Green Events Source/blog

Greg Christian Publishes New Memoir "Food and Forgiveness"

Greg Christian, sustainable chef, founder of the Organic School Project (OSP) and sustainability consultant, has just published his story of awareness and social consciousness via his first memoir “Food and Forgiveness: How a Chicago Chef Came Around."

Starting with a ‘from the heart’ look at his early family life and heady early years as a chef in New York City and Chicago where he created culinary masterpieces, he explores the evolution of his attitude and consciousness. In his rise as a chef, Christian had little consideration where the food he cooked came from or the impact it had on our environment. Christian tells us it was not until he became a father to a child with debilitating asthma that he turned his attention to the power of holistic and organic foods and changed the direction of his life and his work. His attitude completely reversed itself, and he chose to honor the food system as a whole and to become more conscious of the products that he consumed and served to his high profile clientele.

“I was blessed with a gift as a chef, but it was only after my daughter’s asthma was brought under control by using organic food that I began to open my eyes,” says Christian. “I wore blinders for so many years, but thankfully came to realize there was more to being a chef than simply cooking food. It was about honoring the entire system by striving to eat locally and organically, to eat less meat, to really pay attention to how far our food is traveling. I feel it’s my calling to teach the masses that we can all make small steps toward a better life through the food we eat.”

Christian’s transition occurred when he started to wonder where his food was traveling from and where his garbage was going. Previously, under the impression that nature was plentiful and endlessly abundant, Christian started to feel accountable for the hormones and antibiotics in the meat he was serving, for the garbage he was dumping, and for the herbicides and pesticides in our water and soil. “It was then I knew I wanted to help create a zero impact, healthy community. I was no longer comfortable running a business that crushed the planet and the people all week and then walking for breast cancer on the weekend,” says Christian.

His former catering operation, Greg Christian Catering boasted the first zero waste kitchen in Chicago. He also implemented a stringent mapping regimen, in where every ingredient that entered his kitchen was mapped to emphasize impact. In the midst of his for profit endeavor, he launched Organic School Project, a program within Chicago Schools that aimed to teach children a more mindful way of living through the cultivation of a garden, wellness programs within curriculum, composting and more. He believes OSP “is the reason he is on this planet,” as he quotes within his memoir. Now, as founder of Greg Christian Consulting and author, Christian aims to help the masses achieve sustainability.

“This book is the first of a series I hope to publish surrounding my vision of greenness for the world,” says Christian. “My larger goal is for our entire nation ultimately to return to local food systems, those that are entirely organically-based and self-supporting. I know that it will only be achieved if there is
a large outpouring of public demand and support for it, and I hope I can help provide the education needed to achieve this.” Christian says.

“Food and Forgiveness: How a Chicago Chef Came Around,” retails at $19.95 and will be available via www.foodandforgiveness.com, www.gregchristianconsulting.com and on www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. It will also be available for order through most bookstores.

Second Edition of The Green Events Source Book Launched

Green Events Source has launched the Second Edition of The Green Events Source Book (GESB), a free multimedia guide to greener meetings with less stress. Since its inception in January 2008, the GESB has become one of the most widely distributed and respected guidebooks on the greening of meetings and events.

“The Source Book is evolving along with the green meetings and events movement,” said Deborah Popely, editor and publisher of the GESB. “In order to keep up with the rapidly changing environment, meeting planners and industry suppliers need timely information and resources. We are committed to providing the tools they need to improve their practices and get ready to meet the new industry guidelines expected to debut later this year.”

More than 10,000 copies of the free multimedia guide were distributed in 2008 at meeting industry gatherings as well as in response to online requests. More than 5,000 copies of the second edition are expected to be distributed during the first half of 2009 through leading professional associations, such as the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), Meeting Planners International-Chicago Area Council (MPI-CAC), Association of Collegiate Convention and Event Directors International (ACCED-I), and others.

The second edition features updated industry information, new suppliers and additional resources and tools for planning greener meetings and events. The online edition also provides a PDA option, which allows for easy viewing on cell-phones and personal communication devices. “We wanted to get the information to people where they are, and increasingly they are on the move. Now they can get to this information quickly whether they are at their desks or away from the office,” said Popely.

Other second edition highlights include:

Up-to-date information on existing hospitality industry and event-related standards, guidelines and certifications, including the new Green Event “Ecologo” standard.

How-to advice on common issues and sticking points, such as going paperless, greening large catering operations, managing waste diversion, purchasing green event supplies, exhibiting and shipping green, measuring environmental savings, carbon offsetting and more.

Useful tools for evaluating and selecting meetings sites, along with information about green city and state initiatives.

A selection of green meeting and event suppliers (and supplies) that are committed to providing credible green options at competitive prices.

A special reprint of the second edition is being planned for later in 2009, highlighting the new green meeting and events standards being developed by the Convention Industry Council in collaboration with the Green Meeting Industry Council, the US EPA and ASTM. Green Events Source is currently accepting requests from appropriate green destinations, venues, meeting sites, caterers and restaurants, products and services for inclusion in this high-interest edition. Contact Jennifer Hadfield at (847) 212-2062 or jen@greeneventsource.com for more information.

Meeting planners may view the GESB online or request that a print-CD packet be mailed to them by registering at www.greeneventsource.com. To get on the mailing list for the special reprint, email info@greeneventsource.com and include “special reprint” in the message.

Green Events Source is a full-service resource for green event training, planning, consulting, products and information. More information is available at www.greeneventsource.com.

What is Green Purchasing?

By Abby Corso, Senior Director, The Delta Institute

Each of the products or services purchased for an event or conference, whether it's copy paper used behind the scenes or tote bags for attendees, makes a statement about the event. Each planning decision you make -- from hotel and catering arrangements to travel logistics to meeting supplies -- will involve a purchase and, therefore, an opportunity for greening. This article will hopefully provide you with some initial guidance and resources to start making smart and green purchases for your next event. So what is green purchasing? 

Green purchasing, also know as sustainable purchasing or environmental preferable purchasing, is choosing products that have less impact on the environment through their manufacture, use, and disposal. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency definition of environmentally preferable products are products that “have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance or disposal of the product or service." The meeting industry is a $120 billion dollar industry and is becoming a major market driver for green products and services.

If you’ve already decided that you would like to plan a green event, you should consider the following-

• Plan ahead. Give yourself plenty of time to educate yourself about green products and services for your event. If this is your first green event, give yourself plenty of time to network within the industry, educate yourself on aspects of greening, and find those really green and distinctive products! If you’re not already involved with industry associations, consider contacting the Green Meeting Industry Council (www.greenmeetings.info) or other meeting planning, exhibiting and special event marketing associations offering green guidelines to their members.
• Always look for ways to reduce and reuse before you purchase. Reducing consumption can save you money by limiting the quantities of products purchased, such as paper or food service items, as well as reducing disposal costs. For example, limit paper use through electronic communications and transactions or reduce the need for food service products by using reusable plates and utensils. From a commodity or products standpoint, the most wasteful aspects of an event include: event marketing and registration; food service; and exhibition hall materials. Consider creating a waste reduction strategy even before your green purchasing strategy!
• Educate yourself in order to avoid ‘greenwashing.’ Make sure that the products you buy have positive environmental attributes. Finding products that are certified by a third party such as GreenSeal (www.greenseal.org) or EcoLogo (www.ecologo.org) for commodity products or U.S. GBC LEED for facilities (www.usgbc.org) is one way to feel confident that you are purchasing green products or services. See the sidebar for information on what to do for products for which there are no certifications.
• Work with your vendors. Let your vendors know that you are planning a green event and use them as a source of information about greening opportunities specific to their areas of expertise. But be sure to be clear about your expectations about which "green" attributes are most important to you.
• Don’t forget your back office. Copy paper, office supplies, and refillable toner cartridges are among the easiest products to buy green and using them shows a commitment to sustainability.

Remember that greening and sustainability is a continuum. Develop a green purchasing strategy that starts with a few really good green products and services and then add to that list each year.

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.

Clearing the Air On The Beijing Olympics

This week, the Chinese unveiled Beijing’s new Olympic Green Convention Center, touting its energy efficiency and eco-friendly design. Yet the city continues to struggle with the city's air quality amid concerns about the health of  the 10,500 athletes and hundreds of thousands of visitors who will descend on the city August 8.

The Convention Center is part of the larger Olympic Green complex, which includes 13 venues, including the Olympic Stadium and National Swim Center.  During the Olympics, the Convention Center will be the site for fencing and shooting competitions, as well as the main press center and international broadcasting center. After the Olympics, the building will undergo some renovation and reopen as the China National Convention Center in July 2009. "Green elements" include a central vacuum system, Beijing's first central refuse collection system, an energy efficient ice-cooled air-conditioning system and a uniquely designed roof to collect rainfall.

Despite these strides in green construction, it has been an ongoing battle to clean up the city’s air quality before the games begin. According to the Chicago Tribune, this week’s heavy haze was among the worst seen in Beijing in the past month, despite drastic pollution controls initiated on July 20 that included pulling half the city's 3.3 million vehicles off the roads. Other pollution control measures include halting most construction and closing some factories in the capital and surrounding provinces. The Beijing “EPA” is hoping that wind and rain will help pollutants to dissipate so that they don’t have to institute emergency measures during the games, which involve pulling more cars off the road and closing more factories. Read more

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LEARN HOW TO GO GREEN ELEGANTLY AT FREE EVENT

Green Events Source is partnering with several Chicago-based sustainable businesses to launch the first annual "Greener Events Chicago." The free education and networking event for corporate event planners will take place on Wednesday August 13 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (www.naturemuseum.org), 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago.  

“We chose the Nature Museum as our site because it is a beautiful and truly green facility with a great environmental story to tell,” said Deborah Popely, founder and president of Green Events Source. “We hope that our guests will learn that you can have an elegant, fun party and do it in a way that’s better for the environment. We expect them to walk away with the information and tools they need to green their own events with style.”

Greg Christian (www.gregchristian.com) , a sustainable food leader who has been called “The Greenest Caterer in America,” will cater the cocktail reception, featuring his own unique brand of organic and local cuisine. Christian will also join Green Event Source Founder Deb Popely and other speakers for a one-hour educational session on the fine points of greening corporate events. Other speakers include Julie Larson, Project Manager, Meetings & Events for McDonald’s Corporation, who will present an impressive green event case study; and a spokesperson from the Nature Museum, who will discuss how to choose and work with eco-friendly meeting sites.

Also hosting the event are prominent suburban caterer True Cuisine, which will be providing the dessert table; professional entertainment resource Ally Entertainment; and Chicago-based event planners, The Event Gallery.

Attendees will also receive an eco-friendly tote bag courtesy of Proforma Quality Business Services, containing vendor information and a copy of The Green Events Source Book, a multimedia resource guide for greener meetings and events.   For more information or to register, visit www.greenereventschicago.com or email deb@greeneventsource.com.

         

PARTNER PROFILE: Julie Larson of McDonald's

The words “McDonald’s” and “green” don’t always go together in people’s minds, but in fact, the fast food giant is becoming a leader in the green meetings movement, thanks to the work of event pro Julie Larson.

Larson has a background in catering management and a hospitality degree, and has been planning events for McDonald’s for over 14 years. Currently a project manager for meetings & events in McDonald’s corporate communications department, over the past 18 months Larson has lead the way toward making McDonald’s Worldwide Convention a model of sustainability for large events.

“It was a little over a year ago when the pieces really came together for me about how much of a positive impact my team could make” said Larson. “We’re in a position to find solutions to reduce waste and increase efficiencies and I was so exited by the possibilities. McDonald’s hosts more than 100 events per year and our Worldwide Convention has been called the largest corporate event in the world… I thought that if McDonald’s events could become more environmentally friendly, we could make a huge impact on the environment.”

According to Larson, she and her team began by taking “baby steps.” Beginning in July 2007 with the Managers’ Peak Event at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, which involved 16,000 people over four days, the team made several small but significant changes.

First, they replaced all disposable items with biodegradable and compostable ones, keeping 750,000 pieces of non-eco-friendly pieces out of landfill. They also had a positive impact on the community by donating 35,000 bottles of water to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, which serves the needy of Las Vegas, along with 13 pallets of other items for the charity’s resale shop.

Building on that experience, the team looked to expand the green agenda for the 2008 worldwide convention, which took place this past April at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center and involved 13,000 people over 4 days. Planning addressed seven key areas, including energy use, resource conservation, recycling, transportation, community impact and outreach.  Some of the highlights include:

• McDonald’s has always tried to minimize power use in the exhibit halls during move-in and move-out. Through careful scheduling, they were able to expand the program to reduce the amount of energy used to light and cool the entire facility for the duration of the show.

• Through a partnership with Freeman, McDonald’s recycling effort produced a 70% diversion rate, keeping 244 tons of trash out of landfills.

• PVC, aluminum, Plexiglas, carpet and other materials were kept out of landfills.

• At McDonald’s request, Orange County Conference Center commissioned two hydrogen buses to shuttle attendees back and forth to the convention center.

• In addition to donating furniture and flowers to local charities, McDonald’s planted 10 trees which will offset 10 tons of carbon over the life of the trees.

They were also the first convention to contribute to a renewable energy fund via a partnership of the Orange County Environmental Protection Agency and Progress Energy. This contribution will offset the 675,000 kw hours, three times over the life of the water heaters that the local community will install, thus reducing the impact in the community it was created in.

[Want to know more? Download mcdonalds_green_convention_fact_sheet_62408.pdf.}

            

“People want to know how we did it and I always point out that we couldn’t have done it alone,” said Larson. “The great thing is that no one ever told us ‘no.’ Our vendors, the convention center, the county and local EPA all said ‘how can we help you?’”

The next step will be to establish a policy that can be applied to all of McDonald’s events, from the smallest to the largest. In addition, Larson is hoping to use her experience to help make a difference in her home town of Chicago. She has teamed up with Green Events Source and a group of other green meeting advocates to initiate a region-wide program to improve Chicago’s capacity to host green meetings and events. Watch this blog for updates.

            

US Conference of Mayors Ban Bottled Water from Meetings

WaterWebster.org staff report

Mayors representing about 250 U.S. cities voted Monday to ban bottled water from city meetings and offices, except in cases of emergency.

On a voice vote, members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors supported a resolution proposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom that urges all mayors to phase out, “where feasible,” bottled water and support municipal water, said conference spokesperson Elena Temple.

Newsom earlier estimated San Francisco saved $1 million by using tap water instead of bottled. Co-sponsors of the resolution represented cities large and small, from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chicago’s Richard Daley, to Mayors Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville, Ma., and Dan Coody of Fayetteville, Ar. Both Somerville and Fayetteville have populations under 80,000.

Coody, co-chair of the Conference’s Water Council, said in a telephone interview before the conference started that his city discontinued the use of bottled water several years ago.

He said he didn’t know how much Fayetteville had been spending on bottled water, but the main issues included paying for water that in many cases “is exactly the same quality as what’s right next to you in the kitchen.”

Environmental factors are another concern for many mayors, he said. The increased popularity of bottled water means more trash for landfills and more energy used for production and shipping.

Coody’s co-chair on the Water Council, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, said a U.S. Conference of Mayors’ study determined “bottled water costs more than 1,000 times what public water costs.” According to statistics provided to the Water Council, 25%-40% of all bottled water in the U.S. comes from the tap, some filtered and some not.

“That really graphically reinforced why cities aren’t buying bottled water,” he said, “you wouldn’t buy a pencil that cost 1,000 times more than another pencil.”

The resolution adopted by the mayors said local governments invest approximately $82 billion a year to provide water and sewer services.

The nonpartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors was established to represent the 1,139 U.S. cities with a population over 30,000. About 250 attend the convention, according to a staff person.

At its national conference last year, the mayors voted to study the implications of banning bottled water and asked for recommendations to be ready for this year’s meeting.

Laura Spanjian, external affairs assistant general manager of the San Francisco Water Utility, whose presentation to the Water Council was a significant part of the mayors’ study, said prior to the conference that less than 30% of water bottles are recycled.

In her May presentation to the Water Council, she noted that in 2006, total bottled water consumption in the U.S. hit 27.6 gallons per capita up from 25.4 gallons in 2005, meaning U.S. residents now drink more bottled water annually than any other beverage, other than carbonated soft drinks.

Seventy-four percent of Americans drink bottled water, and one in five drinks only bottled water, according to a 2002 survey sponsored by the EPA and conducted by the Gallup Organization.

Even though soft drinks and other container beverages take up far more landfill space, bottled water, said several mayors, is just an unnecessary addition to the problem. The bottles themselves only can be recycled once, compared to multiple times for glass and aluminum, according to the mayors’ studies, and few states include water bottles in recycling deposits, making it more difficult to reduce the volume reaching landfills. The plastic, although compressed as trash, takes generations to decompose.

“We’re not asking the industry to stop all sales,” said Spanjian, and the resolution urges cities to retain bottled water for emergencies.

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©2008 WaterWebster.org

Question of the Month - June 2008

Everyone says we need to measure the carbon footprint of our event, but I don’t know where to start. Can you give me some idea how to go about doing this and where I can get the information I need?

A lot of people don’t measure their event-related carbon because they think it will be too time-consuming and difficult. But it doesn’t have to be. There are a number of credible carbon measurement tools available on the internet and your suppliers and vendors can provide much of the information you need. Here are the critical things to measure and how to go about it:

1. Travel: The largest part of your event’s carbon footprint comes from transportation. Here, it makes the most sense to estimate the carbon output based on the number of people, the mode of transportation and the average distance they will travel to and from your event. A number of carbon offsetters provide simple calculators on their websites. Native Energy has a useful, easy event estimator on its website.

2. Shipping: Don’t forget about the carbon emissions generated by shipping and delivery!  It’s been estimated that from 10 – 15% of an event’s carbon comes from the movement of equipment and materials to and from the meeting site. You can estimate the carbon for this, as well, but it is far more accurate and reliable to have your shipper do it, since it will vary by the weight and mode of transportation used. For instance, EA Logistics does this as part of its Delivered GrEAn program and provides the free carbon offsets at no additional cost.

3. Energy Consumption: Another big source of carbon comes from heating, cooling and power use at the meeting site. You can generate a general estimate based on square footage. However, the facility should be able to give you a more precise estimate of your potential energy use and advise you on ways to reduce your impact, for instance, by scheduling heating and cooling during move-in and move-out and turning out lights when rooms are not in use.

4. Composting:  Your waste hauler should be able to tell you the amount of paper, cardboard, glass, metal and organic waste that has been diverted from landfills and provide documentation on its appropriate disposal – an important metric for any green meeting. The diversion of food waste through composting has the greatest impact on global warming: The EPA* has shown that composting reduces methane emissions from landfills – another common greenhouse gas that can be even more damaging than CO2 – at a rate of about 80% per ton of food waste. Recycling saves carbon because goods made from recycled material require less energy to produce than those made from virgin materials. Also more trees are left standing, helping sequester more CO2, but these impacts are difficult to measure.

If you can get a handle on these four dimensions, you can estimate the carbon your event will potentially generate and word with your attendees, exhibitors, site and suppliers to reduce emissions and waste, and what you can’t eliminate offset with high-quality carbon offsets. 

* U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, Solid Waste Management and Greenhouse Gases: A Life-Cycle Assessment of Emissions and Sinks, June 2002.

Out of Africa... Preparing for the Future of Green Meetings With Amy Spatrisano

"I grew up in Africa, but I was unprepared for what it would be like to return there 29 years later," said Amy Spatrisano, founder and president of the Green Meeting Industry Council. She arrived in San Francisco on June 12 fresh from her visit to give the keynote address at The Green Event Summit, where she waxed poetic about her experiences and outlined a stirring call to action for event planners and suppliers alike.

            Highlighting the game hunter’s Big Five (the five most difficult animals to hunt: the cape buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard and lion), Spatrisano asked the audience “are you prepared?” to meet the challenges facing the green meetings movement. Here are some of her insights about what the future will bring and the creatures who inspired them:

• The Cape Buffalo is an indicator species and the disappearance of its natural habitat is a sign of environmental degradation. In looking head, it’s not just enough to have environmentally friendly meetings, but to have truly healthy meetings that are restorative to both people and planet. 
• The Elephant is one of the most community-oriented animals on earth and inspires us to keep the human connection in every event we do. That means providing opportunities for community service and paying attention to issues such as labor and human rights in our personal and professional choices.
• The Rhino stands for authenticity, that is “walking the talk” of corporate social responsibility and reaping the benefits from doing so. It also is a caution not to lose authentic human connection by substituting technology for face-to-face interaction.
• The Leopard symbolizes credibility and cautions us to guard against making unsubstantiated claims or falling prey to greenwashing. In order to maintain trust, we must communicate openly, and honestly, be transparent and be ready to substantiate our environmental claims. 
• The Lion’s regal bearing inspires us to take the time to measure what we do and establish a standard for green meetings.

Spatrisano went on to describe the standard setting process taking place under the auspices of APEX with the involvement of The Green Meeting Industry Council, USEPA, ASTM and the English standard setting group BS 8910.  Watch our newsletter and blog for more updates on this important process.