Give Man a Fish and He Will Sell You a Chilean Sea Bass

It’s time for another “campfire” story to share a funny experience in the world of green meetings.

I was meeting with the Chef in a New York City hotel to plan menus for a conference of 400 investment professionals. Reading through the options, I saw that Chilean Seabass was featured on the menu. From my trusty Seafood Watch guide, I know that Chilean Seabass is one to avoid (They are a slowgrowing fish that is prone to overfishing and have become so rare that 50% are caught illegally).

Concerned about this, I say to the Chef, “I see from your banquet menu that you offer Chilean Seabass—one species that should be avoided especially when serving large numbers.”

He smiled slyly, looked around to make sure no one was there, and whispered to me, “Don’t worry, miss, it isn’t actually Chilean Seabass,”

Taken completely by surprise, I didn’t know what to say next. Should I be happy that he was lying to clients and not really serving the endangered Seabass? Or upset that he publicizes and charges for it while using a different fish? Was this “our little secret”?

Anyway you slice it, too slippery for me. Guess I’ll order the chicken. Wait, is it really chicken?

Planning For the New Generations

Our goal as meeting planners is to make our conferences exceptional events for participants. From the type of learning, to the networking activities, to the accommodations—the total experience is taken into account. We have heard a lot about the generational differences of the groups who participate and no where is it more apparent than in the environmental realm.

The younger the participant, the more environmentally savvy they are. Their expectations of environmental considerations throughout the meeting will be much higher. To them, it is a personal commitment. In his Earth Day 2008 Report, Joel Makower shares some important statistics:

“One in ten Americans say that they have looked up their personal or household's carbon footprint, according to Harris Interactive. Younger Americans are more likely to have done so. Almost one in five (18%) Echo Boomers (aged 18-31) say they have looked up their carbon footprint, compared to 11% of Gen Xers (aged 32-43), 9% of Baby Boomers (aged 44-62), and 6% of Matures (63 and older). “

As new generations move into the role of conference participants, they will be expecting green meeting practices to be incorporated into how we do meetings. Yet another reason to embrace green meetings!

News about Green Meeting Standards

A quick update about the development of green meeting standards straight from Amy Spatrisano, CMP, APEX Green Meeting Panel Chair:

“Good news: The meeting industry standard setting body – APEX (https://www.conventionindustry.org/apex/about.htm)
is collaborating with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s standard setting organization ASTM to develop the standards.

This collaboration between government and our industry is a fairly new concept --at least in my limited experience. So, we’ve been working out all the logistics of how the process will work and who will take the lead. ASTM didn’t even know we were an industry until last year. I think they’re still trying to figure out who we are and exactly what we do. They are a great organization and have been developing standards for decades. It’s just--you know--we’re not your average industry. We interface with so many other industries to produce meetings and events. It can be confusing to those outside the industry.

The response from industry professionals wanting to participate in this process has been phenomenal which a good thing for developing standards the majority will embrace. The standards will be created by a volunteer, consensus-based process. This means you, your friends and your colleagues can weigh in on them. You’ll be given lots of opportunities to do this online, in select city venues and as a part of industry meetings. Look for news in mid-June about the next steps and how you can
participate.

I think this is an amazing opportunity for all of us to be a part of a legacy for our industry and hope you might too."

Here, here!

What She Said...

Lisa English, CMP, CMM exemplifies many meeting planners as they begin to embrace green meeting practices. In a recent article, she articulately conveyed her experience and I wanted to share it with you.

http://www.conceptsworldwide.com/info/library/conceptualize/issues/issue-11/-/headlines--its-easy-being-green/

Lisa, welcome to the journey!

Because Sometimes You Just Can’t Help It

We try hard to be “paperless” in our planning practices, but there are some times in meetings when you still need to use paper. So the goal becomes, to minimize its use, choose the right product and then reuse/recycle it properly.

When choosing a paper, there are some terms to look for and be familiar with:

Post Consumer: Post-consumer paper is produced using paper that has already been a product (and probably put out at your curb). It is different from pre-consumer waste, which is the re-introduction of manufacturing scrap into the production process.

Recycled: A new product that has been made from re-processed materials. Recycled products can be made from post-consumer or pre-consumer waste.

Recyclable: A product that can be re-processed where facilities exist.

FSC or SFI-certified: Forest Stewardship Council or Sustainable Forestry Initiative-certified. These schemes identify and verify environmentally responsible papers.

Tree Free: Refers to paper that does not use tree fiber, but other kinds of fiber (i.e. hemp, sugar cane).

PCF: Process Chlorine Free: This most commonly means that the paper was produced without chlorine.

Changing from virgin paper to 100% post-consumer paper makes a huge difference. But don’t believe me…use this fun calculator to see the amount of trees and energy you can save by switching.

http://neenahpaper.com/environmentsavings

Don't Leave Home Without It

Your water bottle and coffee mug that is! During the registration process, we now ask conference participants bring their own. In recent months, I have heard about a new practice called, BYOB, or bring your own (conference) bag. It is being instituted with great success as well. Anything we can do to minimize our impact while traveling is critically important. To that point, EPA statistics show:

The average conference participant (at a three day conference):
Produces 61 lbs of solid waste
Uses 846 gallons of water

The same person at home (for three days):
Produces 13.5 lbs of solid waste
Uses 258 gallons of water

Road Warrior, Doug Kennedy, shares some great tips about how hotel guests can minimize their environmental impact.

http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2008_1st/Mar08_GreenTraveler.html

Meeting Industry Embraces Earth Day

WOW, what a week! The meeting and events industry really went wild with information and resources about environmentally responsible meetings. Industry publications (both in print and online) had loads of coverage. And the news media followed suit with articles and interviews specifically on green meetings and events. Here it is the end of the week, and I am still digesting all of the reports.

In the upcoming week, I will be synthesizing this wealth of information (so you don’t have to) and posting it on my blog. Stay tuned!

First up--I want to congratulate ARAMARK for this week’s announcement…

Partnership to Promote Shift to Sustainable Seafood Announced. Industry leader commits to completing transition within 10 years.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium and ARAMARK have entered into a partnership under which ARAMARK commits to new practices that will guide its purchases of sustainable seafood for all operations across the US. ARAMARK is beginning immediately to shift its seafood purchases toward sustainable sources. The company will complete the transition by 2018.

ARAMARK’s US operations alone employ 180,000 people and serve tens of millions of consumers at businesses, universities, schools, sports and entertainment facilities, parks and other locations. “Being good environmental stewards is important to our employees, our customers and the communities in which we live and work,” said Robert Dennill, ARAMARK’s associate vice president for corporate social responsibility. “The expertise and knowledge we are able to gain from the Monterey Bay Aquarium will guide business practices and influence consumer behaviors, helping strengthen our commitment to the environment.”

As you know, ARAMARK is the exclusive caterer for many of the facilities used for meetings and events. Speaking for meeting planners around the country, “We applaud you!”