What's for Dinner?

Normally during a conference there is an evening where participants can enjoy the local fare. Whether guests are on their own or sponsors are hosting a meal, they will be searching for a restaurant. Help them along with suggestions for an environmentally sustainable restaurant which is as easy as checking this website www.dinegreen.com

The Green Restaurant Association certifies restaurants using the following standards:
-Does the restaurant use a comprehensive recycling system for all products that are accepted by local recycling companies?
-Are they free of polystyrene foam ("Styrofoam") products?
-Will they commit to completing four Environmental Steps per year of membership?
-Will they complete at least one Environmental Step after joining the GRA?

The website also has a great calculator for use by restaurants to check their environmental footprint. I would suggest planners use it as their minimum guideline checklist for determining restaurants to recommend!

Also, check with the CVB in the host city to see if there is a local green restaurant association or list of sustainable restaurants.

What is a Carbon Offset?

This is the second post in the carbon series. I hope you are finding it helpful. As a meeting planner, I never thought I would need this type of information. Of course, I never thought I would be called a "dumpster diver" either!

What is a carbon offset?

“A carbon offset is a project implemented specifically to reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Offsets are so named because they counteract or offset the purchaser's GHG emissions.” (Source: Climate Trust) The important thing to realize about a carbon offset is that it does not reduce your actual event emissions. It allows you to be responsible for those emissions you can’t avoid.

Carbon offsets projects can take a variety of forms including:
• Investment in renewable energy, such as solar or wind power.
• Energy efficiency projects, such as retrofitting buildings with energy efficient systems
• Tree planting which will absorb emissions from the atmosphere.

How do I start?

Steps to providing a carbon offset program for a meeting generally involve:
1. Finding an offset partner organization
2. Working with the partner to estimate conference emissions (travel and venue energy?
3. Ascribing a dollar value to the emissions footprint
4. Engaging a sponsor, delegates or your organization to ‘buy’ the offset

It is important to consider the fit with your organization. A few questions to ask are:
- Will members be accepting of the option?
- Should the program be voluntary or mandatory?
- Is selecting one offset program too restrictive?
- Does the offset project need to be local? Is location important?

How can we fund a carbon offset program?

There are a few scenarios for funding carbon-offset programs that meeting managers currently employ.
- One option is to use the program as a sponsorship opportunity and publicize that the sponsoring company has offset the entire event’s greenhouse gas emissions. This strategy gains powerful recognition for both the sponsor and for the event.
-A second scenario is to ask attendees to offset their own travel by contributing a specific amount as part of their registration fee. Make their contribution optional. Then, those who participate will be taking an active role in contributing to improving the environment.
- A third option is to include the offset as part of the conference budget and let attendees know that the organization is doing this on their behalf.

Up next…picking a carbon offset provider in this wild, unregulated industry.

What Size Are My Shoes?

Welcome to the first in a series about carbon emissions as they relate to conferences and events. Let’s start with the basics...

What is carbon?
Carbon is a basic building block for life. It is present in all living things. In its elemental form we know it best as coal, oil and natural gas which is a source of energy for many of our activities on the planet.

What we tend to be most concerned with when it comes to meetings and events is our ‘carbon footprint’, which we often use to describe the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. In addition to emissions output our carbon footprint may also include raw materials, or inputs.

What is your carbon footprint?
Just for fun you might enjoy seeing what your personal carbon footprint is. Follow the links to the Earth Day Network calculator www.myfootprint.org and Climate Trust’s www.carboncounter.org.

What is the ‘carbon footprint’ of a conference?
The “carbon connection” with meetings and events tends to be three-fold, associated with:
• Transportation: the gasoline and kerosene that fuels buses, taxis, shuttles, freight haulers and aircraft.
• Buildings: fuel that lights, heats and cools the hotels and venues we occupy.
• Manufactured products (purchasing): oil and other fossil fuels that may power factories that produce goods we need as well as the materials that go into the production of food, paper, plastics, fabrics and other products that we give away at meetings.

Climate Trust has a basic carbon calculator for events as well http://www.carboncounter.org/business/offsets-for-events.aspx

Next post I will talk about how to address your conference’s carbon footprint.

Upgraded to First Class

We all know how nice it is to sip tea out of a china cup in first class. Doesn’t it just taste better than slurping it from a Styrofoam cup in coach? That is exactly what guests experience during a green event--the food is fresh, healthy and served on china. Don't forget the silver spoon for your sugar!

It is true..."Green is the New First Class” and apparently the word is spreading. In a recent article focusing on upscale New York restaurants going green, it talks about how sustainable practices are being driven by customer demand for the best.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/FREE/936696709/-1/rss01&rssfeed=rss01

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

What Goes On The Road...

The Travel Industry Association took a survey of 2,296 travelers in August, 2007 and reported these findings:

When at home these US Adults report:

85% turn out the lights when leaving a room
67% regulate heating/cooling when not at home
60% recycle
60% turn off water while brushing teeth
59% use more energy efficient bulbs
53% take short showers

Seems reasonable for both economic and environmental reasons, right? So what happens when we leave home? How did we get the idea that hotel VIP guests require:

All the lights, radio and TV turned on when arriving in a hotel room
Their room ready and waiting at a constant 68 degrees
New sheets every day
Dual shower heads
And my personal favorite, a new bar of soap every time you leave the room ( I can’t even figure out how they sneak in there and change it so fast)?

If travelers don’t practice these things at home, why would they want to on the road? Additionally, we know that guests 25-39 years of age are more environmentally conscious than their older counterparts. It is time to ask what the new generation of guests think VIP service is. My guess? Free wireless internet!

The Power of One

Something to make you stop and think…

“If just one passenger per each flight in the world this year packed one pound less of luggage, they would save enough fuel to fly a Boeing 737 around the world 474 times. “

-Delta Airlines Sky Magazine, March 2008
http://www.delta-sky.com/2008_03/greennumbers/

Maybe we don't need that second bag after all?