Meeting Trends: Mobile Technologies Are Green in More Ways than One

We are excited about the continued efforts across our industry to reduce the environmental impact of meetings and conventions. Our team often works with clients to incorporate common-sense green initiatives that also save money, such as using local suppliers to reduce shipping cost, custom-building menus to take advantage of local and seasonal ingredients, and managing power usage.

Small changes are important, but their impact is gradual. One big step that organizations can take to reduce their carbon footprint as well as boost the budget is to add technologies that reduce or eliminate the need for printed materials. Online registration virtually eliminates faxes, as well as reduces staff time and stress. E-marketing has become easier and more affordable – as well as more effective! – than expensive postcards and printed advance programs. And e-posters allow content to be captures and shared beyond the boundaries of time and space.

Replacing a printed conference program with a mobile app can easily save an annual meeting thousands of dollars in printing costs alone. In fact, one of our team members saved an association nearly $50,000 in printing and shipping costs by transitioning their meeting to a paperless format. By contrast, mobile apps start at just $5,000!

A comprehensive mobile app reduces or eliminates the need for printed materials of many kinds, including:
* Conference program books
* Exhibit hall maps
* Exhibitor guides
* Speaker biographies and session descriptions
* Onsite errata sheets to alert attendees about changes and last-minute additions

The C&LC team is proud that our meetsmart mobile conference navigation app is being used to support green initiatives. For additional ideas on greening your meeting, visit meetsmartmobile.com.

GMIC Has Green Meetings Directory

Located at www.GreenMeetingsDirectory.com, the Green Meetings Directory includes text as well as video listings, both of which feature complete product and service offerings and supplier contact information.

"Through the use of the Green Meetings Directory, planners who are familiar with the integrity of the GMIC community can now easily connect with organizations that are striving to be sustainable," said GMIC Board President Amy Spatrisano.

For more information about the Green Meetings Directory, which is searchable by category, company name or worldwide location, visit www.GreenMeetingsDirectory.com or www.GreenMeetings.info

In Honor of Earth Day...

Here are some Carbon Footprint Reduction Tips for Work & Home!

Tips for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint at Work:

There are many improvements to be made at your workplace as well. Small changes can be implemented to even make a positive impact on the climate, such as:

At your Office

• Only print as many copies as absolutely needed. Instead of having each employee have their own files, create a central filing system to avoid having to make many copies of the same documents.
• Use smaller fonts when printing internal documents to save paper and ink.
• Recycle everything, including ink cartridges and toner. Ask local suppliers if they can deliver supplies in reusable bins rather than cardboard boxes.
• Turn off and unplug equipment when not in use.
• Telecommute whenever possible, but make a commitment to do it at least one day per week.

For your Meetings

• Ask your caterer for biodegradable tableware (plates, cups, utensils, etc.), or use china and metal silverware.
• Monitor meeting room temperatures. Turn the heat down a few degrees in winter and up a few degrees in summer, and encourage attendees to dress in layers.
• Make sure lights and AV equipment in session rooms are turned off when not in use. Ask your AV provider to unplug equipment at night.
• Offer a carbon-offset donation on your registration form. Many companies will plant trees for as little as 50 cents each.
• Provide materials that are eco-friendly: recyclable, printed on recycled paper, or go paperless altogether.

Tips for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint at Home:

Carbon emission from your home is directly correlated to everyday energy consumption. One way to reduce your carbon footprint is to improve energy efficiency inside your home. Some simple solutions with major impact include

• When appliances are not in use, turn them off and unplug them. Even small appliances like cell phone chargers waste energy when plugged in all day.
• Take shorter, cooler showers and turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.
• Recycle everything you can.
• Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL low energy bulbs, which use just 20% of the energy of a normal light bulb and last 15 times longer.
  
• When replacing older appliances, always opt for appliances that use less power and receive a good energy rating.
  

Want to Learn More? Additional Resources:

www.carbonfootprint.com
whatsmycarbonfootprint.com
coolaustin.org

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Styrofoam Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

450 years. 164,250 days, 3,942,000 hours. This is the time it takes for just one foam core sign to decompose in a landfill. That is an average of 6 human lifetimes per sign, which was most likely only used once, to biodegrade. It is time to make a change. More and more green options are becoming available to meeting planners in all different aspects. Sometimes when we think “green” our minds automatically land on “big picture” efforts, but every green change being made helps. While, yes, foam core signs are a quick and easy solution, we have found that Madison Avenue, Inc. has created a green AND cost effective option for eco-friendly event signs.

EcoSMARTsigns have one major pro for a step in the green direction, they are recyclable! EcoSMARTsigns are manufactured from 100% recovered fibers as well as an average of 35% post consumer waste. When the meeting is over, you can just place them out with all of your other paper recycling, unlike foam core signs. And if there are no recycling services available at your venue Madison Avenue, Inc will recycle them for you!

Looking for other small(but BIG!) changes to make around your meeting? There are a lot of “green meeting” resources you can check out to get other helpful tips and ideas.

Here are a few:

Reducing Paper Waste: http://www.conservatree.org/paper/Choose/SRpurchasing.shtml

Tips for Planners: http://www.bluegreenmeetings.org/HostsAndPlanners/10EasyTips.htm

PCMA Going Green: http://www.pcma.org/Resources/Meeting_Management_Resources/Green_Meetings.htm

Green Meeting Trends: http://meetingsnet.com/green_meetings/

Eco-Friendly U.S. Convention Centers

Centers in the U.S. are designing green rooftops and growing herb and vegetables gardens and harvesting the growth to be used at the dining table. Others are implementing sustainable decisions to include climate control system, reduction or elimination of poisons used at the facility like pest control and toxic cleaning products, recycling, reducing the use of non-recyclable items, composting, and water and energy conservation.

So glad to learn of the many, many convention centers in the United States updating their designs and operating with the environment in mind. In our own backyard, the Baltimore Convention Center is designing a green roof top and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (D.C.) has a 10-page online brochure outlining various methods of implementing environmentally-friendly initiatives to make our world a greener place.

Meetings professionals are including green initiatives in their RFPs, asking valid environmental questions about the sustainability of the convention centers and hotels and analyzing their own events for improvement and more execution of eco-friendly initiatives. Don't forget to pass along to conference attendees every little and every huge step you're taking to help the environment.

Lean & Green: Trimming Conference Costs through Environmentally Responsible Practices

Many organizations have made strides towards “going green,” whether in small steps or grand gestures. But in a challenging economy, it’s easy to put responsibility practices on the back burner as other priorities demand attention. The good news is that environmental and fiscal responsibility don’t have to be at odds with one another.

Greening your meetings simply requires making thoughtful choices throughout the planning process that support your organizational priorities. Here are just a few tips to effectively manage resources – both environmental and financial! – for your next meeting or convention.

• Transitioning from paper handouts to web-based solutions saves printing and shipping costs, gives meeting content a longer shelf life, and allows delegates to share the value with colleagues.
• Switching from packaged foods to bulk items eliminates wasteful packing and reduces your food and beverage expenses.
• Finding a local school or charity to reuse conference bags and other materials is a positive contribution to the community, as well as a tax write-off.
• Including a carbon-offset donation on your registration form allows attendees to make tax-deductible contributions to support planting trees.
• Asking the chef to source food locally reduces food miles and provides attendees with fresher ingredients that taste better and cost les.
• Requesting that meeting facilities place recycling bins throughout your event won’t cost you a dime.

Going green isn’t just about saving the planet – making smart choices that can save your organization money make good business sense, too.

Going Green in the Office

There's a great networking opportunity for the environmentally-minded in the Annapolis area where our offices are located. It's called Green Drinks and it's a monthly get-together in a fun, informal way and the common cause is the Health of the Chesapeake Bay. At Green Drinks this past Tuesday, we celebrated Tourism Week in Maryland and conversations were engaging, casual and fun! Go to greendrinks.org to find a Green Drinks in your area!

Here's some tips on going Green in the office:

• Turn off your computer every night
• Make sure your monitor turns off
• Change your computer power settings to it will go into sleep mode if unused
• Put all your office equipment on power strips which can be turned off
• Start using CFL bulbs for lighting
• Install an Occupancy Detector for lighting
• Invite in sunlight, open up blinds, set up your desk so that it maximizes light

*If every US computer and monitor were shut off every night, we would shut down eight large power stations and decrease CO2 emissions by 7 million tons annual. *Office Energy Guide, developed by the city of Portland, Oregon

THE MILLION TONS OF TRASH CHALLENGE

Did you know that the average meeting produces 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms) of waste PER PERSON, PER DAY?

Join event industry leaders who are pledging to divert 1 Million Tons of trash from worldwide landfills in 2009.

The Million Tons of Trash Challenge was conceived by leaders and members of the Green Meetings Industry Council during the 2009 Action=Sustainability Conference. The purpose of the Challenge is to build momentum and awareness toward the ultimate goal of reducing the environmental footprint of meetings and events, thereby building a more sustainable industry.

Q: What kind of data do I need to collect?

A: All participants are required to report how much trash their event or company produced, and how much was recycled by weight at a minimum. Two simple numbers. For those who are also reducing trash by composting, providing donation programs or cutting back on things like paper you can report this information as an option. Optional data fields include weights of plastics, glass, paper, e-waste, cardboard, oil, compost, wood, construction waste, donations and others. Data can be provided in metric or imperial, and will be converted for aggregate calculations.

Go to http://www.greenmeetings.info/trashchallenge/challenge.html for tips, resources, case studies, and networking opportunities for anyone who wants to reduce event trash.

GMIC invites all who are involved with events to sign up and commit here to reduce and divert waste and to measure and submit statistics using our online calculator.

Follow them on Twitter and check back often to see Blog updates and new case studies that will motivate the industry to make a difference and change our event waste habits forever.