Green News and Resources
Selected sites: green resources on the Web
- bluegreenmeetings.com: The site, run by Oceans Blue Foundation, has many resources for planners, including a green quiz, tips for selecting venues and case studies on successful green meetings.
- conventionindustry.org: The Convention Industry Council website has a sustainable meetings section that includes a working document of environmental standards for meetings.
- greenhotels.com: Operated by the Green Hotels Association, this site has a questionnaire planners can use when researching hotel venues. Questions include “Will you provide cloth rather than disposable table drapes for display tables?” and “Who pays for bottle deposits—the client or the property?”
- sustainabletravelinternational.org: Planners can use the website’s carbon calculator to find out how much each attendee generates in carbon and the associated offset cost for each person. The cost could be incorporated into registration fees to create a carbon neutral event. For a five-day North American event with 5,000 participants, the carbon offset cost for each person is $68.13.
Deals: Change of Ownership
ASAE, the association leadership society, has purchased Convene Green Alliance, an organization of association professionals committed to planning and teaching about greener meetings. The alliance has resources on its website about eco-friendly practices and hosts regular events for meeting planners. ASAE bought the alliance from IMN Solutions, a meetings management company, in November and plans to re-evaluate its procedures and programs before unveiling new goals.
Sustainability School
Green Globe University offers new training programs for travel industry professionals. Green Globe Certification is the worldwide sustainability system for operation and management of businesses involving travel and tourism. It is based on internationally accepted criteria and is represented in more than 83 countries. The new training programs offer a free introductory module that teaches sustainability concepts and training for hotel managers based on Green Globe certification standards. Volume discounts are available to businesses training more than 10 students.
Eco Apathy?
Are Americans behaving greener than they were a decade ago? A recent Gallup poll might surprise you. Despite the shift toward greener thinking especially in large industries such as meetings and events, Americans aren’t making dramatically different choices than they were in 2000. When asked who had recycled aluminum, glass, newspapers or other items in the past year, 90 percent of respondents said yes, the same number as 10 years ago. The good news: Nine out of 10 respondents are recycling.
Looking Ahead
During President Obama’s State of the Union address, he talked about the nation’s need to win the future. The Better Buildings Initiative, which gives private businesses incentives to upgrade buildings to be more green, is a plan that has the president’s support and gets high praise from the U.S. Green Building Council. “It is major steps like these that are necessary to address the challenges facing our environment,” said USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi. Retrofitting and updating the nation’s 5 million commercial buildings and 120 million homes also has the potential to create a number of jobs.
