Sustainable Events: go green, save green

On Wednesday I attended the Best Events Los Angeles conference as a guest of Jaime Nack, President of Three Squares Inc.  The organization invited Jaime to speak about organizing "green" events at a time when companies and event planners don't have the green to spend.  Jaime was the Director of Sustainability and Greening Operations for the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) in Denver, Colorado, which a year later is still noted as a case study in organizing and producing sustainable events.  She shared her experience and suggestion at a panel focusing on greening events.

 

Before your event even begins, sustainability begins with how you run your office.  Change the lighting, for example:   T8 fluorescent bulbs are amongst the most energy efficient lights available on the market, but go the extra step:  smart energy strips can turn off your office equipment while not in use.  Work with your IT department to set the default for all of your printers to double-sided printing:  not only are you saving trees, but you are reducing office supply costs as well.  As for the botched printing jobs, bottles, cans, and other recyclables, go for a single stream recycling approach:  you are making it easier for your team to recycle materials while avoiding confusion, meaning that the amount of recycled waste should increase overall.  Another way to minimize waste and energy is to buy used cubicle equipment:  you reap huge cost savings and the reality is that no one would know that your furniture had been used in another office.

 

When selecting the hotel, you should proactively work with the property's events staff.  The DNCC selected a hotel that already had recycling bins in each room; the property also had a goal of reducing energy 5% annually.  Her staff, however, went even further:  instead of newspapers delivered to each room daily (which often end up unread and dumped), newspapers were limited to the lobby and at kiosks; sustainably-harvested wood key cards were issued instead of plastic PVC; the hotel menu offered sustainable menu options; excess shampoo and toiletries were donated to local shelters (though bulk shampoo really is better); an aggressive linen reuse program was implemented; and instead of tropical flowers flown in from South America, the hotel displayed locally grown plants and floral arrangements instead.

 

Next you have your event, where much waste, of course, is often created.  Here's an example of where you can find a partner or sponsor:  in the DNCC's case, they worked with Coca-Cola recycling to deal with all the used containers.  Her staff trained thousands of volunteers to work at the recycling stations (which had clear, large signs!), and they in turn instructed visitors where to place containers, food waste, and trash.  Bioware conversion was a challenge:  corn or potato-based plastic cups and cutlery is more expensive than the standard plastic ware, but according to Jaime, you can encourage your vendors to factor this into their prices.

 

Finally, you have all those building materials.  Podiums like the one on which Obama gave his acceptance speech were constructing using sustainably-harvested woods and painted with low-VOC paint.  CFLs and LED lights illuminated all of the events, and most materials were donated to non-profits such as Habitat vs. Humanity after the convention.

 

In the end, Jaime made it clear that you have to make informed choices, asking your vendors and service providers lots of questions, and finding a balance.  Using corn-based beverage cups, for example, may seem cool or "green," but they cannot be mixed with other plastic recyclables, so they could very well end up in a landfill.  Education is often the key, whether you are dealing with your staff or vendors.  And you have to accept trade-offs:  what may be a sustainable solution in one city will not be possible in another--know your venue before you start your event so you are not surprised!

 

The results in Denver were impressive:

 

So whether you are producing a huge quadrennial event or an evening of local networking, you should be able to incorporate many of the ideas Jaime shared on Wednesday.  And you can go beyond crowing that you're green . . . you should be able to SAVE green as well.