GreenYour.com

Worldwide, 80 million people sit through at least one meeting or conference every year, supporting a $280 billion industry.[1] These get-togethers come with a high environmental price tag.[2] Typically, participants fly—sometimes a great distance—from one location to another one. When they arrive, they’re given handouts, folders or binders, and if it’s a big meeting, disposable name tags, registration information, and give-aways, much of which contain little, if any, recycled content. Energy and water are used in vast quantities throughout the event for travel, lighting, heating, cooling, nourishment, cleaning, and sanitation.[3]

And the garbage mounts. Food waste is tossed out with regular garbage and disposable dishes pile up in a bulky mess. The average 2,500-person conference will produce waste to the tune of 75,000 disposable cups, 87,500 paper napkins, and 90,000 cans or bottles.[4]

Choosing environmentally preferable materials—those that are reusable, contain recycled content, and are recyclable—will significantly reduce a meeting or conference’s overall solid waste and can potentially result in cost savings.[5] Want proof?

• Selecting a conference location close to delegates’ hotels will allow participants to walk to meetings, yielding potential savings for a three-day conference of up to $40,000.[5]
• One Meeting Strategies Worldwide client saved an estimated $87,000 by choosing water pitchers over bottled water.[6]
• Choosing bulk cream and sugar will cut costs for those products by 62 percent and 50 percent respectively.[7]
• Opting for reusable name badges could save a 1,300-person conference nearly $1,000.[5]

There are many factors influencing the growth of eco-friendly meetings and conferences, not least of which are the constraints of meeting budgets and pressure from local and regional governments. What’s more, businesses are keen to find reputation-boosting tools. Green meetings and conferences, when planned with the earth in mind, can satisfy all of these needs.[7]

Questions to get you started...

1. Does your office make an effort to mitigate travel when possible and replace with teleconference or video conference services? Has your office procured video conferencing equipment?
2. Are you able to influence decisions for catering and food selection? Do you have a policy to give preference to local, organic catering companies?
3. Have you a policy for choosing environmentally preferable dishes and flatware for conference meals and snacks?
4. Do you select bulk products such as beverages and condiments for conference activities?
5. Do you have a policy encouraging your employees to frequent green hotels?

External links

• BusinessTravelLogue - Fairmont Hotels Environmentally Friendly Conference Programs
• Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada - Greening of Conferences, Large Meetings and Events
• Green Meeting Industry Council - Forum
• Hotel Online - Portland Doubletree Makes a Conscious and Measurable Effort in Becoming an Eco-business - Earns the Green Seal® GS-33 Lodging Sustainability Certificate
• IMEX Green Awards - Green Meetings Awards
• Natural Resources Defence Council - Green Events
• onsite events green
• Shoplet.com - Creating a Green Conference or Seminar: Make your next big meeting or event eco-friendly!
• US Environmental Protection Agency - It’s Easy Being Green!: A Guide to Planning and Conducting Environmentally Aware Meetings and Events
• US Environmental Protection Agency - How to Hold a Green Meeting