Green Tradeshow and Conferences

GREENING UP TRADE SHOWS and CONFERENCES

Picture this: a pyramid of 1,200 Styrofoam cups sitting on top of 600 plastic water bottles, thousands of plastic utensils, stacks upon stacks of printed brochures and truckloads of promotional gizmos such as pens, key chains, mouse pads and magnets. Now multiply that by a million and ship it out to landfills nationwide.

This quick exercise illustrates a growing problem: the impact of the convention & tradeshow industry, a $107 billion industry that serves 136.5 million people attending 1.2 million business events annually.

Many of us attend annual tradeshows hosting thousands of vendors, clients and potential business associates. You can only begin to conceive of the waste such events produce - imagine each event as the building and deconstruction of a small city, consuming a vast array of disposable products within just a matter of days.

Business meetings, trade shows and conventions, more than 1.5 billion per year in North America, affect the environment in a number of ways:

• through greenhouse gases emitted during travel,
• the electricity and water consumed during events and hotel stays,
• the exhibit booths built from scratch and then dismantled,
• the countless brochures, PowerPoint handouts, promotional giveaways,
• and the meals & bottled beverages that are consumed and disposed of.

Over the years, these events have congested countless landfills and depleted or misused many of our natural resources, which directly impacts our environment. The industry is so large that even seemingly minor things add up to substantial impacts.

To Put Things in Perspective
It's estimated that 2,500 people attending a five-day conference, with three meals and two coffee breaks each day, can use up to 62,500 plates, 87,500 napkins, 75,000 cups or glasses, and 90,000 cans or bottles. That's a LOT of garbage!

Turn Your Meetings Green!
Only 16% of U.S. meeting planners cited environmental concerns as one of the top three external factors affecting their work - compared with 30% in Europe and Canada, according to a recent survey by Meeting Planners International. You might still be wondering: how do I go about organizing a successful green conference, seminar or meeting, and if possible, do it in a cost-effective (and appealing) way?

HOW TO: Green Up a Tradeshow or Conference
The following tips are by no means an exhaustive list, but a good start to a more environmentally friendly tradeshow or conference:

• Print all handouts on two sides using post-consumer recycled paper, and, better still, provide handouts online.
• Arrange for exhibitors to donate leftover flowers, giveaways or booth decorations to local schools or nonprofit organizations. Donate leftover food to soup kitchens and women's shelters.
• Ask exhibitors to minimize packing materials and use recycled and reusable materials in their booths. If you need to hand out promotional products, consider items made from recycled or sustainable materials. Some great earth-friendly options are available at ePromos
• Ask hotel housekeeping staff to shut blinds and turn down the heat/air conditioning during the day in rooms while attendees are gone.
• Ask hotels not to change the sheets and towels daily unless requested by the guest.
• Ask hotels not to replace the amenities daily unless they are gone. Use of soap and shampoo dispensers would be even better.
• Choose meeting rooms, hotels and restaurants that are within walking distance of each other, or provide shuttle services to minimize car trips if walking isn't feasible.
• Collect and recycle plastic name badges as people leave the event.
• Consider using carbon-offset programs to make up for the fuel burned by travel to the event. There are a number of companies that can estimate the amount of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming) created by travel to your event and will let you or participants donate a corresponding amount of money to plant trees, support renewable energy projects, etc.
  
  For more information about carbon offset programs, see:
  Carbon Offset Programs for Business
  Or: type carbon offset program into your Internet search engine.

• Feature information about the facilities recycling program for all areas.
• Offer drinking water in pitchers or water coolers rather than plastic bottles and use glass instead of plastic.
• Opt for reusable or recyclable signs.
• Provide well-labeled recycling bins for recycling and composting, as well as for trash.
• Separate recycling bins for attendees to use at all catered functions, registration, and especially on the exhibit floor.
• Select hotels that have detailed environmental policies such as energy-conservation programs, low-flow bathroom fixtures, on-site recycling, and that give guests the option of reusing their sheets and towels.
• Use non-toxic, biodegradable and green cleaning products. Encourage your cleaning company to use environmentally friendly cleaning and paper products - if they won't, switch to one of the many companies that do!
• Work with the caterer:
  Request locally-grown and organic food. Serve condiments in bulk containers, not individual servings, to save packaging. This includes sugar, cream, butter, cream cheese, etc. Use cloth napkins, and coasters instead of cocktail napkins. Request reusable, non-disposable dishes, glasses and linens for food service. If reusable isn't an option, ask if compostable items such as paper plates and utensils made out of corn starch can be supplied. If plastic, they must be washable (biodegradable or compostable is better). NO Styrofoam under any circumstances.

Resources:
Green Hotels Association - www.greenhotels.com
Convention Industry Council - www.conventionindustry.org
the Convention Industry Council's 31 member organizations represent more than 103,500 individuals and over 17,300 firms and properties involved in the meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry.
Green Meeting Industry Council - www.greenmeetings.info : the council also runs a site, www.bluegreenmeetings.org , with information on how to make meetings more environmentally friendly.