I’ve been thinking a lot about tech conference lanyards lately—and not just because they’re part of the event experience.
After noticing how many brand-new blue “WordPress – Code is Poetry” lanyards get handed out every year, I started worrying about the waste this creates and what happens to them once the event is over.
I shared these thoughts in a recent LinkedIn post, and the discussion that followed was eye-opening: people are already finding creative ways to reuse, share, or repurpose their lanyards, from passing them between events to decorating them with pins.
It got me thinking about how we could take this idea further, especially at events like Checkout Summit. What if we experimented with a new approach that encourages attendees to bring, reuse, or customize their lanyards—turning a small piece of event swag into a meaningful, sustainable connection across the community? It’s a small step, but it could spark bigger change.
The WordCamp Example
If we take a rough approximation, there are two or three WordCamps almost every weekend. With around 200 attendees per event, that’s hundreds of lanyards produced weekly. Add the three flagship events each year—each with roughly 3,000 people—and the number climbs dramatically.
It’s easy to dismiss this because lanyards are inexpensive and harmless on their own. But multiply them across dozens of events, thousands of attendees, and many years, and the picture changes. It’s not just a sustainability concern. It’s also a community issue: we produce something meaningful for a weekend, only for it to lose its purpose immediately afterward.
Rethinking Lanyard Usage
The conversation on LinkedIn showed that some communities are already trying alternatives. In Italy, several events encourage attendees to bring their own. Leftover lanyards are collected, stored, and reused at future WordCamps—so much so that they haven’t printed new ones in years.
Other organizers shared past experiences too: WordCamp Orange County encouraged people to reuse their old lanyards, and even experimented with biodegradable versions. At other events, leftover lanyards were passed forward to the next city. All small steps, yet all proving that change is possible when the idea is shared openly.
Benefits Beyond Sustainability
What surprised me is how many people see lanyards as more than simple event swag. Some keep a single lanyard and decorate it with pins from every WordCamp they attend. Others treat it as a little piece of WordPress history that travels with them across countries.
A reused lanyard can spark a conversation with a stranger, remind someone of a past event, or simply give attendees a small sense of continuity and belonging. And there are other creative uses too—from attaching pass holders to converting them into mobile straps—though I learned that finding the perfect dual-purpose design is harder than it sounds.
Making It a Community Norm
It’s clear that some camps are already doing this, but it’s also clear that many aren’t. A shared guideline—nothing complex, just a simple recommendation—might help bring everyone on the same page. Something like “bring your own lanyard” could become a gentle expectation rather than an exception.
No need for strict rules. Just a nudge toward awareness, reuse, and continuity. A reminder that small habits, multiplied across a global community, do make a difference.
Checkout Summit’s Role in the Movement
As I prepare for Checkout Summit 2026, this discussion keeps circling back. It feels like the right moment to experiment with a new approach. Maybe we encourage attendees to bring an old lanyard. Maybe we collect and reuse them for next year. Maybe we try something none of us has thought of yet.
I’d love to hear ideas from the community—practical, wild, or anything in between. Feel free to share your thoughts, propose solutions, or point to examples from other events. Even a detail as small as a lanyard can spark meaningful change, and I’m curious to see where this conversation leads.
Featured image: CC0 licensed photo by Nilo Velez from the WordPress Photo Directory.
