Keppler

Rising to the Challenge: Making Your Next Meeting Green

At almost every conference I have attended over the past few years, meeting planners are striving to go "green." Those who conduct meetings are searching for the best ways to support environmental goals while still ensuring that meeting participants are well-served. Most of the meetings in which I've been involved have eliminated sponsor-generated handouts, but there are even more ways you can go green and make a difference.

In order to provide some solid advice about how to make meetings more sustainable, I spoke with Nancy Wilson, CMP, a partner in Meeting Strategies Worldwide, and a founder and board member of the Green Meetings Industry Council (www.greenmeetings.info).

Nancy says that the most important part of sustainable meeting planning is to "Think smartly about what you do. You don't have to eliminate everything that you've ever done. However, you need to set goals and determine what you can do to help the environment and your bottom line."

We also discussed specific steps that both meeting sponsors and others can do to make a difference at their meetings.

1. Exhibits and exhibitors use many resources when it comes to tradeshows. Rather than send direct mail, encourage exhibitors to use electronic communication before and after meetings to attract traffic to their booths and to follow up on leads.

2. Booth and meeting giveaways can be more creative. Consider consumable items or donations to a worthwhile cause. If you want your name to remain in front of people, consider promotional products that are made of recyclable materials.

3. Recycle and encourage those attending the meeting ro show to do so as well.

4. Serve local food. Talk with the catering department to determine what percentage of food is locally grown or produced.

5. Donate leftover food. Talk with local food banks and go to www.secondharvest.com to investigate which local food pantries are in need. Talk with chapters of PCMA (www.pcma.org) and MPI (www.mpiweb.org) to find out how they might be involved in helping to feed those in need. Check too, with your legal counsel and that of the facility and/or caterer to ensure that all parties are covered for donations of food.

6. Handouts and other materials can be made more environmentally-friendly if printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink. Another idea is to produce a limited amount of handouts so that there are enough for those who need them, but that money and paper are not wasted on printing too many.

As our industry moves forward, there will be more resources available for planners who want to "green up" their meeting. In fact, the Convention Industry Council (www.conventionindustry.org) is now, through the APEX ("Accepted Practices Exchange") project establishing green meeting standards. Watch the industry press for more information.

In the meantime, use resources now available, including Nancy's blog at the Green Meetings Industry Council (http://blog.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com) and the "Meet Green Calculator" (www.meetgreen.com). You can also purchase Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events: The Professional's Guide to Saving Money and the Earth, a book Nancy Wilson and her business partner, Amy Spatrisano, CMP, wrote, at either www.amazon.com or www.meetgreen.com.

If you are looking for more information on understanding the business case for going green, please visit www.greenmeetings.info/goodforbusiness.htm.