TSL Lighting has joined the events sustainability organisation isla, to re-emerge from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic with a positive, forward-thinking outlook.
TSL’s management team has for many years championed more sustainable practices, including sourcing renewable energy for its sites, working alongside youth groups and volunteer associations to donate ex-rental equipment and of course re-using its stock as a rental business.
Director, Loz Wilcox believes that the downtime over the past 12 months has allowed them to reflect and further implement environmentally friendly initiatives. Becoming a member of isla marks the significant next sustainability step for the company.
TSL is the first technical equipment provider to join the isla collective, which has members from a range of events sectors including Jack Morton Worldwide, George P. Johnson, and Amplify.
“Joining isla really aligns with our core company values, so we’re thrilled,” said Wilcox. “isla offers resources, training and tools from across the events sector which will help fuel TSL’s goals to reduce waste and carbon emissions and support our industry to transition to more sustainable events. We’re also excited to be in a better position to share our knowledge and findings with our clients, freelancers and teams.”
isla, which was set up by 12 founding agencies in September 2020 as an action-focused peer-to-peer network, says it hopes to accelerate meaningful change through focus in three core areas: zero waste, 100% renewable, and carbon emissions reductions. The collective sets short- and long-term targets in these areas and then tracks, measures, and reports to drive constant improvement.
“We’re excited to welcome TSL Lighting as an isla member,” said isla Membership Engagement and Communications Lead, Ellie Ashton-Melia. “TSL is a key supplier to the events industry and has a proven track record of implementing sustainable practices, so they are a vital part of our community of events industry organisations. We are all about enacting sustainable change across the entire events supply chain.”
Ashton-Melia added: “We understand the challenges of our times and that everyone’s in it to do business, but we’ve got to stop thinking that profit has to come before every other criteria. Harnessing the power of our peer-to-peer network of events organisations, we can learn how we can adapt to ‘people, planet and profit’. Only by collaborating with our competitors and entire chain can we bring about real change for the better.”
TSL Founder, Sam Tamplin continued: “We’ve certainly been reminded of how privileged we are to work in this industry over the last year and, in my view, we are now getting a second chance. I’m keen that TSL Lighting uses this opportunity to bounce back stronger and with a firmer eye on sustainability.
“Ultimately, I believe we can draw on our existing practices and now membership of isla to not only implement better ways of working internally, but also make things genuinely better for the customer. That, to me, is when we hit the sweet spot for momentum. We’re ready to think outside the box and change the way we do things for the better, forever.”
