Green Events Source/blog

Question of the Month - July 2008

Question:  What's so bad about plastic bags? I thought it was OK as long as I recycled them. According to the EPA, between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed each year worldwide, and only 1% of them gets recycled.  Aside from the fact that they are created from an expensive, nonrenewable resource (petroleum), it actually costs more to recycle a plastic bag than to make a new one. Billions of them end up in the oceans and blowing around other parts of the environment, endangering wildlife. Those that end up in landfills break down into toxic polymers that contaminate the land, water and food chain. Using reusable cloth bags and reducing demand for plastic are still the best options -- That's why a number of countries around the world have banned plastic bags.  San Francisco banned them in 2007 and other cities are following suit. Still not convinced? Download Plastic_Bags.pdf  (a persuasive presentation on this issue), and see for yourself. Feel free to pass them message on!

Partner Profile: Mary Beth Nowak, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Mary Beth Nowak has been greening her meetings for more than 17 years. "When I first started they didn't refer to it as “greening.” We were thinking more in terms of 'stewardship' of resources,” she said.

As executive for Assembly Logistics, Meeting Management and Travel, over the years she has learned to implement cost-effective, eco-friendly strategies through a mixture of common sense, trial and error and resourcefulness. But even with her vast experience base, she doesn’t think of herself as a green paragon. “We’ve done some things well, but there are so many other things we can improve upon. We’re like everyone else in that our environmental efforts are a work in progress.”

Nonetheless, Mary Beth has many stories and tips from the trenches to share. Here are a couple of creative ideas that she implemented for a recent convention at Navy Pier in Chicago:

• To cut down on the amount of paper, virtually all registration and confirmations are handled online. Church volunteers are engaged to help those unable to use the internet complete their registrations over the phone. This strategy saved 66,000 sheets of paper in one meeting.
• To cut down on the number of busses needed to shuttle delegates back and forth between the hotel and the meeting site, Mary Beth worked out a 1- to 2-mile walking route and encouraged everyone to hike through downtown Chicago as part of a wellness program.
• To make it even easier to walk, instead of traditional conference bags, Mary Beth handed out eco-friendly backpacks.  She was careful to make them generic – that is, imprinted with the organization logo but no year so they could be used again and again; and she reduced the amount of packing materials by requesting that they be shipped in boxes without individual poly-bagging.
• To discourage the use of disposable coffee cups, she issued everyone a refillable mug, underwritten by a sponsor who appreciated getting visibility throughout the conference week. To help make sure attendees remember to use the mugs, she plans to charge them for coffee in disposable containers at future events.
• To avoid using heavy packaging for carry out meals, she worked with the caterer to pack lunches in reusable lunch bags rather than disposable boxes.

Mary Beth sees communication as one of the keys to success. She advises, “Talk to everyone involved in your meeting regarding your efforts to go green.  They will come up with simple, easy ideas to help you.”  She also encourages planners to reach out to their vendors and suppliers to see what they can offer in the way of ideas and support.

Do you have a question for Mary Beth? Comment below and we’ll post her answers.

Chicago to Launch Chapter of Green Meeting Industry Council

A group of more than 20 meeting industry leaders met last week to discuss establishing a Chicago chapter of the Green Meeting Industry Council. The new Chicago Chapter will be the first local chapter in GMIC's history.

“The idea of forming a chapter emerged from GMIC’s national conference in Vancouver last February,” said Deb Popely, president of Green Events Source, a Des Plaines-based green event consulting and planning firm. “Several Chicago GMIC members got together there and began discussing how we could advance the cause of green meetings and events in Chicago. Starting a local chapter seemed like a natural outgrowth of that discussion.”

In addition to Popely, founding team members include Julie Larson of McDonald’s, Rhonda Chesney of The Four Seasons and Beth Bracco of Blue Plate Catering.  The team recruited a cross-section of Chicago hospitality, trade show and tourism leaders, along with representatives from relevant city, state and federal agencies and trade and professional associations to participate in Chapter formation.

New GMIC Executive Director Tamara Kennedy-Hill also attended the meeting to support the effort and provide an overview of GMIC’s capabilities and goals. “We want to support grassroots efforts to promote green meetings and events and hope to see more chapters springing up nationally and internationally in the near future,” she said.

The Chicago chapter’s first project will involve putting together a stakeholder conference designed to assess the state of green meetings and events in Chicago, share best practices among the various sectors and identify and fill gaps. To find out more about Chapter membership and/or assisting with conference planning contact Deb Popely at (847) 827-8456 or email deb@greeneventsource.com.