Eco Thinking Key to Greening Conferences

Bringing people together for meetings, often for multiple days at a time, can create a "host" of environmental impacts—from the smog and greenhouse gas emissions associated with air and ground travel to the paper, plastic, and food waste associated with feeding attendees. In fact, Marriott Hotels, estimates that the average three-day meeting attended by 1,000 people produces more than 12 tons of trash, uses 200,000 kilowatts of power and consumes 100,000 gallons of water.

An aspect of business sustainability is making informed choices regarding green meeting planning. This includes everything from site selection to meeting materials to catering. Every eco action can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the event. According to recent research, more than two-thirds of meeting professionals take environmental considerations into account when planning their conferences. How are they doing this? By keeping eco awareness at the forefront of their decision making. Within our professional consulting practice, we advise clients to consider the following areas in planning a meeting with eco awareness:

Waste management and recycling
Water conservation
Energy efficiency

As eco awareness has expanded, more small business resources are available to help extend sustainability concepts into the planning process. We mention quite a few resources in our business sustainability consulting. However, for the serious planner, participation in the Green Meeting Industry Council is a must. The Green Meeting Industry Council is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization. It s a membership-based professional organization which provides educational resources to planners, suppliers, and venues seeking to meet the ever-rising standards consumers set for sustainable meetings. Specific resources of interest include:

Carbon Offsets and Event Calculators
Green Lodging
Books, Tips, Publications for Green Meeting and Events
Sustainable Tourism Organizations and Initiatives:

In our professional consulting in the area of business sustainability, we share with clients that planning or supplying a green meeting gives a business a competitive edge, a great reputation, and can save time and money in the process.

Comments for Eco Thinking Key to Greening Conferences

Friday, October 1, 2010 by marc:: Conference software is the latest in global communication. Costs are cut dramatically to any company in using this kind of tool. I use video conferencing software and it has changed the way I do business online and offline. I highly recommend this as a major step forward with any business, large or small. Its great what is possible with our technology now.
Friday, September 16, 2011 by Mitchell Beer:: Yes, virtual meetings are rapidly replacing many of the routine meetings that need not take place in person. There are also times and places -- when you're trying to bring a new group together, develop or refocus a major project, build trust and momentum, or create a comfortable setting for spontaneous conversation -- when there's no substitute for face-to-face. And that's where the advice in this post is critically important.
When I began working in meetings and events 27 years ago, I had no idea I was entering the industry that accounts for the second-largest volume of waste in the U.S., after construction. I hadn't thought out how deeply meetings depend on airlines that have no practical plan for deep carbon reductions and are hugely vulnerable to rising oil prices. We've seen a lot of progress since, and I'm glad you've pointed to the Green Meeting Industry Council as an important part of the solution. But there is a great deal more to be done.
The common denominator between virtual meetings, sustainability efforts at face-to-face gatherings, and hybrid formats that combine the two is that there are lots of opportunities but no simple solutions -- sorry, we've run out of silver bullets. Which is why it's so very important that great organizations like Taiga (they didn't ask me to say that D ) include sustainable meetings under the broader heading of business sustainability. It's time.