Sustainable Backyards is a month-long celebration of sustainable living, made up of events run by people and organisations across the region. Envirohub BOP manages the shared calendar, brand, and regional promotion; you plan and deliver the event itself.

Why host an event

Regional reach - Your event is promoted alongside a well-established, well-loved programme, reaching an audience already engaged with sustainable living.
Marketing support - Coverage of the calendar across print, radio, social media, and community platforms, at no cost to you.
Team support - The Envirohub team is on hand to help shape your idea and sound-board the details.

How it works

You look after your event, the venue, content, delivery, and health and safety on the day. Envirohub looks after the calendar listing, ticketing setup (where needed), and promotion across all our channels. There's no cost to host or list an event.

Key dates for 2027
1 November - Early bonus deadline. Submit full event details and quality photos by this date for a chance at featured paid social media promotion (we may also arrange filming).
16 November - Final deadline. Hard cutoff due to print and production timelines. Events submitted by this date still receive full listing coverage, without the paid promotion boost.

What we'll need from you

Event name and description
Preferred date and time (must be during March, Thu–Sun)
A few good-quality photos
Capacity and any age restrictions
Ticket cost (if any)

The strongest events tend to have a hands-on element, or unique knowledge, a small cost attached (free registrations sometimes mean no-shows), a clear sustainability angle, and a bit of a story to them, which helps us promote and pitch them for media coverage.

Promotion

Every event is listed in the printed calendar brochure (Bay of Plenty and Rotorua), on Humanitix if ticketing required, as a Facebook event, across the Envirohub website, the Green Team app, and What's On Tauranga (where applicable). The wider Sustainable Backyards calendar is also promoted through paid and editorial newspaper coverage, radio, billboards, roadside signage, and magazine advertising.

Accessibility and pricing

We give priority to events with lower-cost participation, generally $10-$40 per person. If you have ideas for koha-based or tiered pricing, or ways to make your event more accessible, we'd love to talk it through.