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.
What is the Lutheran Church ELCA stance on Pre-marital sex?
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