Guide To Sustainable Events

Sustainable Meeting Guide

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Sustainability in Today’s World Sandra Hall California State University, Chico Beverly Oviedo

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Overview Green Meetings and Events are ways to conduct your activity within an environment that has the least harmful impact possible. They incorporate the idea of sustainability and keeping the world healthy for future generations. During this class we will learn about CSR and blended values so that we can become successful Green people. We will learn about how previous generations ideas changed over time and how we can look today at the business' ideas and make it green to reflect the need of our environment. Change will be a focus and how we can help create this change of sustainability and expand it in today's world. We will focus on many aspects that are based on the Convention Industry Council Green Task Force guidelines for: • Destination Selection, • Accommodations, • Meeting and Venue Selection, • Transportation, • Food and Beverage Selection, • Exhibition Production, • Communications and Marketing, • On-Site office procedures Sustainability within Corporations Sustainability is an active method that allows all people to recognize their abilities and to advance their quality of life in ways that concurrently look after and improve the earth’s life support structures. Currently many organizations are going through a transition to sustainable development. That’s when what you are trying to accomplish meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations. This idea is important to have embedded into the core culture of the said organization. When sustainable development is brought into the corporate light, whether it is a small town organization or global one, it’s important that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is considered. CSR is the voluntary dedication to take principled action in corporate citizenship; to respect conscientiousness toward natural capital, business capital and human capital. In other words a personable and environmental aim of the company that is gainful to the organization. When examining if a business encompasses the ideas in CSR you must look to the core culture and examine them in regards to the 5 P’s: purpose, philosophy, priorities, practices (internal and external) and projections. The purpose is the main reason as to why the organization was created in the first place. It’s important to understand why they are here so you can organize the avenues for incorporating CSR. Then the philosophy is the supreme value that identifies the nature and persona of the organization. Different priorities are then formed from the first 2 P’s. The priorities are different values that strategically direct how both the philosophy and purpose of the organization are put into practice. When the priorities are put into practice there are two areas to look for CSR, in the internal practices and in the external practices. Internal practices encompass a variety of things including: internal communication and technology, performance management, training and development, selection and relation to employees and employee recruitment. With these in mind an organization should have in mind the idea of a green team; employees within an organization that are familiar with the practices of

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the company. Like in any organization it is important to address their concerns and hear their ideas so that the company can create a sense of empowerment and a feeling of ownership in the company. The external practices of a corporation are just as important as the internal ones. They include the procedures and services offered the customers, subcontractors, suppliers, vendors and partners. Within the CSR model it’s vital to see that the corporation has partnered with likeminded businesses that practice with similar priorities in mind. Last but not least one of the most important parts of having a successful organization with CSR in mind would be the projections or reflection of the group to the public. The projections of a group are the name, logo, corporation symbols, and location of the headquarters or events, the appearance of offices, the employee dress, marketing, public relations, community activities or any other representations of the organization. "Mahatma Gandhi has said, 'Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed'"(Chen, 2007).

(Corporate Social Responsibility, 2009) Sierra Nevada Brewery Case Study Purpose: To brew beer in a way that does minimal hurt to the environment but holds a great taste. Philosophy: they desire to stay a family owned and oriented business while having the minimal impact on the environment. Priorities: their customers, their staff, the environment. Practices: Internal: they are creating their own solar energy, have a great recycling program and work to conserve water and energy. They also have a heat and CO2 recovery program External: while they currently do not require their partner businesses to be environmental, they want to in the future. They said that they wanted to become entirely sustainable before they forced their partners to do the same. Projections: People see the brewery as really good beer that comes with a good family backing it. The brewery is good at publicity and getting out things about their sustainable practices as well as projecting a good face. ***The brewery is an avid advocate of creating a sustainable future and probably would not want anyone that did not follow their values of recycling to be within their staff. Simple steps to managing your green meetings and events- overview Green meetings and events are planned to reduce the impact on the environment as well as improve the financial outcomes. They have a positive effect on the surrounding community and support a worthy cause. There are several reasons as to why going "green" would be beneficial to a business. To start will, there are great economic benefits through saving the environment such as saving money on energy, water and disposable silverware. Additionally a business could gain a competitive edge. Those who are sustainable are more attractive and demonstrate

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organizational skills that are up to date with culture. Everyone benefits when implementing these green standards. The environment is saved, organizations save money, people are empowered to change their lives and the world, and everyone knows they can somehow make a difference. How to get started

There are 5 general steps you want to take when starting your journey: 1. Gather information: To begin implementing green practices into your meeting/event you must first understand how it will fit into the company/clients values and mission. It’s important to understand why the organization would want to incorporate the practice, this way you know what the goal is that you have to sell to your company/clients. Once you have that established you need to know the breadth of the contribution that you will be given (staff/financial). Also you want to know whether it is something that will be part of the core practices of the organization of it’s only a one time deal. Finally you need to know what they think are the most important parts that need to go green so you can find a focus. If you have all the information put into a plan it will be easier to get management and financial support. 2. Establish Minimum Guidelines: the guidelines will help you measure progress of greening in comparison to other events. These should be for vendors like convention centers, hotels, caterers, transportation centers, etc. it should be in the following categories: a. Destination selection **Keep in mind that when selling b. Accommodation selections the green practices to your c. Meeting and venue selections organization, clients, or suppliers d. Transportation selection e. Food and beverage selection its best to remember to f. Communications and marketing incorporate the business case. g. Exhibition selection This includes the economic, h. On-site procedures environmental, competitive ****It's ok to start small and build off advantage and potential for of each success**** regulation to influence 3. Communicate Objectives: let your organizations, clients, or whole organization (including all staff) sponsors. Emphasize how their know what new practices are being organization will come to be used and explain why. This is a process viewed as a leader. of empowerment of others. When they understand why they are following these practices they will be more motivated to make the event successful. Additionally it is good to let the attendees to know about the practices and why they are being implemented. This will help get them more actively engaged. The media would be your final source to inform as they will create good press about the company transforming to more green practices.

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Negotiate: once you have your goals established and everyone on board you need to find what parts of the corporations event they are willing to relinquish into your greening power. There are some things they will and some things they will not be able to bend on. Remember to emphasize the cost saving benefits where they apply. Additionally, once the practices have been negotiated ensure they are included in the contract. 5. Track & Measure: the final step is in tracking all the efforts of the organization. After having tracked you can compare the results to other previous and future events and measure the results. This can be very useful in selling other green practices to the company. Wil Wang and the BS8901 Standard

BS 8901 - First event standard in the world with a 3 stage planning process of: Planning, implementation, measurement. One of the most important things in this code is to seek independent verification. When verification is found that the event WILL meet the standards of the code. Provides validation of the owner/organization to a sustainable operation. Provides transparency to see the sustainable practices that will validate the system. CSR is an important part of independent verification. It all helps show (1) commitment to sustainability (2) established credibility (3) transparent communication.

Standards/Destinations Destination Selection When assessing the environmental features of a destination there are 3 things to consider: 1. What is the purpose of the event = this will determine the type of location 2. Where are the attendees coming from = find a place that has the lease amount of travel to for all 3. A location that has access to public transportation for meals and outings of members of the event is important The best way to find information about green suppliers is by simply asking the convention and visitors bureau. You could also contact a Destination Management Company for lists of groups that already include environmental practice. It is of high value to choose a destination that either already has green practices put into practice or is willing to execute them. Example of Gambia The video on Gambia demonstrated how people could choose the wrong or right destinations. In the beginning all seemed well but it was brought to our attention that some destinations for people’s vacation did not follow the idea of sustainability. However the lady also told us how we could become more involved with the surrounding area by leaving the hotel. A destination for an organizations event must incorporate what she was saying about reaching beyond the hotel to benefit the surrounding community.

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Sustainable Destinations has employed the geo-tourism concept to sustain and enhance distinctive destinations of the world. Geotourism now has a global presence. Discover how real practitioners—travelers, communities, and tourism professionals— are enacting geo-tourism principles to steward character of place." For more information visit: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable/impact_map.html (NG Maps)

Food, Beverage and Waste Management Food and Beverage Selection A. Here are 5 examples of what you may request as environmentally responsible practices for food and beverage. 1. Choose not to serve individual water bottles 2. Choose food in season that is local 3. Choose seafood from sustainable fisheries 4. Choose china service or use biodegradable cups, wrappers, cutlery etc 5. Donate leftover food B. If I were to choose 3 practices to hold to at my events, they would be: 1. Use china service or biodegradable cups, wrappers, cutlery etc 2. Use bulk containers for condiments

Sustainable Meeting Guide 3. Use food that is in season and locally grown C. There are several simple ways to keep costs down while benefiting the environment when organizing an event. 1. Do not pre-fill water glasses, but use them in preference to water bottles 2. Have condiments served in bulk containers 3. Use china service to serve meals 4. Minimize the use of table clothes 5. Use cloth instead of paper napkins 6. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

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FUN FACT: An example of increase in recycling, and consequent decrease the amount of waste going for landfill, comes from Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1989, Canada set a target to halve the amount of MSW by the year 2000. As a result of a comprehensive Solid Waste Resource Management Strategy, Nova Scotia (641,575 tons in 2000) managed to reduce the waste sent to landfills and incinerators by 46 percent by increased recycling and composting. (Srinivas, 2009)

Waste Management What is Waste Management? Waste management is the reduction of and recovery of natural resources that can be recycled, reused repaired, composted or redirected. With proper planning of events and meetings you can reduce the waste produced by diverting from the landfills and therefore reduce the greenhouse gasses that would be produced. The California integrated Waste Management Board has challenged all groups to adopt the idea of zero waste. Zero Waste is the idea that wasting resources is inefficient and should redefine what waste is and groups should realize that resource management, not waste management, keeps things from ending up in the landfill.

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Goal = Zero Waste If our goal is to be Zero Waste then it is important to look at what we currently do with our waste. As the picture below demonstrates, over 50% of our waste ends up in a landfill. Much of that waste is really resources that can be reused, recycled, repaired or composted.

There are several things we can do to reduce the amount of trash that we create. One of the best ways would be to simply reduce the amount of product you use and encourage your counterparts to do the same. Next you can look at what it is you are using and see if you can reuse any of it or switch to a similar product that is reusable. For example instead of using paper plates you can use china wear and therefore be able to reuse them many times over so the paper plates are diverted from the landfill. Then you also want to look at what of the items you can recycle or recover. This may be cans, bottles, or paper products. Many things you may not be able to recycle but you could put them in compost, such as many of the food products. Whatever you have left over would be what would be disposed of in the landfills. Managing What Materials are Discarded at your Special Event 1. Start planning well in advance 2. Work with local contacts (venue, haulers, local municipally, non-profits/volunteer) 3. Create a material management plan (establish greening policies & practices for the organization & event) 4. Set goals and communicate with attendees & stockholders 5. Arrange for containers & signage for attendees (graphics help a lot) 6. Provide for the removal of waste from the site.

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Below is a description of what waste is disposed of that could be recycled in one way or another.

Considerations when Pre-Planning for Waste Management at your Special Event 1. An organizations strong commitment to sustainable practices is important, this may require education 2. CSR & Environmental Policies provide a framework and driving force for waste management. 3. Destination services available will influence your decisions. It’s important to have likeminded business’s familiar with the services required to assist you with the management of your waste system (processing facilities, recycling haulers, compost facilities) 4. A major source of recovery is through recycling. Does the destination have a materials recovery facility? What are the restrictions related to the materials that can be recycled? 5. For pre-consumer food waste, which is a valuable resource, can arrangements be made with local businesses to utilize the resource at no cost for hauling? 6. For post-consumer organic waste is there a regulated compost facility? 7. Descriptions related to the event will influence costs. Are there surcharges related to the products used? Are there surcharges related to product selection? Can recover costs be negotiated? 8. How will you ensure that items are recycled properly; will you need extra support staff to help?

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A master list of all items requiring waste stream management needs to be developed that includes materials your event will generate. This will enable you to determine if a processor is available for the products you select. 10. Use signage to inform your participants of your sound practices. Onsite Practices • Order reusable water bottles • Apply generic logos • Collect badge holders, bags, pens and donate to an organization or retain for future use • Use china whenever possible • Use plasma screen signage vs. printed

Additionally you can use something referred to as the Closed Loop Cycle through which nothing ever goes to waste. The Closed Loop Cycle is a great way to divert waste from the landfills. In this model whatever is produced or left over shall always be used in another section of an organization. For example if a farmer were to grow a product, they would sell it at a farmers market to hotels, restaurants, and conference centers. These groups create pre and post consumer waste which is picked up by the Municipal Waste companies and brought to a compost facility. There at the regulated compost facility the products degrade in 180 days and the facility makes a four course compost. The four course compost is brought back to the farmers to fertilize their crops. That’s where the loop starts all over again. Composting Composting leftover products is a great way to be able to stay sustainable with your waste. However there are several different variations of composting.

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Compost: a diverse mixture of completely decayed organic matter used for fertilizing and conditioning soil Biodegradable: any material capable of being broken down by living things, like microorganisms and bacteria, is biodegradable. There are no established standards for biodegradable materials; it could take 10 or more years to degrade and still be in this category Compostable: a mixture of organic material that will totally degrade in a regulated compost facility in 180 days or less Regulated compost facility: properly aerated and temperature controlled to develop microbial activities in order to provide an environment that organic waste will totally degrade in 180 days Organic waste: waste material which comes mainly from animal or plan sources; organic waste generally can be consumed by bacteria and other small organisms.

When planning for composting you want to think about these definitions of different compost types. It’s important to know what services for compost are offered in the area of your event and to be able to plan for not having particular compost services. Also when looking at the composting facilities you should find what their standards are for the compostable products and what products they will actually take to compost. Many places are able to compost only specific types of plastic or paper. American Society of Testing and Materials This group sets the standards for identifying products and materials that will compost satisfactorily in commercial and municipal composting facilities. The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) provides a third-party certification for businesses. They make sure that all products are designed to disintegrate and biodegrade quickly and safely when composted in a professionally managed facility. When looking at a product, you can tell if it was BPI certified if it has the logo below on it… Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The EPA has created a list of compostable items that they refer to as the “in list.” They are listed below: • Animal manure • Cardboard rolls • Clean paper • Coffee grounds/filters • Cotton rags • Dryer and vacuum lint • Eggshells • Fireplace ashes • Fruits and vegetables • Grass clippings • Hair/fur • Hay/straw • House plants • Leaves • Nutshells

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• Saw dust • Shredded newspaper • Tea bags • Wood chips • Wool rags • Yard trimmings The EPA also has an “out list” of all the products that are not able to be composted: • Black walnut tree leaves or twigs • Coal or charcoal ash • Dairy products • Disease or insect-ridden plants • Fats, grease, lard, oils • Meat/fish bones and scraps • Pet wastes • Yard trimmings with pesticides Aramark, San Francisco, Greece Examples Aramark: The Anaheim convention Center Catering Services started becoming sustainable and following the CSR model practices in 2004 when they became the first company to have a partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium. This was due to a realization that at one of the events they were to be hosting, the fish that was to be served as the main course was becoming endangered, so they made a switch to a less endangered species and also began to switch many of their practices. They began to look for local producers and used compostable products that were made from the waste of other products. That's what caused them to start their own waste management program and look at what more the center could reuse, recycle or compost. Overall it was important that they were able to communicate their goals and needs with their partners so that everyone was on the same page and the platforms of the two groups could be joined together to create a successfully sustainable event. San Francisco: San Francisco has become one of the more green cities in the US. They have banned shopping bags and most of the restaurants have their grease created into biofuel for buses. This has causes 1.5 million gallons of biodegradable fuel to be used per year and has saved the city $3. Million in sewers. Additionally they have banned the use of bottled water at city sponsored events which in turn has saved 12 million gallons of oil that would have been used to make the bottles. Still though, there are over 1.5 tons of plastic water bottles that are not recycled each year. Finally 330 tons of pre/post consumer food waste is diverged every day to Jepson Prairie Organics to create the four course compost for farmers. Greece: Cities in Greece have become filled with trash in the streets due to an overflow of the landfills and no more space for the extra trash made. It has begun to affect public health as very few people understand the importance of recycling. If Greece were to begin a recycling program they would be able to reduce the amount of garbage by 70% and clean up their cities. Accommodation Selection

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When selecting the hotel or conference center for your green meeting it is important to make sure that they as your counterpart implement green practices also. Bringing your green practices to them will hopefully help them realize the importance of going green in today’s society. It will also help the surrounding community realize how pertinent it is and hopefully you can inflict some change. There are several practices that take place that can be made green. First you can make sure that they have a linen and towel reuse program so that less energy and water is spent on washing things that don't necessarily need to be. An In-room energy savings program would also be good to have. This is where the employees shut the blinds; turn off the lights and heaters when no one is occupying the room. Then there is the issue of all the soap and shampoo. It is best if the employees do not give new ones every day and only do it when requested. Also it is always a good idea to have a charity that you can donate the extra amenities. There is always one of the most obvious ways to make sure your destination is green, having a recycling program. This would be for cardboard, paper, metal, glass and plastics. It would be helpful to have in-room places to recycle these objects besides just for the employees. Finally when it comes to checking in and giving out information to your guests, the best route would be to go paperless with it all. If you could have computers to check in on and get information out to the rooms via televisions or other computers, this would be best. After you have checked for all these things within your accommodations, it would be beneficial to see if the property has been certified through a third-party organization or if they are in the process of that with a management program and training for the staff members. After everything within the hotel/conference center has been taken care of you should look beyond the hotel. Look to those that they purchase from and check to make sure that everything they buy is environmentally responsible. Finally when everything seems to be in good shape you should conduct a site inspection. Go around and check that all the recycling is taken care of and find where they hold it until it is shipped off. When going around make sure you measure the environmental commitment the organization has so that you can reference it later. During this entire process you will also want to make sure that the environmental commitment is included in the contract. Make sure that the amount of what it is you’re going to be doing is included so that later you can reference it and make sure the accommodation keeps up their end of the deal. Sustainable Hotels Here are 6 things that should be incorporated into a sustainable hotel: 1. You need commitment to sustainable practices from everyone in the company and need to be able to measure the progress and difference your making. To do this the hotel should have drown up a responsible business policy.

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2. There should be training for the staff which includes

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awareness as to why they are implementing these new policies. As you track your results you should express the progress to the staff so they maintain their progress and "Choose a hotel that is become encouraged to do better. interested in doing more to The hotel should have a good environmental program that has standards for protection of the environment. This become green. A willingness is also important to measure and inform people about. To to cooperate will make your task so much easier." be successful the hotel should have set goals to reach by a certain time period. When buying things for the hotel, the management should work with the suppliers to work on having environmental friendly products. It is important that the hotel examines the buyer’s policies and procedures to see that they follow the CSR model. Hotels should not just green their own practices but look beyond their hotels and make sure, like stated before, that they follow the CSR model. Meaning they need to make sure they look to other local people and make sure they are involved through buying their products, using them as staff, or provide ways for them to volunteer. Finally Hotels should be located in the center of their destination. They should have public transportation nearby so that their customers can access the local town. Or the hotel should host local events within their premises. They should let people in the hotel know why they are doing these activities and what other activities are available as well as what activities and products to avoid. Meeting Venue and Selection

When you are first discussing a contract with a potential venue selection, it is important to include your requirements for green practices right off the bat. This way you don’t get things set and have to rework the practices in. It would be wise to conduct a site inspection so you can properly asses if the policies and practices in place are good enough for your event of if they need more work. When talking with the personnel it would be a smart idea to include the food and beverage, operation and cleaning managers to they understand the green practices that are being implanted and need enforcement. Again it is always a good idea to track your green practices and see how you improve over time. Some key venue practice information you can ask about would be: • Do they have environmental management program or have been certified? • What kind of recycling program do they have and would they be willing to expand it if needed? • What are their energy conservation practices? • Are there any water conservation practices implemented? • What kind of conservation do they do in their restrooms? (Paper towels vs. hand dryers, automated sinks? Environmentally friendly cleaning products?) • When purchasing items, do they work with environmentally responsible businesses? Boston World Trade Center Example

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The Boston World Trade Center is a prime example of a Green Meeting Venue. There are several examples that show how much the Center is committed to being green. Here are several examples of programs and services they offer which are sustainable: • The entire environment is smoke-free • They also have begun to offer Allergy-Friendly Rooms The Boston World Trade Center is • They use a special “ozone” gas in the laundry to help reduce the cycles and amount of not the only place that is electricity needed. implementing these practices. • They recycle paper, newspaper, plastic, glass, aluminum, and cardboard Florida has also created the • They eliminate their organic waste with a new BioX System in which it is converted to a Green Lodging Program to liquid encourage hotels to go green. vendors and • They buy produce from local “The voluntary state initiative garden have their own herb and vegetable provides the lodging industry linens to • The guests can reuse towels and with free technical assistance, create less laundry • The kitchen recycles the cooking oil encouraging hotels and motels to to create adopt cost-saving "green" biodiesel fuel. • They now offer a Green Wedding practices that reduce waste, Package where everything within the event is conserve natural resources and sustainable. • At the center there are improve the bottom line. complimentary bicycles for guests, Facilities can achieve up to three public transportation nearby, and four levels of green within the Florida vehicles that are available for use. Green Lodging Program ranging from One Palm to Three Palm based on increased reductions in waste, water and energy consumption.” (Caroline, 2009)

Transportation

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When planning a green event it is important to consider the transportation aspect. That is, how are your attendees going to travel around while at the event, or how are your supplies getting to the event? When working to have the attendees become more eco-friendly it’s good to communicate information. Educate them about environmentally responsible transportation such as mass transit or carpooling and provide information about the local transit that is available. If possible it would be beneficial to provide a few bicycles onsite or transit passes with maps for attendees to use during their stay. Additionally if you are providing on ground transportation, try to choose shorter routes and minimize the size of the vehicle. When the vehicle is at a stop, see if the driver can shut it off so that it will not idle for long periods of time. Also you can see if biodiesel fuel is used or if they can switch to it (this would just require a change of the filter not anything else and causes no harm to the vehicle). If none of these suggestions are available you can encourage them to partake in purchasing carbon offsets. However this should be a last resort option. Your transportation vendors are not left out of this group. Environmental criteria should be included on the Request for proposal for the companies that will be used. Things like shipping can become sustainable by making sure that there is the least amount of packaging needed and recycling a lot of it. UPS is currently one of the only companies that offer shipping like this. In regards to the CO2 that is put out by planes, consider switching to shipment by rail as this is more environmentally friendly. As previously mentioned, Carbon Offsets are available for purchase when you are looking to be environmentally friendly. Carbon Offsets work by counterbalancing the CO2 put into the air by vehicles and machinery. When purchasing one, you are contributing to either the implementation of tree planting, solar panels, or wind farms. Purchasing these may contributing to reducing the amount of carbon in the air, however it you are still contributing to that carbon and if there is a way to not contribute in the first place, then there would be less of a problem to have to solve. Options 1000 people die each year because of the poor air quality due largely to the emissions from transportation. That’s why this is an important thing to look at when trying to be sustainable and put care into the environment. At the beginning of 2009 most vehicles in use were running on Petroleum-based non-renewable fossil fuels, which are not only bad for the environment but shall also eventually run out. London, along with 70 other cities in Europe, has created low emission standards for different heavy transport vehicles. Additionally that legislation will carry over to other vehicles in good time. Another form of transportation that needs to be looked after is air travel. Boeing has been creating engines for the 787 that will become 20% more fuel efficient than other planes that are of a similar size. This will help save them gas as well as push other companies to follow suit to keep up. Eco Limo is a transportation service based in SF and the Bay Area that drive eco-friendly cars to save their company money and do their part to help the environment. They run biodiesel cars that contain biofuel that can be wither recycled from potato chip oil or straight from any regular oil. Their diesel cars take is just like any other diesel car can. Additionally they run hybrid cars which move off of both electricity and gas but get great mileage. When looking to find ways to reduce your environmental footprint within the air there are several options you have. There’s the cheep and best alternative: Man power of biking or walking, but when it comes to driving there are also these options: hybrid, biodiesel, electric, natural gas, fuel cell and bi-fuel.

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References Chen, Steven (2007, September 13). What is a sustainable society? Sustainable Society USA, Retrieved March 20, 2009, from http://www.sustainablesocietyusa.com/html/SustainableSociety/20070913 Corporate Social Responsibility. (2009, February). Retrieved April 1, 2009 from: http://www.eolitservices.co.uk/pages/corporate-social-responsibility.php NG Maps. (2008). Retrieved April 1, 2009 from: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable/impact_map.html Hari, Srinivas (2009, January 21). Waste Management Fact Sheet. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from Urban Environmental Management Web site: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/waste.html Caraline (2009, March, 9). Florida green lodging program. Solutions foe Events, Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.solutionsforevents.com/2009/03/florida-green-lodgingprogram.html