The annual report summarizes DIG Events' activities in 2015-2016. It diverted more waste than ever before, with an 87% diversion rate. Notable partnerships included expanding composting at the Calgary Stampede, launching sustainability programs at Beakerhead and 24 Hours of Adrenalin, and beginning consulting work with Arts Commons. The organization also provided mobile water stations, grew its bicycle valet program, received municipal recognition awards, and supported various community events through donations and education.

1. annual report to the communityannual report to the community
2015–20162015–2016
doitgreen.ca info@digevents.ca 403-389-5367doitgreen.ca info@digevents.ca 403-389-5367

2. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Calgary is a different place than it was when we launched DIG three years ago. The City’s new bylaws are
making the need for our services that much more necessary, attractive and financially viable. As a result, DIG is
increasingly seeking to work with venues to ensure compliance with the new recycling bylaws and bring the
same custom environmental solutions we deliver to major events. Let us know how we can help you.
New this year, DIG is launching a distributed power solution (called Portable Electric) as part of our suite of
services. It is a battery storage technology that displaces the loud diesel generators, common at so many
events. Contact us to find out more.
DIG had an exciting 2015. We diverted more than twice the amount of waste from the landfill as we did in 2014
and increased our overall diversion rate to 87% (up from 76% in the previous year). This means we are diverting
more waste from the landfill and doing it more efficiently while helping our clients become zero waste events.
Our presence and impact has increased at major events like the Calgary Stampede, Calgary Marathon and
World Partnership Walk. We also launched several new partnerships with amazing events like Beakerhead,
the Calgary Dragonboat Festival and 24 Hours of Adrenalin in Canmore.
Our mobile water stations are becoming standard infrastructure at major festivals and the demand
for our bicycle valet program is growing too.
We received recognition as recipients of the Calgary Award for Environmental Stewardship and
finalists for an Alberta Emerald Award.
Achieving this level of success as a new business during an economic downturn is the fortunate result
of a very loyal group of clients, the addition of talented core team members and a small army of dedicated
volunteers and supporters.
Thank you to all of you. You mean the world to us!
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3. FUN-FILLED
EVENTS
623.4MILLION
PEOPLE REACHED
SINCE FOUNDING IN 2013
87PERCENT
DIVERTED
FROM THE LANDFILL IN
2015162,583
LITRES OF WATER
PROVIDED
FROM OUR H2O BUGGIES
EQUIVALENT TO
325,166
500 ML BOTTLES
67%
COMPOST
[17,664 kg]
8%
RECYCLING
[2,156 kg]
13%
LANDFILL
[3,343 kg]
12%
REFUNDABLE
[3,212 kg]
EQUIVALENT TO
117,760
APPLES
EQUAL TO
46COWS
35.9TONS OF WASTE
DIVERTEDFROM THE LANDFILL
SINCE OUR START IN 2013
BICYCLES
1816
4
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
100ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATORS
VOLUNTEERED WITH US
MORE THAN

4. We were excited to take our relationship with the Calgary
Stampede to the next level in 2015. Our vendor compost
program was expanded across the entire midway and we
collected over 12,000 kg of organic materials such as
mini donuts, onions, lemons and pineapples, which would
have otherwise ended up in the landfill. This was a vast
undertaking as we nearly tripled the amount of compost
collected in 2014 at the Stampede with more vendors
participating and more pickups scheduled!
CALGARY STAMPEDE
JULY 3-12, 2015
STRENGTHENING A RELATIONSHIP
“I knew right away I had found a winner when I talked to
DIG about the challenges we are all starting to face as
commercial generators of waste and recycling. They had
a lot of ideas and had been working toward viable
systems for several years. What I liked best was their
work ethic and enthusiasm.”
Kevin Mulligan
Park Maintenance Manager, Calgary Stampede
Following the opening of Calgary’s downtown cycle
track, DIG introduced a new Bike Valet service at the
Stampede and welcomed more than 1,600 cyclists over
the course of the ten day event. DIG and the Stampede
received positive media coverage from almost every
major media outlet and representatives from the City of
Calgary, Cyclepalooza and Open Streets Calgary were
on hand to celebrate the grand opening of the new
Stampede Bike Valet.
6

5. Like DIG, Beakerhead is three years old and since they
launched with a zip, bop, bang in 2013, the spectacular
citywide ‘mashup’ of art, science and engineering has
captured people’s imagination and quickly become one
of Calgary’s premier annual events.
Environmental sustainability fits nicely into Beakerhead’s
mandate to engage, inspire, build awareness and give
back to the community– goals that have remained
important to DIG in our development as well.
BEAKERHEAD
SEPT 16-20, 2015
A NEW PARTNERSHIP
"Beakerhead applauds DIG Events for its dedication
to the very important conversations we need to have
about greening our events in Calgary."
Hanan Chebib
Director, Creative Experiences for Beakerhead
DIG provided waste diversion stations, environmental
educators, a mobile water station and a Bike Valet
throughout the five days of Beakerhead including the
50,000 person street festival known as Beakernight.
Beakerhead saw 112,000 visitors in total, including
upwards of 25,000 students! Despite the high number
of visitors, this event was already a low-waste affair,
and DIG diverted nearly 200 kg of waste from the
landfill and set a diversion rate of 55% as a benchmark
for future Beakerhead events.
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6. DIG is stoked to have launched a new partnership
with 24 Hours of Adrenalin in 2015. This crazy
1,600-participant extravaganza (with many more
spectators) taking place each year at the beautiful
Canmore Nordic Centre, has earned the reputation for
‘fastest growing mountain bike event series in North
America.’ It revolves around a massive relay race where
solo riders and teams compete to ride as many laps as
possible within a 24-hour time period.
The event presented some unique challenges that were
new to our team. For example, all waste bins had to be
bear proof and accessible 24 hours a day and waste
could not be left unattended outside of these bins.
24 HOURS OF ADRENALIN
JULY 17-19, 2015
A UNIQUE CHALLENGE
Mark Newton
Event Director for 24 Hours of Adrenalin
"24 Hours of Adrenalin operates in one of the most pristine wildlife
corridors in all of Canada. Not only did DIG help us to provide the
best environment for our participants and spectators, but they also
helped us achieve our highest landfill diversion rate in 19 years of
running our event! DIG was not only able to meet our needs but also
exceeded our expectations by helping us set and achieve goals that
would otherwise have been unattainable, and they provided
measurable results for us to draw from for years to come."
The DIG team rose to the challenge and delivered
a successful environmental program that included
a mobile water station and a team that picked up
recycling, compost and trash from every single campsite
on the park. Together, DIG and 24 Hours of Adrenalin
diverted over 1000 kg of waste from the landfill and set
a benchmark of 68% diversion rate for us to build on in
future years.
We enjoy working with 24 Hours of Adrenalin because
they involve us in their planning process. They utilize our
expertise as well as our on site services. They share our
environmental ethos and like DIG, are also members of
1% for the Planet.
9

7. One of our most exciting projects of 2015 was the
beginning of our relationship with one of Calgary’s
premier venues, Arts Commons. Arts Commons is
one Canada’s largest and most vibrant arts centres
– occupying a full city block with five theatres and
the world-class Jack Singer hall. We couldn’t be
happier then to have this iconic Calgary venue as a
key component in our work with indoor venues,
offices, and shops.
Our partnership will include reviewing their current
recycling and waste diversion practices, adding
ARTS COMMONS
ONGOING CONSULTING
EVENT VENUES
“Throughout our dealing with DIG, they displayed a
high level of professionalism and knowledge of working
with the City of Calgary Waste and Recycling depart-
ment… I believe that the services provided by DIG are
exemplary and can benefit any organization striving to
meet its environmental goals.”
Niels Hagen
Booking and Sales Manager for Arts Commons
new waste streams and equipment, and infusing their
staff and event goers with our knowledge and passion
for being waste conscious!
We believe that this work will be the start of a long
relationship with Arts Commons, where DIG will play an
integral part in pushing Arts Commons to continuously
challenge themselves to improve, continuously setting
the bar for venues in Calgary.
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8. In an effort to eliminate bottled water at events and in
accordance with our belief that drinking water should be
free, clean and accessible to the public, DIG has offered
our H2O Buggies to events and festivals for the past
two years. We have three different types of mobile water
units; the Senior H2O Buggy, the Junior H2O Buggy,
and the H2O Spigot.
These have become increasingly popular at events and
provide one of the easiest ways to reduce waste. The
City of Calgary has been great supporters of this
initiative by providing funding for some events to cover
WATER
FRESH, CLEAN, ACCESSIBLE
H2O BUGGIES
"CAWST is delighted to be selected as DIG's water
partner. Their work amplifies our message about finding
new solutions to water and sanitation challenges. By
allocating 1% of their gross revenue to us, DIG is meet-
ing their commitment to 1% For the Planet while setting
an example for other organizations to direct their commit-
ments toward a partnership with CAWST as well."
Shauna Curry
CEO, Centre for Affordable Water & Sanitation Technology (CAWST)
the rental costs of one of our units, ensuring that they
can provide drinking water to their attendees.
As 1% for the Planet members, we formally launched a
partnership with the Calgary-based CAWST (Centre for
Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) in the
Spring of 2015. This non-profit teaches people how to
get safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in their
own homes, using simple, affordable technologies. They
have benefitted 11.4 million people and counting and
we are proud to support their efforts through our
partnership.
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9. Beginning on February 1, 2016, the City of Calgary is
implementing new regulations for Waste and Recycling
Services. Multifamily dwellings, such as apartments,
condos and townhouses will be required to offer on-site
recycling to residents– similar to the ‘blue bin’ service
that single family homes have enjoyed since 2009!
As part of the City‘s Industrial, Commercial, Institutional
(ICI) Waste Strategy, higher fees will be implemented
for paper and cardboard dropped off at the landfill, in
order to encourage recycling. Currently, 75,000 tonnes
of paper and cardboard goes to the landfill in Calgary
each year, largely from these non-residential spaces. By
increasing the fee per tonne from $110 to $170, the
City hopes to see that number substantially decrease. In
2018, paper and cardboard will be banned from the
landfill altogether.
The ICI Waste Strategy will continue to be implemented
in stages over the next few years, with food and
organics being subject to higher fees at the landfill in
2017 and being banned altogether in 2019.
CITY OF CALGARY
VARIOUS ACTIVITIES
SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY
DIG supports and applauds the City of Calgary’s efforts
to divert waste from the landfill in Calgary.
DIG is fortunate to have enjoyed a close relationship
with The City of Calgary since the very beginning. We
have consulted with various departments on greening
events and food trucks and our staff serve as active
members of the City’s Waste and Recycling Services ICI
Working Group, which supports the City’s goal of
reducing waste going to landfill by 80% by 2025*
The City of Calgary regularly subsidizes DIG’s mobile
water stations, known as H2O Buggies for several
festivals and events around town. This year, the City of
Calgary funded or directly hired us to provide water for
TEDxYYC, Canada Day celebrations, Neighbour Day,
the Calgary Marathon, and Beakernight, among many
other events.
*Was revised from 2020 just this past year.
16

10. Over the past year, we have been happy to donate our
services to events such as TEDxYYC, the Marda Loop
Justice Film Festival, Acumen Voices of Impact, as well
as a fundraiser for Medical Mercy. As a social
enterprise, it is important to DIG that we continue to
support events such as these that positively impact the
world, both locally and globally.
We have remained members of REAP (Respect for
Earth and All People) Business Association, a non profit
association for locally owned businesses that care
about the community and the environment. Our
President, Leor Rotchild, frequently shares his
knowledge and expertise as a keynote speaker, guest
lecturer and panelist for various sustainability-related
COMMUNITY IMPACT
LOCAL + GLOBAL
SPONSORSHIP + INVOLVEMENT
“Having DIG teach the Green Beans workshop at our
summer camp was an amazing experience that was really
impactful on the kids. The kids loved learning about
composting and recycling, and even started bringing
food scraps from home to compost at our facility”
Chloe Dusser
Owner and Operator, Little Hippies
initiatives and groups. A few of these engagements
have included the University of Calgary, Mount Royal
University, Ambrose University College, Bow Valley
College, Alberta BoostR, Emerald Days in Fort
McMurray and the City of Lethbridge.
Throughout the summer, DIG ran a ‘Green Beans’
workshop every week as part of the Little Hippies
summer camp. This workshop included learning about
recycling and composting, and involved building musical
instruments from recycled materials. In addition to
spreading our love for being waste conscience, DIG is
happy to support Little Hippies and other members of
Calgary's local small business community.
17

11. The Calgary Awards recognize outstanding achievements
and contributions made by Calgarians. In Spring 2015,
we were so excited to be presented with a Calgary
Award in the Environmental Achievement – Corporate
category from Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Councillor
Shane Keating in the annual ceremony at City Hall.
CALGARY AWARDS
MUNICIPAL RECOGNITION
JUNE 10, 2015
We were honoured to be a finalist in the Small Business
category for the 2015 Alberta Emerald Awards. The
purpose of these awards is to recognize, celebrate and
inspire environmental excellence in Alberta.
They acknowledge organizations that ‘raise the bar’ for
environmental protection, innovation and merit in all
sectors. It was humbling to be a finalist amongst so
EMERALD AWARDS
PROVINCIAL RECOGNITION
JUNE 4, 2015
This particular award recognizes environmental
achievements in advanced technology, management,
conservation, protection, enhancement, education,
stewardship, and promotion of the city's environment
and goes to a business that displays innovative and
exemplary environmental conduct in our city.
many great projects and environmental leaders in our
province, including our friends at Verge Permaculture,
the Calgary-based winners of this award.
It was a natural fit for DIG to also take on the waste
diversion plan of the awards ceremony itself, held at the
Citadel Theatre in Edmonton– our first event in the
provincial capital!
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12. Special thanks to Kelsey McColgan for design work on this report and so much more.