According to a recent survey of companies that arrange meetings for associations and not-for-profit groups, four out of five such gatherings held during the past year were “greener” than in the previous year. In addition, approximately one-third of organizations with plans in the works for future meetings say they are willing to increase their budgets to ensure a greener meeting – even in the current era of recessionary spending.
Whether you’re a meeting planner, host, or attendee, making some simple changes to your meeting and convention practices will help to conserve energy and minimize waste, saving your boss, or if you’re self employed – you, lots of money.
- Research possible event locations and hotels and try to choose one that already uses sustainable energy, water and waste practices.
- Choose a site that is centrally located and is accessible through public transportation, or consider providing shuttles instead of having attendees drive to the meeting site.
- Consider teleconferencing if possible. Don’t fly or drive people in if it’s not completely necessary. Before making travel arrangements for speakers or attendees, see if those who would need to travel can participate through teleconferencing. Thanks to the internet employees can follow along totally virtually.
- Use e-mail, phones and the web for correspondence instead of paper.
- Serve a greener lunch. Lunch is a great way to lure attendees into a meeting, but serving tons of prepackaged and overly processed junk is no way to treat your staff or invited guests. Serve organic snacks and avoid packaged, single-serving items like chips, bottled beverages and condiment packets, as well as disposable items like straws and coffee stirrers. Find a caterer who is willing to use locally grown and/or organic food. Take meal orders from attendees before the event and provide several meal options (vegetarian, vegan, kosher, etc.) to avoid wasting food.
- Use re-usable plates, silverware and cups as well as cloth tablecloths and napkins.
- Make sure that recycling bins for plastic, glass, metal and paper are readily available.
- Conserve paper used in programs and handouts or other necessary printouts by including only pertinent information and by printing on both sides.
- Better yet, use Power Point instead of passing out tons of paper. Attendees can take notes on the information that is most applicable to them. This way, it’s not only better for the environment but it keeps attendees engaged.
- Skip the trinkets. Companies love to stick their logo on just about everything, but the fact is tablets of paper, paper weights, and air fresheners with your logo on them are just a waste of money and a burden on the environment. Save your marketing money for the tools that really make a difference like a good Web site.
- Be efficient and get your meeting done in one day. Don’t waste time and money by making everyone come back for a second or even third a day.
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