Planning Green Meetings and Events:

The Event Planner Toolkit

Courtney Brown
Recr 498
Planning Green Meetings and Events
Beverly Oviedo
Spring 2009
 Overview
A green event is a sustainable event that incorporates
environmental considerations to minimize its negative impact on the
environment. Green meetings fall into the trend of "going green" and
many companies are doing anything they can by having sustainable
events. Green meetings value the planner, organization, destination,
attendee, and the suppliers. It covers government regulations and
uses resources to reduce environmental impacts
Overview Continued
By having sustainable meetings and events, negative
environmental effects and high costs won't be a problem. CSR, or
corporate social responsibility, is making decisions with considerations
for the environment, economics, and social equity. While planning a
green meeting, there are 10 important steps to be followed. Some of
the important tips are to put the event in writing, use paperless
technology, have the meeting be a close distance, use items in bulk,
eat green, save energy, and spread the word of green events to
others. One goal for many organizations is to have their building be
LEED certified. LEED is Leadership, energy, and environmental design,
it is a Ògreen buildingÓcertification program that minimizes lights,
water, and uses low energy and power saving computers. A lot of
these buildings also use recycled papers, electronic communication
and green energy.
 Sustainability
Sustainability: A dynamic process which enables all people to realize their
potential and to improve their quality of life in ways that simultaneously
protect and enhance the Earth’s life support systems

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): to make decisions with

considerations for the environment, economics, and social equity.

Sustainable Development: Ensures that all internal and external decision

making takes into account the environment, economics, and social aspects.
 Sustainability Continued
A sustainable business is one that not only produces a product with a cyclical-life cycle, but
also is one that conducts every procedure with corporate social responsibility in mind. This
would include green meetings and events. With keeping meetings sustainable, you are not
only helping out the environment, you are helping the company by saving money as well as
keeping the environment in mind. Meetings can be sustainable by using recycled paper
products, use bulk products, using electronic ways to communicate, keeping the meeting a

short distance to travel to, and save energy, just to name a few.

Corporate social responsibility is important to planning green meetings and events because it
allows a company to focus on creating, maintaining and innovating meetings and events. By
coordinating green meetings and events a company can enhance its green credibility with
the public. Green meetings and events should also be a reflection of the company’s day-to-
day operations and product.

The development of the building is crucial for a green event as well. The operational
practices should be focused on a healthy indoor environment as well as outdoor
environment. With having a LEED certified building, utility bills are lower, the environment is
healthier for the people, and waste management is more controlled.
 Standards
What is a Green Meeting?: Environmentally and socially
responsible meetings and events.

Business Case for Green Meetings: the economic, environmental,

competitive advantage and potential for regulation to influence
organizations, clients, or sponsors.

Who Benefits from Implementing a Green Meeting?: Everyone

and everything! There are economic benefits, environmental benefits,
a competitive advantage, and regulations can be covered
BS 8901- Sustainable Event
Certification
BS 8901 is a sustainable event certification. It is a new
British Standard which specifies requirements for a
sustainable event management system. The purpose of this
standard is to help the events industry conduct business
operations in a more sustainable manner.

BS 8901 is a management system standard. A management

system is defined as a system to establish policy and
objectives and to continually achieve those objectives. BS
8901 requires organizations to understand the sustainability
issues relevant to their event(s) and to put in place measures
to control and minimize these impacts. It requires
organizations to aspire to continually improve their
sustainability performance in relation to the management of
event
 Get Started!
Set goals and objectives, make a mission statement and set
values, chart the course, set the standards, communicate
objectives, negotiate green practices, track efforts and
measure the results.
Convince your clients! Implementing green events can cause
them and their organization to be viewed as leaders.
Convince your Suppliers! Most green practices are cost-
saving or cost-neutral for suppliers. I would ask the suppliers
to serve items in bulk instead of individual packets, which can
save 50 percent or more!
 Destination Selection
Environmental Aspects of a Destination: Understand the event’s
purpose and the attendees’ geographic locations, obtain a list of
environmentally responsible organizations, include environmental
criteria in the RFP and contracts.

Information about Green Suppliers?: Ask the convention and visitors

bureau or a destination management company for a list of venues,
properties and suppliers that have environmental practices in place

I would first make sure the destination was willing to work with me in
order to practice an eco-friendly meeting in their city. I would also
use the business case to steer any destination that is willing to

implement for a meeting.

 Food and Beverage
Three Green Requests: I would choose to not use plastic water bottles, and I
would stick to large water pitchers. I would also choose local food that is in
season, and china instead of throw-away plates and utensils.

What are some options in choosing food and beverages to make meal functions
less harmful to the environment and benefit the community?: In order to help
out the community, you can write a clause in the contract with the
hotel/company stating that any left over food must be donated to a local food
donation outlet.

List at least 5 Environmentally Responsible Practices for Food and Beverage:

1) Do not serve plastic water bottles
2) Choose food that is in season
3) Choose seafood from sustainable fisheries
4) Choose food based on the group’s preferences
5) Do not use throw-away plates or utensils
Did You Know?
For a 3 day event
serving 4,200
attendees, not pre-
filling water glasses
and not using
saucers saved 520
gallons of drinking
water and 12,400
gallons of
dishwater?
 Accommodation Selection
Hotel Green Requests?: The two most common green requests for a hotel
are the linen and towel reuse program, and the in-room energy savings
program.

Who from the hotel should be included in green requests?:

Housekeeping, operations, and food and beverage managers should be
included from the beginning when requesting green practices

What should you do to ensure green practices are implemented?:

To determine whether or not the hotel’s practices and policies are in place, you
should conduct a site inspection. It is important to see where the recycling is
sorted and stored for pick up. Planners should conduct a back-of-the-house
tour to ensure green practices are taken place.
 What is a Sustainable
Hotel?
A sustainable hotel is a hotel that incorporates
sustainable thinking in its decision-making at all
levels throughout the organization. The hotel needs
to raise sustainable awareness to their staff in order
to actually practice green motifs. The hotel needs to
reduce the use of waste, water use, and energy.
They also need to work within their community and
practice destination protection.
 Sustainable Hotel:
Seaport Hotel:
The Seaport hotel has its own environmental program dedicated
to increasing sustainability and conservation throughout all aspects of
the organization. The Seaport hotel also has four Allergy-Friendly
rooms where they minimize irritants allowing the rooms to be certified
hypoallergenic and friendly to those with respiratory illnesses. It is also
a smoke free hotel and they use natural green cleaning products.
Seaport hotel also practices sustainability by purchasing food from
local farmers. Two of the farms are completely organic. The Seaport
hotel is one of the most sustainable hotels in the U.S, hopefully other
hotels will catch on and go green as well.
 Fun Fact!
Green Tip:
Instead of harsh chemical
sprays, get those windows
and mirrors crystal clear with
a simple solution of white
vinegar, newspaper and a
little elbow grease. You'll
also save money and the
hassle of needing to stock
more cleaning supplies.
 Green Venue
Bringing up green meetings to a venue is the
first thing you should to while conversing with
the venue.
Once the venue has agreed to perform green
practices, you should weigh each venue’s
environmental policies and procedures along
with other determining factors.
To verify the green practices are being
implemented, you should conduct a site
inspection and tour the “back of the house.”
 Fun Fact!
Green Tip:
You can keep your
clothes smelling fresher
with vodka -- really!
Simply spritz your duds
with the stuff, then hang
to dry in a well-
ventilated area. (Do a
spot-test first to be safe.
)Vodka kills odor-causing
bacteria, but doesn't
leave a scent when dry.
 Transportation
Educate your attendees: To educate event attendees about transportation, you
should alert them about mass transit and carpooling to the event. You can also
provide information about local public transit or arrange shuttles for the
attendees to and from the event.
Carbon offsets relate to meetings?: Carbon Offset is involved with meetings
because the transportation people use emits the use of fossil fuels, which cause
greenhouse gas emissions.
Environmentally friendly options:When hiring a transportation company, you
should first ask about their environmental practices. You should include
environmental criteria in the RFP and include a clause in the contract that says
the company will commit.
 Fun Fact!
Green Tip:
Get on the Bus! Write to your
city representatives to request
that your community upgrade
their diesel buses to fleets of
LNG or biodiesel buses. This
will reduce the CO2 emissions
generated, reduce dependence
on imported oil dependency,
and in the case of biodiesel
engines actually run cleaner
and more efficient than
petrochemical diesel.
 Communication
Conference Calls: Conference calls are a great way of
communication because you can get your whole team on one
line of the phone. There is no form of transportation, no
waste, and an easy way to keep a meeting sustainable!

What is Green A.V?: Green Audio/Video is when a company

uses the most efficient lighting, audio, and video equipment.
Electrical equipment is a huge contributor to Global Warming
and by using Green AV, it minimizes the use of greenhouse
gases.
Generational Considerations
for Green Practices
Generational Considerations: Different generations view green practices
differently because during the years all of the generations have experienced
completely different situations. In my generation, (Gen Y), I have experienced
different presidents, 9/11, technology such as cell phones, facebook, e-mail,
etc. Gen Y is a very open-minded generation. I agree with the statements
about my generation because everything is quickly changing. My generation is
ready for change and becoming sustainable is a huge part in today’s world.
 Energy
What is Renewable Energy?: Renewable energy is an
electric power generated from a source that is
renewable. Renewable energies are natural things
such as wind, sunlight, and ocean tides. Venues
benefit from using renewable energies because it
demonstrates support for reducing negative impacts on
the environment.
 Green Office
10 Easy Steps to a Greener-Sustainable Office:
Office Policy: Establish an environmental office policy
Responsible Paper Usage: Avoid printing PDF’s, whenever possible.
Break Room: Avoid Disposables; use washable items
Purchasing Products: Purchase fairtrade products such as teas and coffees
Water Conservation: Don’t let the water run by brushing your teeth or washing dishes.
Equipment: Use power strips for ease of turning off multiple machines and appliances
Maintenance: Use non-toxic cleaning supplies
Waste Management: Dispose of hazardous materials properly and recycle
Energy Efficiencies: Use energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs
Social: Donate food, used furniture and equipment to non-profit organizations

I think the most important step for being green in an office is responsible
paper usage. I know in offices, they have to print out a ton of papers for
meetings or just in general. If they keep meetings electronic it will benefit the
office from wasting paper and ink and they will also save more money.
 Summary
Change and evolution are occurring every day in the meetings industry in
relation to green practices. Green meeting standards are being created
worldwide. The benefit to planning green meetings is that they can save
organizations money while reducing their impact on the environment.
Quantifying the cost savings will also increase the demand and participation of
green meeting practices. This is just the beginning to what will be possible in
the future. Green meetings are an easy, cost saving, and environmentally
smart thing to do for your company!
 References
A Meeting Planner’s Toolkit: Beverly
Oviedo
www.greentips.com
Simple Steps to Green Meetings and
Events: Amy Spatrisano & Nancy J.
Wilson