What Is Required?

Meetings, conferences, and other events can have a significant environmental impact.

The following activities associated with meetings and conferences are major sources of waste and pollution.

• Marketing of Event and Registration—Paper waste associated with direct mailings among organizers, speakers, attendees, and venues.
• Travel to the Event—Greenhouse gases and other pollutants released via planes, trains, buses and automobiles.
• Hotel Stays—Water usage associated with laundering; indoor air quality issues associated with building materials and cleaning products; paper, plastic and material waste associated with single-use toiletries.
• Food Services—Waste from disposable coffee cups, plates, napkins, and plastic-ware; disposal of extra food; non-sustainable farming practices.
• Exhibition Halls—Landfill disposal of carpet, greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, waste from excess information materials and giveaways.
• Local Transportation—Greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants released from taxis or rental cars.

To “walk the talk,” meeting planners from EPA and all federal agencies should strive to mitigate these impacts by adhering to the following requirements:

• EPA’s Acquisition Regulations (EPAAR) (4 pp, 60.6KB, About PDF) establish policy and procedures for planning environmentally preferable meeting and conference services. This regulation identifies specific information on what to ask hotels and meeting centers to identify their green attributes and practices. There is proposed legislation to extend this requirement to all federal agencies.
  
  
• The Environmentally Preferable Purchasing requirements that pertain to procuring vendors and supplies for meetings and events.
  

What Actions Can I Take?

There are many areas in which you can green a meeting.

Location and Transportation

• Have video conferences or meetings whenever possible to reduce travel impacts and expenses.
  
  
• Factor environmental considerations into choice of location and venue.
  
  
• Seek naturally lighted meeting and exhibit spaces.
  


• Publicize mass transportation options.
  
  
• Provide shuttle service from mass transit stops or hotels to the event site.
  

Materials and Exhibits

• Use double-sided printing for promotional materials and handouts.
  
  
• Avoid mass distribution of handouts by allowing attendees to order copies or download them from a meeting Web site.
  
  
• Provide reusable name badges.
  
  
• Use recycled paper and vegetable- and soy-based inks for promotional materials and handouts.
  
  
• Provide reusable containers for handouts or samples (pocket or file folders, cloth bags).
  
  
• Where reusable items are not feasible, select products that are made from recovered materials and that also can be recycled.
  
  
• Encourage participants to recycle materials at the event.
  


• Place recycling containers where they are easily accessible.
  
  
• Collect cardboard and paper in exhibit areas.
  

Food Service and Lodging

• Collect paper and recyclable beverage containers in meeting areas.
  
  
• If reusables are not used, encourage the use of recyclable beverage containers.
  
  
• Plan food service needs carefully to avoid unnecessary waste.
  
  
• Consider use of durable food service items.
  
  
• Donate excess food to charitable organizations.
  
  
• Work with hotel on non-replacement of linens, soaps, etc.
  
  
• Consider selling or providing refillable containers for beverages.
  

Miscellaneous

• Reward participation by communicating environmental savings achieved.
  


• Post a report electronically on the environmental savings after the event at the same locations as the handouts.
  

Which Resources Can I Use?

EPA developed a Green Meetings Web site as a one-stop information source on how to host an environmentally responsible event.

Follow the process from beginning to end with EPA's Environmental Meeting and Event Nuts and Bolts.

Download: It’s Easy Being Green: A Guide to Planning and Conducting Environmentally Aware Meetings and Events (PDF) (12 pp, 303 K, About PDF) to have as an easy reference.

• Blue Green Meetings Web site features extensive list of tools, tips, and resources as well as testimonials, case studies, advisory committee members and sponsors.
  
  
• Ten Easy Tips to Environmentally Responsible Meetings (BlueGreen Meetings)
  
  
• National Recycling Coalition’s Green Meetings Policy  (22 pp, 651KB, About PDF) features guidance on holding events that focus on recycle-friendly printed materials, food and beverage functions and facilities.
  
  
• Green Meeting Industry Council focuses on improving the environmental performance of meetings and events.
  
  
• Convention Industry Council’s Green Meetings Reportdescribes best practices for event suppliers and organizers.
  



• Best Places to MeetGreen®, is a free online resource to help you locate sustainable destinations for your meetings and events. It also has a calculator to help you measure your results.

What Training Is Available?

• Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events is a workshop sponsored by Meeting Strategies Worldwide. Participants will learn about various aspects of planning a green meeting, from negotiating with suppliers to ensure they follow green meeting practices to picking the right food and beverage to make your meeting sustainable.
  
  
• Green Convene Strategies offers both instructor-led training and on-the-job training to show meeting planners how to hold a green meeting.
  
  
• "Green 11 - Emergency! Staying Green in a 'Brown' Situation" is a PowerPoint presentation and podcast to help meeting planners know what they need to do to ensure meetings are green.

Additional training resources are quickly becoming available. Check with your agency.

There are a number of commercial companies that offer green meeting and conference training. They are available through an Internet search with the words "green meeting training."

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