Filed under: Business + Politics, Waste + Recycling | Tags: conference, dream, eco-critic, environmentally, event, green, hotel, industry, meeting, planner, planning, responsible, stakeholder, sustainability, sustainable, theme, venue
Planning a conference gives you incredible purchasing power, why not use it for good?
(Image from Lunar Events, UK)
Each year, your event planning team meticulously plans a conference bringing thousands of the best from your industry together for a few days to learn and share expertise and discover the latest industry perspectives. Whether the theme is information security, investment strategy, global health, consumer demands, or one of a myriad of others, there is one thing that all conference planners must consider: sustainability of the conference itself.
Building sustainability practices directly into the conference itself can both wow your stakeholders by demonstrating that you’ve got green savvy while pleasing your eco-critics with your new and improved environmentally responsible conference.
A whole systems approach will maximize the sustainability factor of your next conference, here’s a few steps to get you started:
1. Cut printing and mailing costs by going paperless.
*Launch a website for the conference and perform registrations and confirmations electronically.
*Keep the conference agenda and other materials online providing on-demand access for individuals with computers or handheld devices.
*Advertise the conference using online marketing and email.
*Encourage conference speakers to post presentation handouts online rather than printing them out.
2. Use recycled, chlorine-free paper and vegetable-based inks when printed materials are absolutely necessary. Use both sides of each page.
3. Choose your host city carefully.
*Reduce travel by choosing a location that’s close to as many delegates and speakers as possible.
*Does the city have an eco-friendly reputation?
*A recycling program?
*Public transportation?
*Walking and bicycle routes?
4. Implement the 3Rs everywhere.
*You’re paying for the services of the hotel and/or conference venue, don’t hesitate to ask for visible and accessible reduction, reuse and recycling services for paper, plastic and other relevant conference materials.
*Or better yet, look for conference space (hotels, convention centers, universities) with recycling and/or composting programs already in a place.
*The morning coffee reception is an ideal time to implement the first two Rs: reduce and reuse. Get the event sponsors on board by providing reusable mugs printed with their logo(s). These can also be given away on the last day of the conference.
5. Use a responsible and environmentally conscious food and beverage service.
*Ask for meals that use fresh local produce, organic when possible, and free-range meat and poultry.
*Offer vegetarian meal options.
*Use reusable service ware and/or ensure that any packaging can be recycled or composted.
*Arrange for excess food and waste to be composted or donated to a soup kitchen or pig farm.
6. Green the swag.
*Distribute all giveaways in reusable bags.
*Suggest that your sponsors or exhibitors giveaway items that are in line with the conference’s sustainability values – recycled, durable, and/or reusable.
*Include a Poplar tree cutting as part of the mix, ask delegates to plant their tree back home to offset their carbon emissions from conference travel.
7. Promote your green conference innovations.
*Get creative, contact the media or network with bloggers to get the message out that you’re an environmental leader.
*Gather statistics about how many tons of waste were composted, recycled or avoided all together by your initiatives. Statistics can be expanded to include energy, fuel, and carbon savings.
*Remember: don’t make any claims that you can’t back up!
8. Educate yourself by finding out more! Check out these great resources:
Meeting Strategies Worldwide: sustainability experts
(Recently Launched!) Green Meeting Blog by event planning expert Nancy J. Wilson
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Meetings Initiative
EPA’s Guide to Planning and Conducting Environmentally Aware Meetings and Events
~ Sarah H
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Filed under: Business + Politics, Society + Media | Tags: Business, carbon, care, compost, compostable, conference, conserve, dream, eco-critic, eco-friendly, emissions, engineers without borders, environmental, event, green, hotel, making a difference, meeting, offset, package, planner, planning, recycle, responsible, stakeholders, sustainability, sustainable, travel, venue
I recently returned from the Engineers Without Borders conference on “Sustainable Engineering and Global Health” in Seattle. The flight on Southwest was disappointing to say the least, from an environmental perspective, but the conference was a green dream come true, thanks to a “sustainability coordinator” in charge of making the conference itself as sustainable and carbon neutral as possible.
The first thing that I noticed was the in-room recycle bin at the hotel, shortly followed by the Project Planet door-hanging in the bathroom encouraging me to conserve water and use my towels more than once.
The next morning I discovered it was a mere 10-minute stroll from the hotel to the conference venue on the University of Washington campus. Cool, I thought, no need to waste money on a taxi.
Once at the conference hall, I lost myself in the fairyland of recycle and compost bins, zero paper handouts, and fully compostable beverage cups and napkins. It only got better as I picked up my t-shirt made from 100% fair-trade organic cotton and water-based ink. Lunch came and I found myself relishing the local, organic fare pre-boxed in compostable packaging. I had never been to a conference planned quite like this before – it was exciting!
To top it all off, EWB gave each of us a “Carbon Offset Care Package” complete with two hybrid Poplar tree cuttings to plant when we got home. After all, flying the 3,105 miles from Kansas City to Seattle I had emitted approximately 1,400 lbs. of CO2. I planted them as soon as I got home, because it was going to take the two of them together almost 20 years to offset my emissions from this single trip.
(My cute little Poplar trees are already growing after 1 week!)
The whole experience made me feel good. Sometimes, I feel as if I’m one of only a handful of people recycling or bringing my own cup to the coffee place, but at the conference, there were hundreds of us walking, recycling, composting, and maybe even planting all those trees. I felt like I was a part of something bigger than me and that that something was making a real difference in just one weekend. It was a real green dream come true!
Curious about how you might create a green dream for attendees at your next conference or meeting? See my next post: Wow your stakeholders (AND please eco-critics) with your next business conference.
~ Sarah H
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