some of our nature-based opportunities like City of Trees, Sow the City and The Woodland Trust or Groundwork GM which is a community-driven initiative. You can find a range of volunteering opportunities on the GM Green City website, that will help to make your time in Manchester more meaningful, impactful and sustainable. 

If you don’t have the time to volunteer, there are other options you can do to help. Many of Greater Manchester’s existing organisations like HOME and Factory International, based at Aviva Studios, give back to charity, so visiting these establishments is supporting their local causes. You could also drop off some food at a local Food Bank or Pantry if you’re passing, or make a small donation to one of our many charitable organisations. 

To find out more about how to visit Manchester in a sustainable way, visit our Visit Manchester Well hub.