Sustainable Green Meetings/event Planning

GRE EN G UIDE Sustainable Green Meetings/Event Planning

Presented by:

Katrina Johnson

Ove rvie w Planning and Managing Green Meetings and Events

Ove rvie w Green Meetings and Events planning has not always been the way it is now. The trend evolved slowly after the Convention Industry Council Green Meeting Report in 2003. The Environmental protection agency and Event industry leaders saw that there was a better and more sustainable way of holding such meetings and events. Eventually “Green Meetings and Events” was given a legitimate definition. Green Meetings and Events are meant to incorporate environmental considerations to minimize their negative impact on the environment. Some may ask “why is this important?”, and “why should we continue to evolve this industry rather than stick to what we have done in the past?” The truth is, there are many reasons why it is important.

Ove rvie w The 7 most common are; to manage consumption and resources to reduce environmental impacts, Government regulations, value to the planner, organization, destination, attendee as well as suppliers. Overall the biggest driving motivation behind such methods of planning is to avoid negative impacts on the environment to promote and brighter and more sustainable future.

Ove rvie w Statistics show that in the Hotel industry on a daily average consumes 600 million gallons of water, uses over $10 million on electricity, and generates over 5.4 million pounds of waste. Not only is this bad now, the tourism industry is estimated to increase to about 1.5 billion by 2020. If we don’t start considering proper waste management tactics now we will encounter a serious problem in the future. This idea brings us to “Sustainability”. This is the ability to provide for the needs of the world’s current population without damaging the possibility for future generations to provide for themselves.

Ove rvie w There are ten easy tips to start planning Green Meetings and Events that support the sustainable goal. Put it in writing (Env. Policy), Paperless technology (electronic registration), Meet close (reduce unnecessary distances), Practice the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), Bulk up (use of bulk dispensers), Lighten you stay (use of the linen reuse program) , Close the recycling loop (recycled products like paper and soy ink), Save energy (turn of lights when not in use), and Lastly, Spread the word (share your success with others.)

Co rporate So cial Re sponsib ilit y Sustainability is about integrating economic, environmental, and social considerations in to decision making. According to Tony Carry, “ Green meetings are gatherings that do no harm to (and can even benefit) the physical environment now or in the future.” As noted before, all of these aspects can be considered a part of sustainability. An even wider concept of Sustainability and Green Meetings and Events includes Corporate Social Responsibility (CPR). CPR can be described as a commitment to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of a workforce and families as well as the local community. Basically, just bringing in the foundations for sustainability and applying them in the work place. Being a business that upholds Its Corporate Social Responsibility such as a manager of Green Meetings and Events, Sustainable development is the next priority.

CSR a nd Su st ain abili ty cont… Sustainable Development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present but for future generations as well. It is our job to make sure that we not only work with the organizations needs but also meet sustainable standard to protect the environment as well as future generations to come.

Su st ain able St andards  BS-8901 The First Event Standard in the World  A practical road map to identify and target things to work on in order to make sustainable events a reality.  Incorporates the three aspects of a Green Meeting and Event: Financial, Environmental, and Social.  In involves Independent Verification. This leads to validation of sustainable practices which show commitment and credibility.  It is based off of three phases:   

Planning: Controlling and improving practices, involving stakeholders. Implementation: understanding as well as action. Monitor Check Review: Needs to be in place to capture data to be reviewed and possibly improved.

Sust ain able S tandards  

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In addition to the BS 8901 Standard similar ideas and standards have also been conducted in order to serve as a guideline for Green Meetings and Events; The Convention Industry Council established Minimum Guidelines to follow when attempting to green an event. This incorporates eight categories that are part of any form of meeting or event planning but can easily be made to incorporate more sustainable and responsible practices. These eight categories are as follows: Destination Accommodations Meeting and Venue Selection Transportation Selection Food and Beverage Selection Exhibition Production Communications and Marketing On-Site Procedures

Imp orta nce o f DeWhen stdeciding in ation where to hold a green meeting or event it is very important to consider all aspects. Of course the financial and environmental aspects are of high importance but it seems that some where along the way the social aspects of an event have been lost in the transmission of regular planning to more responsible practices. There needs to be a balance between all aspects and in order for the meeting to truly be sustainable the surrounding community must not be overlooked or in some cases abused or ignored. Local involvement lends itself to long lasting memories and unique experiences for the attendees as well and revenue for the local economy. If we keep the focus more centrally located cities and venues will be more apt to stay local and green throughout the future which is what sustainability is all about.

FUN TIP: One way to help draw attention to the community in which your event is being held is to create signs that promote the best the community has to offer. How do you do that? Signs can serve as reminders to guests of the great things right around the corner. Highlight the local community’s needs, accomplishments, and history or prompt people to attend a community building event or make a donation. This way whether or not your attendees have the time to really go out and support the community on this particular visit, it may get them thinking and the information alone may grant action at a different time.

Gre en m ee tings and Desti nat ions

What is a Green Meeting?  A strategic planning process that entails sustainable choices at every level of planning that are both environmentally and socially responsible. What is the business case for Green Meetings?  The economic, environmental, competitive advantage and potential for regulation to influence organizations, clients, or sponsors.

Green me etin gs a nd D estin atio ns Cont… Who benefits from implementing green meetings?  Everyone! Planners, suppliers, the economy, as well as the environment. What are the steps to getting started in incorporating and implementing green meeting practices?  In all actuality, it is the same as your every day planning however, in this case it is important to use green practices as a ‘filter’. First you must set your goals and objectives making sure green meeting practices are incorporated as well. You must determine the organizations goals and objectives by asking questions. Once the organizations level of support is received, you have full control to determine what further strategies and/or practices to put in place to further develop the event as a whole. How will you sell or convince clients to green their meetings?  Communication is key. You must communicate with the organization and let them know what policies or new practices are being put into place to green the event, why they important, their benefits, and the plans for implementation.

Green me etin gs a nd D estin atio ns Cont… What steps will you take to convince suppliers to support the green meeting practices?  Point out cost-savings as well as environmental benefits, track efforts and measure results and explain customer/attendee appeal to more sustainable practices. One way of doing this is by conducting a MeetGreen summary report to show the environmental impact and compare it with previous events. The differences in lower cost and environmental impact alone should be incentive enough to carry out such sustainable practices. List at least three factors to consider in evaluating the environmental aspects of a destination.  Understand the event’s purpose and the attendees’ geographical locations.  Obtaining a list of environmentally responsible organizations…

Green me etin gs a nd D estin atio ns Cont…  Includes environmental criteria in the RFP and contracts.  Evaluating all aspects of the city and venue. How would you find information about green suppliers?  The convention and visitors bureau or a Destination Management Company (DMC) In making your decision, what value would you place on whether the destination has existing green practices or at least is willing to implement them for the meeting.  It is important to place and extremely high values on something like that. The more a city and venue understand and embrace environmentally responsible practices, the easier it will be to green the event which is of high importance.

Food and Bever age/ Waste Manageme nt List at least five environmentally responsible practices to request for food and beverages.  Choose not to serve individual water bottles and use large pitchers or containers instead.  Choose foods that are in season. Local and organic are the best if possible. This can also benefit the local community as well.  Choose seafood from sustainable fisheries.  Choose food based on the history of the attendees’ preferences and attrition. (if applicable)  Choose china service over disposables that add the land fill waste and lack in up scale appearance. * If disposables must be used, be sure to use biodegradable or compostable alternatives. If you had to choose three green requests, which would those be?  Recycling  Donation of all leftover food/beverages and other possible items.  Local and/or organic products/food. (Both if applicable)

Food and Bever age/ Waste Management…

FUN TIP: Food for thought! Keep your attendees thinking sustainably when it comes to food... How is it done? Create signs that communicate the locality and life cycle of you’re treats. By prompting guests to think about where there food comes from, encourages the creation of sustainable food systems outside of your event. Create table signs that tell guests what each item is, where it came from (hopefully somewhere local) and whether is USDA-certified organic.

What are some options in choosing food and beverages to make meal functions less harmful to the environment and benefit the community?  Donation of left over food and beverages.  Purchase organic and/or local products whenever possible.  Don’t pre-fill drinking water  Use large pitchers and containers rather that plastic bottles  Use china and cloth rather than plastic and paper.  REDUCE, REUSE, AND RECYCLE!

Accomm odati ons

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What does it mean to be a GREEN hotel? In order for a hotel to truly be considered sustainable or ‘Green’, there needs to be active involvement and incorporation of sustainable thinking in all decision making throughout the entire organization. This means choosing environmentally and socially responsible practices when considering: Policy and framework Staff training and awareness Environmental management -Including energy, water use, and waste Purchasing People and communities Destination protection

Accomm odati on sel ecti on… What are the two requests to make to a hotel?  The first thing is to ask is the hotel would be willing to, or currently upholds any environmentally responsible practices such as: Linen and towel reuse program In-room energy savings program Recycling program In-room and Property recycling Paperless registration and communication Has the hotel been certified or have they established Environmental Management Programs and training for staff?  Environmentally responsible purchasing…      

 Another good request to make is for a site inspection in order to determine if practices and policies are actually in place and being properly conducted.

Accomm odati on sel ecti on… Who from the hotel should be included from the beginning when requesting green practices?  People to include in the planning and requesting fro green practices are housekeeping, operations, and food and beverage managers. These people do the most hands on work and ore often more knowledgeable when it comes to practices already implemented and what else may be feasible. What should you do in ensure the Green Practices that the hotel agreed to will be implemented?  When green practices have been agreed to, you must then make sure the contract supports that agreement. Outline and include all of them in the contract and require them to be in place, implemented, and measured. It is important to ensure your expectations are documented and required and that some level of consequence will be applied in the case of a failure to comply.

FUN TIP: Hold your event at a “Green” Venue! By green we mean LEED certified. These buildings, convention centers or hotels incorporate ideas of sustainability into the core of the design. Not only will your venue support green living and your ideals, it also gives your event a boost towards low energy consumption. Check out this website for information on what it takes and means to be a Green Building and chooses a venue that meets the LEED standard of compliance www.usgbc.org/leed

Meeti ng and Ven ue Sel ect ion When do you discuss your green meeting expectations with the venue?  You should discuss your expectations during the initial discussion. It is important to ensure minimum green guidelines as a part of the initial request proposal. What is the next step once the venue has agreed to implement green practices?  You need to make sure the contract supports the commitment. Then, conduct an onsite back-of-thehouse tour to make sure they are prepared to implement you requests and ask for measured data What should you do to verify the green practices are being implemented?  Ask for the data to be measured and supplied after your event and also make sure the specify the environmental programs you want done within the final contract.

FUN FACT: Every year, each American throws out about 1,200 pounds of organic garbage that can be composted. *Does your venue have a composting program and/or facility near by?

Exampl e of a Green Venue:

What Makes the Seaport World Trade Center a Green Venue?

Seaport Trade Center: With its extensive resume filled with eco-minded initiatives and commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, the Seaport hotel is a great example of a green venue. Seaport created its program known as, Seaport Saves, which is dedicated to increasing conservation and sustainability throughout the entire organization as a whole. The hotel offers a completely smoke-free environment, allergy-friendly rooms; accompanied by Green Seal certified cleaning products and an Ozone System. With a yearly recycle rate of 44%, about 201 tons of material are being reused and left out of the land fills. As for the restaurant, bar, and bakery, they implement a BioX Decomposing System that eliminates organic waste and turns it into liquid, and cooking oil is saved and used as biodiesel. Seaport believes in cooperation with likeminded businesses that like them, believe in sustainable practices, so they work with local farmers for fresh, seasonal, and often organic produce. Other “green” aspects to the organization are their In-room conservation efforts such as; guest’s option to reuse towels, linens and recycling, thermo-glass windows, and a “smart thermostat”. When it comes to renovations and recycling Seaport takes care to only replace needed items, recycle and/or reuse items and replace existing things with more eco-friendly alternatives. For example, their existing Energy Smart Roof system; which reduces heat, helps clear and prevent pollutants, and conserve energy. Lastly, one of the most interesting and uncommon approaches is Seaports focus on sustainable transportation. They have teamed up with public and alternative transportation companies to offer ease and discounts to guests and staff as well as supply complimentary bicycles to get around.

Transportati on: Alternative Fueled Vehicles Organizations within the San Francisco are making a huge step towards environmentally sensitive transportation. One company has come up with a fuel efficient aspect to a more indulgent lifestyle, by providing Eco Limos. They use a variety of different fuel sources such as biodiesel, bio-fuel, and hybrid vehicles. This company particularly has made the huge leap to switch to alternative fuel sources, as well as go out of their way to attain the biodiesel considering there actually isn’t any biodiesel pumps within the city. As Briana Hughes points out, it really doesn’t take much more than a few hose swaps to run a diesel vehicle off of biodiesel. In addition, with the stop-and-go traffic so commonly known for San Francisco, hybrids are used to their full potential because they hardly ever reach the point to have to switch to fuel. This means the vehicles are mainly running on electric. Overall, the switch has not only benefited the company as well as the environment and with these benefits, more people will likely catch on and do the same with their transportation services.

Tra nsp ortation What two practices can be used to educate attendees about greening their transportation?  

Alert attendees to environmentally preferable transportation. This includes mass/public transit, trains, carpooling, etc… Provide information about the local transit/shuttle possibilities to get them around

How do Carbon Offsets relate to meetings?  Carbon offsets are a possible tool to help offset the inevitable emissions from a meeting or event. FUN TIP: Telecommute Drive less with the wonders of working from home (or internet café, tree house, Mojave desert, etc.) With instant messaging, video chat, teleconferencing, and other world-flattening technologies, making the rush-hour trek to work and back might not be that necessary. Ask your boss or offer your employees a teleconferencing day once a week.

Tra nsp ortation What are some environmentally friendly options to consider when hiring transportation companies?  For ground transportation and shipping freight it is possible too use common methods and options. You want to begin by reducing the amount and size of your transportation. It is important to consider smaller vehicles and limited routes. There are also a few guideline questions to ask prospective companies to aid you in picking the most environmentally friendly options:   

Do they perform environmentally responsible maintenance and recycling? (used oil, batteries, and tires.) Do they train drivers to minimize idling and air conditioner use? Do they offer fuel-efficient or alternative-fuel vehicles? Would they be willing to use biodiesel in the existing vehicles?

Communi cati on

Generational Considerations for Green Practices

When we look at each separate individual we are bound to find different perspectives about green practices and how one chooses to deal with them. When we talk about different generations it becomes a little more difficult to define and pinpoint the differences. All generations seem to be open to change it just depends on how it is presented to them. There is also a difference in the motivation to enact such change. As for my generation, I feel that the common predictions are correct in saying that we are the most open, used to, and likely to implement change, especially when referring to green practices. In addition, I believe that these predictions relate very closely to my own personal way of thinking. Obviously, not every person in my generation feels the same way about green practices, but as a whole, I do believe that our generation feels the most need and want to integrate change. We tend to take action and start doing something rather that ask why things have happened.

What is Green AV ?

AV stands for Audio/visual and most commonly refers to meetings and events in the form of lighting, presentations screens, speakers… When it comes to “Green AV”, AV is still the same there is just a need for a conscious approach to more sustainable alternatives. Pulse was the first “Green” A/V staging company. In order to be considered green without previous standards they implemented green practices such as reusing and recycling products, as well as selecting the most efficient lighting, audio, and video equipment. With there actions and motivation to be more environmentally sensitive they have been the cause and outlining guide for the EPA’s new standard for Green AV. These practices promote using products to the fullest as well as upgrading/using the most efficient products that are environmentally-sustainable.

FUN FACT: A new standard for small size, high-efficiency speakers is here! www.teresonic.com Teresonic recently announced the next generation compact speaker called Magus. With its remarkable levels of the highest quality sound from only a few Watts per channel, it is a perfect candidate for environmentally friendly audio applications. Its small in size compared to most popular small speakers on the market but its high performance and unique design is surpassing most of such products by a wide margin. In many cases, for the amount of sound it puts out and lack of space needed it is also lighter on the budget. There you go! A space efficient, higher quality, environmentally friendly Alternative that saves you money… How can you beat that?

Pap er an d Pri nti ng Of course we all love the idea of always using the web to deliver information, but sometimes paper usage is the only alternative. In times like these you shouldn’t give up on you eco-friendly habits. There are alternatives available! That’s right; there are environmentally sustainable papers and inks. When using paper products and/or printing for a meeting or event, here are some basic guidelines to consider: Basics for Printed Materials:  Print on recycled paper  Design to conserve paper  Print double sided  Use vegetable inks; inks with a lower VOC  Include environmental information on the paper  Avoid printed materials if event information can be sent electronically Minimum Considerations:  Paper companies that use only recycled wood fiber and tree-free fiber  Non-chlorine bleaching agents  Products that contain at least 50% post-consumer fiber or higher, whenever possible Basics and considerations from Meeting Planners ToolKit.

Paper and pri nti ng… FUN FACT: Paper can be Planted! When you think of paper you think of trees right? Well the normal paper you buy from an office supply store has come a long way from its natural tree roots. Now, there is actually paper that once your done with it, you can plant it back into the ground to complete the cycle.

Ene rgy

FUN TIP: One way YOU can save energy at your Green Meeting/Event: Use less light in the venue to save energy. Make sure what ever light fixtures you do use have energy efficient product like light bulbs etc… You could also use reusable longlasting soy candles, or energy saving lamps per table. Dimming the lights may make it more personal, calming and even a little romantic.

What is Renewable Energy??? Renewable Energy is the new preferred source of energy because not only is it a renewable resource, it doesn’t cause damage like green house gases to the environment. The most common ways to retrieve renewable energy is through wind, sunlight and water. What does this mean for green meeting and event planning? When it comes to venue selection it is beneficial to know what kind of energy sources they use. If you want you event to be Green, a renewable energy source would be extremely beneficial. It can help save you money, help the environment, and even demonstrates good management, which can only help your business succeed. You’re happy, you’re guests are happy, and the earth is happy!

Gre en Of fice Promoting a Green Office

Most people work 8 hours a day, five days a week. The office is a great foundation for spreading ideas and techniques for environmentally conscious activities. It is a great way to promote a green future for the company as well as employees and customers. The following steps were gathered and shown in Meeting Planner Toolkit

Green Of fi ce… Ten Easy Steps to a Greener Sustainable Office: 3. 4.

Office Policy: Establish an environmental office policy. Responsible Paper Usage: Avoid printing PDF’s, whenever possible. 5. Break Room: Avoid disposables; use washable items (e.g., plates, glasses) 6. Purchasing Products: Purchase fairtrade products such as teas and coffees. 7. Water Conservation: Don’t let the water run when brushing your teeth or washing dishes. 8. Equipment: Use power strips for ease of turning off multiple machines and appliances. 9. Maintenance: Use non-toxic cleaning supplies. 10. Waste Management: Dispose of hazardous materials properly and recycle. 11. Energy Efficiency: Use energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. 12. Social: Donate food, used furniture and equipment to non-

Green Of fi ce… -All of the steps on the previous slide are extremely important for a green and healthy future but which one is the most important? In my opinion it would be a combination of Energy Efficiency and Equipment because they both involve energy. Non Renewable energy sources are an enormous threat to the environment and that damage it causes as well as the scarcity it has reached in not healthy for anyone or anything. By using renewable and more efficient energy we can not only use less but help the environment as well. Practically everything we do, buy, throw away… involves some sort of energy at come point so it is up to us to remain environmentally conscious in our decision making.

FUN TIP: One important

thing not mentioned is transportation. You are all going to the same office relatively at the same time… CARPOOL! If that doesn’t work for you try public transportation, walking, or riding you bike. It will lighten your ecological footprint, lower the amounts of emissions let off by vehicles, as well as bring the office together in the efforts to