Posted on July 29, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
This recent article about food waste in the United States, and the energy it represents, offers reminder that this is an area worthy of focus for event professionals and their suppliers. Indeed, a recent session at the MPI WEC conference offered practical actions to reduce carbon emissions related to events. Reducing food waste is by [...]
Filed under: Exhibition and Congress Centers, General Sustainability, Meetings and Events | Tagged: climate change, Green Meetings, Practical Tips | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 1, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
Many have observed that the BP oil spill is a reminder that corporate responsibility to community and the environment requires more than a clever re-brand. There’s something missing from the conversation, however. These observations of BP (and the many companies who are very glad they are not BP), don’t seem to make the link between [...]
Filed under: General Sustainability | Tagged: CSR, Leadership, Practical Tips | 5 Comments »
Posted on April 21, 2010 by Guy Bigwood
Integrated into the COP15 event sustainability report was an excellent study of local carbon emissions conducted by the Copenhagen office of Deloitte. COP15 Carbon Footprint Deloitte 2010.pdf With lessons learned from the carbon footprint measurement of COP15, Deloitte is providing a list of recommendations for successful carbon footprint measurements for future COP meetings. 1. Establish [...]
Filed under: Meetings and Events | Tagged: cop15, Measurement, Practical Tips, Reporting | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 15, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
When it comes to sustainable events, most professional meetings planners understand the ’why’ but not the ’how’. An intrepid few invest time and effort to piece together different tactics in support of a more responsible event, but rarely does the approach have any strategic plan. Rarer still are the events which produce a thoughtful report [...]
Filed under: General Sustainability, Meetings and Events | Tagged: APEX, BS8901, Certification, cop15, Copenhagen, Green Meetings, Measurement, Practical Tips, Standards | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 20, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
Meeting planners, do you know what happens to the waste from your event? Many communities incinerate waste in an effort to reduce costs (financial, aesthetic, perhaps environmental?) associated with landfills. The act of incineration often provides a secondary benefit of generating energy. In Copenhagen, Denmark, for example, 5% of the energy source mix comes from [...]
Filed under: Destinations, General Sustainability, Meetings and Events | Tagged: Destinations, Green Meetings, Practical Tips | 4 Comments »
Posted on January 31, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
A new Yale study examines the environmental performance of 163 nations with some revealing results. The Environmental Performance Index 2010 Top 5 positions are not a surprise but Costa Rica at #3? Well done! Congratulations to Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden and Norway whose collective efforts to observe environmental stewardship in a systemic, long term [...]
Filed under: Destinations, General Sustainability | Tagged: Destinations, Green Meetings, Practical Tips | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 23, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
‘We have met the enemy and he is us‘ Pogo Hotels, conference centers, caterers and wholesale vendors across the globe routinely offer non-sustainable fish choices in response to real or perceived client demand. Should they? Meeting planner and supplier polls show expanding interest in ‘green meetings’. Meanwhile, perhaps in the name of tradition and/or good [...]
Filed under: Exhibition and Congress Centers, General Sustainability, Hotels, Meetings and Events | Tagged: Green Meetings, GMIC, Practical Tips, Sustainable Procurement | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 19, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
Oddly, as technological innovations have advanced, and use of handheld communication devices expanded, so has the production of paper and consumption of trees. In 1961, world production of paper and paperboard stood at 77 million tons. In 2005, 354 million tons (more here). Meanwhile, recycling of paper and paperboard in industrialized nations is consistently less [...]
Filed under: Destinations, Exhibition and Congress Centers, General Sustainability, Meetings and Events | Tagged: CSR, Green Meetings, climate change, Practical Tips, Sustainable Procurement, cop15 | 6 Comments »
Posted on January 14, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
The Green Meetings Industry Council (GMIC) has been the most effective force for change in the meetings industry movement to find and integrate more responsible practices. A wellspring of ideas, resources and friendships for the rapidly expanding network of committed business professionals who have discovered it, the GMIC is like no other meetings industry association. [...]
Filed under: Destinations, Exhibition and Congress Centers, General Sustainability, Meetings and Events | Tagged: Business case, CSR, GMIC, Green Meetings, linkedin, Practical Tips, Standards | 3 Comments »
Posted on January 8, 2010 by Michael Luehrs
Two international retailers, H&M and Wal-Mart, just got a pie in the face of their (stated?) strong Corporate Social Responsibility programs. Today’s news from the New York Times revealed that bags and bags and bags of unsold, post-holiday clothing stock was destroyed before being discarded, ostensibly to prevent it from being re-sold. A saavy business [...]
Filed under: Exhibition and Congress Centers, General Sustainability, Meetings and Events | Tagged: CSR, Green Meetings, Greenwashing, GMIC, Practical Tips, Trash challenge, linkedin | 3 Comments »
