Blazing the Green Trail

 

FROM SMART MEETINGS

Oracle does more than see into the (sustainable) future, it is part of it

For Oracle OpenWorld 2009, Oracle decided to take their event to an even greener level. In years past they had incorporated sustainability, but in 2009 the technology giant had raised the bar with a 16-member Green Team that staged a sustainable event for 37,447 registrants from October 12-16, 2009 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center and many hotels in the area.

Some of the event’s notable accomplishments include:

• Diverting an estimated 140 tons of material from landfill.
• Sourcing 60% of food items from within a 100 mile radius of San Francisco.
• Reducing ground shuttles by 30% of peak usage, reducing emissions by 18,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and fuel use by 800 gallons.
• Total energy use and emissions avoided through purchasing decisions amounted to 1,146,130 mega joules and 120,073 lbs of CO2. This is enough energy to power 12 American homes per year, and the emissions equivalent of removing 11 cars from the road for a full year.
• 5% of signs were reused from 2008 and 37% of signs used in 2009 will be reusable for future events.
• A net cost savings of $800,000 through reduction and reuse.

Oracle’s green initiatives for such a large event have certainly lightened the company’s impact on the environment. What does this mean for your event and your company?

Click Here to Read More

Green Meeting Industry Council to host Future Leaders Forum.

DENVER – Denver will soon play host to some of the finest up-and-coming students in the international meetings and incentive travel industry. The Future Leaders Forum will take place in association with the Green Meeting Industry Council Conference (GMIC) Green Meetings 101 on February 9, 2010 at the Sustainable Meetings Conference in Denver, Colorado.

The program, designed and delivered jointly by the IMEX Group, the leading international meetings exhibition, and GMIC, offers gifted young students the opportunity to gain a unique insight into how to develop a successful career in the meetings and incentives travel industry. The focus of this Future Leaders Forum will be on green meetings and sustainability.

GMIC’s vision is to transform the global meetings industry through sustainability utilizing education and research. The Future Leaders Forum provides an opportunity to encourage the next generation of meeting industry professionals to embrace the green agenda as they set out in their careers.

Students will attend a day of presentations from leading professional meeting planners who will discuss the green agenda for the meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry. Presentations will include an overview of sustainability, process and context for events from Beverly Oviedo, Sustainable Solutions by Design, and a talk on “implementation process, event management and green” from Joanna Lanzirotti, CMP, U.S. Green Building Council. These will be followed by a student challenge during which attendees will be tasked with planning a perfect event for the future.

Students also benefit from an ongoing communications, networking and mentoring program, allowing them to stay in touch with peers from around the world and continue to build their industry knowledge.

“We are investing in new talent for the future,” says Carina Bauer, IMEX marketing and operations director, “and also engraining the importance of green issues early on to keep awareness high and encourage the next generation to think ‘green.’ The Future Leaders Forum successfully supports graduate event organizers in expanding their talents and improving their understanding of the market, so they are equipped with the knowledge needed to lead the industry in the future. The fact that the Forums have now become hunting grounds for well-informed employers who want to snap up the best students at the very beginning of their careers just goes to prove this.”

The annual Sustainable Meetings Conference draws a network of senior, experienced meeting professionals who’ve built their green checklists into strategic action plans that support their companies’ core values and objectives. The program for the 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference is built around green meetings standards soon to be released by the CIC (APEX) and other internationally recognized sustainable event standards (BS8901). Registration is still open and day rates are available at www.sustainblemeetingsconference.com.

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About the GMIC: The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) is the premier global community solely dedicated to sustainability, not only through education, but also by spearheading research, policy and standards for the meetings and event industry. The GMIC is an active member of the Convention Industry Council. For more information, visit www.greenmeetings.info

CONTACT: Tamara Kennedy-Hill

1-888-450-2098 ext. 25

tamara@greenmeetings.info

December 2009

Each day thousands of bars of partially used soaps and toiletries are discarded in hotel rooms.  Each day 9,000 children die from acute respiratory and diarrheal disease. Pneumonia and diarrheal disease are the top two killers of children under five.  Simple hand-washing can reduce those 3.5 million annual deaths by up to 60%.  A small but mighty group came out December 8^th in Orlando to help Clean the World by recycling soap and partially used toiletries.  As a pre-conference CSR event to the 2^nd Annual Green Lodging and Hospitality Conference, the GMIC Florida/Caribbean chapter-in-formation hosted eager participants at the Clean the World warehouse. 

Helping sanitize and repackage soaps and toiletries for delivery to those in need, everyone learned the brief history of CTW and the importance of their mission before rolling up their sleeves to rotate through the five stations – toiletry recovery as well as soap surface cleaning, dipping, sanitation, and wrapping.  That last step in the soap recycling process was so gratifying, knowing that the next time that soap would be touched is when it will be put into the hands of those who cannot afford so much as a bar of soap.

In less than 90 minutes, a small group of volunteers under the guidance of the CTW staff:

• surfaced cleaned 70 lbs soap
• sanitized 390 lbs or 3,000 bars soap
• wrapped 140 lbs soap
• recovered 100 lbs. amenity bottles.

Not only are our landfills saved from some of the contamination and over-burden from these discards, but these leftover bars of soap become little bars of hope.  Eager faces greet Clean the World each time they arrive in Haiti or any of the other third world countries they service.  Education and soap can help save lives.  Together, we’re changing history in our lifetime.

Visit www.CleanTheWorld.org for information about how recycling soap saves lives and what you can do to get involved as a hotel, or individually!

 Click Here to see the YouTube presentation.

THANK YOU to our volunteers: Paul Steen, Sarah Cahill, Alexa Cahill, Dave Cahill, Ray Burger, Ray Hobbs, Robin Galli, Brett Smith, Danielle Adams and Katherine Manfredi.

Green Meeting Industry Council

Sustainability is our Vision

Corporate Responsibility is our Obligation

Green Meetings are our Strategy

Web:   www.greenmeetings.info

EMAIL: GMIC.Florida.Caribbean@gmail.com

Contact:  Katherine Manfredi, CMM

               954-864-2705

Green Meeting Industry Council welcomes its newest media sponsor for 2010.

DENVER, CO – The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) announced it continues to expand its North American presence and recognition with the support of a growing roster of valued industry partners. This week, the 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference (formerly the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference) welcomed Meetings Media as a Platinum Level media sponsor.

As a Platinum Level media sponsor, Meetings Media’s support will be indispensable in aiding efforts to spread the word by engaging in cross-promotional activities surrounding the upcoming Sustainable Meetings Conference. To be held February 9-11, 2010 in Denver, CO, the Sustainable Meetings Conference is expected to draw 500 attendees to learn, network, and engage at an unrivaled gathering of meeting and hospitality professionals who are committed to advancing the vision of a sustainable industry.

Meetings Media utilizes multiple print and online channels to inform meeting professionals about beneficial educational opportunities and topics that impact the industry. Encompassing the well-established Meetings West, Meetings South, Meetings MidAmerica, and Meetings East titles, as well as MeetingsFocus.com, Meetings Media is a recognized source for meaningful industry content that meeting professionals can trust. By teaming up with the GMIC as a media sponsor for the Sustainable Meetings Conference, Meetings Media gains valuable exposure among the industry’s green innovators and thought leaders, demonstrating its support of environmentally and socially responsible approaches to meeting processes.

The Sustainable Meetings Conference offers sponsors unprecedented access to senior-level executives of national and global corporations and associations, as well as the opportunity to reach qualified buyers, connect with potential clients, and build brand recognition within an audience that is invested in a sustainable future.

A wide array of flexible sponsorship opportunities is available to meet any organization’s needs. For full sponsorship details or to apply online, visit www.sustainablemeetingsconference.com and click on “Become a Sponsor,” or contact Janice Ilg at janice@greenmeetings.info or 888-450-2098.

About the Green Meeting Industry Council
The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) is the premier global community solely dedicated to sustainability not only through education but also by spearheading research, policy and standards for the meetings and event industry. The GMIC is the only sustainable meetings organization that is a Convention Industry Council (CIC) member. GMIC is an active partner in the APEX/ASTM green meeting standards development as well as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainable events sector supplement. www.greenmeetings.info

About Meetings Media
Meetings Media is a San Francisco-based communications company engaged in print and Internet publishing for the meeting planning industry. A subsidiary of 80-year-old Stamats Communications, Meetings Media employs a staff of 30 in three offices nationwide. Beginning in 1991 with its Meetings California publication, Meetings Media has successfully served both planners and advertisers with the most in-depth destination coverage and a targeted, cost-effective advertising forum. www.meetingsmedia.com

CONTACT:   
Janice Ilg
888-450-2098
janice@greenmeetings.info

For many planners, one of the biggest hesitations to begin implementing green practices is not cost or desire, it is the fear of not doing enough, thereby not being considered green … but a greenwasher!

What exactly is greenwashing? Wikipedia defines greenwashing as:

“the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources. It is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing. The term green sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations that attempt to show that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment.”

By keeping some simple concepts in mind, your efforts are sure to be positively received instead of met with skepticism. The three keys avoiding the green sheen are

   1. Transparency
   2. Metrics
   3. Communication

First off, be transparent! It is important to be honest and straightforward with your efforts and goals for the event. No one expects an event to go from conventional practices to a achieving zero waste in one year. Therefore, it is OK (and often the key to success) to take baby steps! For example, this year you could focus on implementing a recycling program, and next year implement composting. Your efforts will be appreciated at any level. And, by being transparent, most people with be excited about participating in your organization’s new goals.

The second way to be seen as truly green is to track your metrics. The term metrics refers to weighing the environmental impact of an event. The most commonly tracked metrics are Waste Diversion, Energy Consumption and Water Consumption. Any event planner can track their metrics. Even if sustainable practices aren’t being implemented, establish a baseline of metrics so you know where your areas of improvement could be. Baseline data also is very important to show the impact of the green initiatives you implement.  For more information on how to establish metrics, refer to my January 2009 Meeting Sustainably column: “Green meeting step No. 3: Establishing and tracking metrics.”

Finally, the third component crucial to the success of a sustainable program is communication. This refers to communication with all stakeholders at all stages of the game. Not only does effective communication inform attendees of your intentions, it also increases enthusiasm and participation in programs. By communicating your goals, ways people can participate and metrics, you are not only implementing change at your conference but also engaging all stakeholders in your efforts. As a result, when you implement future practices, your attendees and vendors will remember your goals and eagerly participate.

Keep all these concepts in mind, and your efforts will be viewed as sincere, effective and engaging.  However, there are a few things to keep in mind so as to not be considered a greenwasher:

• Don’t make claims without proof
• Avoid vagueness
• Don’t make irrelevant claims i.e. “cholesterol free water”
• And of course, no outright lying!

Now that you understand the ways to ensure you are working towards green events and not developing a green sheen, you can get to work implementing sustainable practices. To understand more about possible first steps, what industry leaders have done and future initiatives, read archives of my Meeting Sustainably column.
Lindsay Smith

Lindsay Smith is the sustainability program manager for Denver's Colorado Convention Center and the President of the Green Meeting Industry Council's Colorado Chapter.

This article appeared on www.planyourmeetings.com, our thanks for allowing the GMIC to post here!

Atlanta (December 9, 2009)- The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) approved the Atlanta Chapter as an official chapter of the organization. GMIC Atlanta filed and was accepted as an incorporated affiliate through the state of Georgia on October 16, 2009. As one of the first city-affiliate chapters of the global GMIC organization, the Atlanta chapter formed in January 2009 and currently has more than 65 active members. Members are comprised of industry professionals who have joined together to build a cohesive and innovative green meeting environment in Atlanta. The chapter’s goal is to work with national leaders to build on Atlanta’s reputation as one of the greenest cities in America for meetings and events.

“It is truly an honor to work with a group of people who are intent on inspiring and fostering ideas toward sustainable efforts, not only in their meetings and events, but also in their homes and offices,” says GMIC Atlanta president Audrey Davies. “Our monthly educational and networking events are designed so that eyes are opened to the simple steps we all can take, as well as to encourage others to incorporate green practices.”

GMIC Atlanta seeks to promote sustainable practices within the Atlanta area meetings and hospitality industry in order to minimize the negative impact on the environment.  This is accomplished through education, networking, and the collaborative efforts of the chapter’s stakeholders, balancing economic and environmental objectives. The goal is to serve as a resource for all in the meeting and hospitality industry through education, research, collaboration, and community involvement. An affiliation with GMIC provides access to leading experts and resources in the “green” movement across the country. Supporting businesses or individuals have access to a wide range of resources and tools to connect with the industry’s greenest event planners and suppliers.

About the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC):

The Green Meeting Industry Council is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization. The Council is a membership-based professional organization that provides educational resources to planners, suppliers, and venues seeking to meet the ever-rising standards that consumers set for sustainable meetings. The Council’s mission is to transform the global meetings industry through sustainability. GMIC is the premier global community solely dedicated to sustainability in the meetings and events industry, not only through education but also by spearheading research, policy and standards. www.greenmeetings.info

Contact:

Lisa Kruas

Tel:  404.459.4950

Email: Lisa.Kraus@PlanYourMeetings.com

Green Meeting Industry Council welcomes its newest conference sponsor for 2010.

DENVER, CO – The leading green meetings conference in North America recently teamed up with its newest partner to deliver meaningful memories that participants can hold on to for years to come. This week, the 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference (formerly the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference) welcomed Travel Alberta as a Bronze Level sponsor in the Photography and Videography category.

By sponsoring photography and videography for the conference, Travel Alberta has partnered with the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) to capture priceless memoirs for attendees, vital views and insights from industry thought leaders, and the essence of the critical, learning-focused experience found only at the upcoming Sustainable Meetings Conference. To be held February 9-11, 2010 in Denver, CO, the conference is expected to draw 500 attendees to learn, network, and engage at an unrivaled gathering of meeting and hospitality professionals who are committed to advancing the vision of a sustainable industry.

Travel Alberta is the official destination marketing organization for the province of Alberta, promoting Alberta as a tourist destination regionally, nationally, and internationally to increase the number of visitors to and within the province. Recognized for its pristine wilderness, stunning mountain settings, and preservation of its natural attributes, Alberta is no stranger to the importance of sustainable principles and practices.

By coming on board with the GMIC as a 2010 conference sponsor, Travel Alberta has secured its presence among the industry’s prominent green innovators and thought leaders, demonstrating the destination’s commitment to environmentally and socially responsible approaches to meeting processes.

The Sustainable Meetings Conference offers sponsors unprecedented access to senior-level executives of national and global corporations and associations, as well as the opportunity to reach qualified buyers, connect with potential clients, and build brand recognition within an audience that is invested in a sustainable future.

A wide array of flexible sponsorship opportunities is available to meet any organization’s needs. For full sponsorship details and downloadable applications, or to apply online, visit www.sustainablemeetingsconference.com and click on “Become a Sponsor,” or contact Janice Ilg at janice@greenmeetings.info or 888-450-2098.

About the Green Meeting Industry Council

The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) is the premier global community solely dedicated to sustainability not only through education but also by spearheading research, policy and standards for the meetings and event industry. The GMIC is the only sustainable meetings organization that is a Convention Industry Council (CIC) member. GMIC is an active partner in the APEX/ASTM green meeting standards development as well as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainable events sector supplement. www.greenmeetings.info

About Travel Alberta

Travel Alberta is the official destination marketing organization for the province of Alberta. Funded by the Government of Alberta through the four percent Tourism Levy on visitor accommodation, the organization promotes Alberta as a tourist destination regionally, nationally, and internationally to increase the number of visitors to and within Alberta. For more information, travel specialists are available at travelinfo@TravelAlberta.com, 800-ALBERTA (toll-free in North America) or 780-427-4321 (outside North America). www.travelalberta.com

PORTLAND, OREGON—MeetGreen® joins the exclusive ranks by obtaining the award of British Standard Sustainable Events Certification 2009 (BS 8901:2009), the British Standard that attests to the highest degree of expertise in producing sustainable meetings and events.

MeetGreen® becomes the first North American event management firm to be awarded certification under the new, rigorous standards incorporated in BS 8901: 2009. The standard is pending approval to become part of the prestigious ISO (International Standards Organization), the world’s most widely recognized certification body.

While certification is an important achievement for MeetGreen®, the company’s clients also benefit from BS 8901: 2009 certification. Clients are assured any work done on their behalf by MeetGreen® meets the latest requirements for event sustainability put forward by BS 8901:
2009. For organizations pledged to corporate social responsibility, this reflects a deeper commitment to sustainability through addressing the economic, environmental and social impacts of their meetings and events.

"Certification is an investment we wanted to make on behalf of our clients,” says Amy Spatrisano, CMP of MeetGreen®. “For years, they have looked to us to set the bar for green meetings and events. BS 8901:2009 certification is one more step in continuing to raise that bar
substantially.”

Working with the firm throughout the certification process, lead examiner Tim Sunderland remarked, "I was very impressed with MeetGreen®'s management system. It is clear that the firm has fully integrated environmental and social considerations into their business as well as
into the products and services that they are offering to their clients.”

About MeetGreen®. Formerly known as Meeting Strategies Worldwide, MeetGreen® works with progressive global organizations to integrate sustainable practices and produce conferences and events that deliver targeted business results. For more information regarding the firm, please call +1 503.252.5458 or visit http://www.meetgreen.com.

BtG Event Solutions is the first DMC practicing sustainable meetings in Russia. Even though Russia is difficult destination in terms of sustainability, the environmental development director of BtG is sure - we can reduce the negative impact of travel and MICE in ANY destination.

One of the most difficult moments in Russia is material or waste management, as no infrastructure is created yet. However, after research BtG realized that several recycling companies exist for different post-event material types: glass, paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, metal, oil and even compost. The best part is that in Russia recycle is CHEAPER than landfill – the companies or people are paid back for plastic, metal and paper they bring to the facility. A few international chain hotels already sort materials. However, there are still difficult moments and most of the materials go to landfill – even from the companies who collect and sort in house carefully.

BtG Event Solutions (DMC in Russia), a non-profit ecological society Musora.Bolshe.Net (“no more waste”) and Green Destinations Group (green meetings consulting) organized workshop about sustainable meeting practices. The first workshop happened on November 10, 2009 in the hotel Novotel St.Petersburg Center and was specifically about Material Management – the idea was to bring all participants together and to help them to create infrastructure making recycling possible for the hotels and restaurants. The organization Musora.Bolshe.Net invited different recycling facilities, hauling services and ecological organizations to participate in the workshop.

The meeting was hold in the Novotel St.Petersburg Center (Accor) – one of the “greenest” hotels in Russia with the most detailed environmental policy. Novotel is sorting all the materials in 5 categories. Moreover, the hotel has an in house team that is responsible for sorting the materials manually and guarantee the “cleanest” organization of recycling. The sorted materials are packed and packages are labeled. The hotel bought press machines for paper and plastic. Nevertheless, they are facing the major problem – hauling service that would bring the materials to the recycling facilities.

Few other hotels sort their materials as well: Radisson, Sokos Palace Bridge, Marriott Court Yard and Renaissance and face the same problem.

In many cases all carefully sorted materials go in one hauling car and contamination level is large. They are not accepted by the recycling facility and on the end go to landfill. Different hauling vehicles for each type of materials can be arranged, but, because of the financial interests, they only can haul certain amount of materials. That amount is usually unrealistic for a single hotel and even press machines do not help. A hotel simply can not keep 1,5 tones of paper or 1 tone of plastic at a time.  

That problem was realized during the workshop and the solution was found! The hauling companies will send a specific car for each type of material, stop by several hotels located close to each other and take only specific materials at a time.

That is only the first workshop from the series that is planned for hospitality industry by BtG Event Solutions, GreenDestinationsGroup and organization Musora.Bolshe.Net (“no more waste”). BtG as the first DMC in Russia specializing on greener meetings, creates infrastructure within the destination and helps their partners – hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment companies to implement practices that will reduce negative impact. Father workshop topics for hospitality industry are: Minimization of Waste, Sustainable Food, Procurement, Energy and Water, Air Quality and others.

Contacts:
Tatiana Baklanova, BtG Event Solutions, tbaklanova@btgroup.ru
Maria Gershanik, GreenDestinationsGroup, maria@greendestinationsgroup.com
Denis Stark, Musora.Bolshe.Net, stark@mail.ru