When faced with such complexity, what are event organizers to do? How shall they proceed when resources are limited? How shall they create a meaningful effort toward better, more sustainable outcomes? A possible recommendation: Simplify. 

More with less

The premise here is that it’s more effective to do a few things well than lots of things poorly. When beginning a sustainability initiative in an organization or event planning team, don’t hold perfection as the objective. It is better to focus on a few, relevant and material sustainability aspects than to try to track and measure many things.  By having fewer things in focus, we’re more likely to see progress. With progress comes confidence and, with confidence, momentum.  In this way, we start with few things to accomplish many things.

It’s natural to resist this idea because, well, if a little effort toward sustainable practice is good then certainly more is better! Too often, however, we bite off more than we can chew.  We get excited by new ideas and an interest to make a difference, and we initiate actions without a plan to follow up over the long haul.  If we don’t consider the time it takes to clarify goals, educate stakeholders and measure the effectiveness of our effort, we can have an unpleasant outcome. Instead of a business that integrates the principles of sustainable development as fundamental to success and a part of planning, we get a bunch of people all confused and fussy and ready to drop the whole thing.

It’s about improvement, not measurement

The last few years have seen industry movement toward the measurement and reporting of sustainability in events and organizations.  Consultants are hired and workshops are attended. Suppliers are challenged and computations are made and, sometimes, even communicated.  

“We emitted ‘X’ tonnes of Carbon Dioxide and we diverted ‘Y’ pounds from the landfill!”. That’s fantastic, now what? We too seldom use such measurements to inform improvements.  The point of measuring isn’t for the measurement .. it’s to understand and improve performance.  All that investment in measurement should be applied to informing goals and creating system changes that help drive improvement.  Indeed, the measurements we take should help us to re- define success and inspire us to work toward better results.

Pick 3 things

Measure accurately. Improve over time.

1. Consider your organization.  For what does your brand stand? How are you known to your public? Create a sustainability policy that reflects a commitment to live up to this image.

2. What are your biggest impacts? Just because you can measure the post-consumer recycled content of the office bathroom tissue doesn’t mean that it should necessarily be on the list of things to track. Consider the things that are “material” and put those on the list to measure and improve

3. Create a culture that supports improvement. Involve the team in a process to identify the material impacts and get ‘buy in’ that these things are worth measuring. Create a plan to measure these things and work to improve them over time.

Creating a sustainability initiative for your organization can be exciting and, dare we say, fun.  Find the fun by reducing the fuss.  Measure what matters. Do more by doing less.

Project findings (Bullets for brevity)

- Supplier engagement: When suppliers understand your clear and measurable goals and expectations for sustainability, they can help you achieve them. When they don’t have this information, or when sustainability is not part of the preliminary meetings, they will not include sustainability in designing their solution for you.

• Exhibit A: The Venetian / Sands will customize a waste management plan for your    event and help you find options to donate items left after the show. They can produce impact statements that reflect energy use, CO2 emissions, waste diversion and water consumption of your event.
• Exhibit B: A General Service Contractor ordered signage based on color quality (“Gatorboard” a slick polystyrene substrate) and not sustainability (“Falconboard” a corrugated paper solution), even though the more sustainable option was less expensive.

- APEX standards: not all the criteria for planners of large events are helpful or meaningful to delivering a more sustainable event. The central philosophy behind the planner criteria is that planners must require (in RFP and subsequent contracts) expectations for sustainability. For example, the planner must stipulate in the contracted agreement with the caterer that a vegetarian option be served at each meal, yet it is the planner who makes these selections. Similarly, the standard requires that the planner have a solution to collect name badges but does not require that these badges be re-purposed in any way.

- CO2 emissions: the parameters for measurement vary from event to event. How many planners consider the freight miles experienced by AV supplies, for example? Some events look at electricity use at the venue but not the hotel rooms. Planners can track their progress by establishing a uniform way to track emissions and then “normalize” the measurement by calculating emissions per event participant (which also needs to be defined and treated the same each event)

- “Local food”: even in the desert, it’s possible to be intentional in your menu design and purchasing to reduce the amount of transport required to deliver food to your event. Large events pose a unique problem given the sheer volume of product they require. Consider allowing yourself a ‘carbon budget’ from transport emissions and strive to stay within it. While this may limit the organic apples from New Zealand, it could mean your delegates can enjoy watermelon instead.

- show floor recycle stations: still a great idea, still require post event sorting. Event delegates remain stubbornly unable to discern what waste goes where. “(Plastic milk jug in the compost receptacle? Don’t mind if I do!”). Different kinds of waste make it confusing for delegates. One clear plastic cup is made from recycled content, a different one is compostable, both have similar markings. Now you’ve just about guaranteed contamination of two,waste streams. The current best solution? Enthusiastic volunteer ‘green teams’ that stand by the receptacles and guide delegates in how to use them.

More findings, more dispatches to follow. Time now to go fight good fights.

With their heavy loads of brochures printed in far away places, with their oversize booths with bright lights and toxic carpets, and with their plastic giveaways that seldom make the suitcase home, it’s as though many exhibitors cling to methods and practices from the 70′s.  As much as exhibitors are vital to the financial health of events and trade shows, they represent liabilities related to waste management and energy use. But..how to get exhibitors on board with sustainable practices?

Exhibitor Outreach: Getting started

1. Research: Have a look at the APEX/ASTM standard for environmentally sustainable exhibits.  Also, and although it’s 2008 (c’mon, it’s not THAT long ago) An Inconvenient Booth is worth a free download. Check out Green Meeting Industry Council’s great webinar. And don’t miss this article from Exhibitor magazine‘s Charles Pappas on eco-friendly exhibiting.

2. Engage: Poll exhibitors for what they’re doing now.  Explore their interest in different alternatives for efficient lighting and signage.  Identify what items they may leave behind and create a plan to donate those to local charitable groups.

3.  Share:  Provide helpful advice and best practices for more responsible tradeshows.  The best example I know is UUA’s sustainable exhibits page. (disclosure: I was a small part of a MeetGreen effort to put this together).

4. Acknowledge: Greenbuild has worked for years to develop incentives and recognition for exhibitors who integrate sustainability.  Favorable locations on the show floor, promoting their efforts in communications, and basically making it cool to have sustainable exhibits.  IMEX encourages sustainable exhibitors with the IMEX Green Exhibitor Award.

The trick to getting getting exhibitors engaged in sustainability starts with your own commitment to sustainable practices.  Once the event organizer sees value in reducing waste, creativity in integrating good ideas into the event isn’t far behind.

By some reports, consumers in the United States waste 40% of purchased food.  Review the U.N. report which states that one-third of the food produced internationally goes to waste. Then consider the research estimating that 925 million people suffer from chronic hunger.

Too often, events are big contributors to the amount of food waste.  Event planners find it difficult to accurately predict how much food may be needed and order on the high side to avoid running out of food.  Catering teams, also concerned with running short, will normally prepare 10% more food than the amount ordered by the client.  RIsk of waste increases when event participants opt out of catered events.  Should any of these decisions result in excess food, the likelihood is that it will be discarded rather than donated.

Safe, un-served food from events might be seen as an asset to communities rather than a type of waste to be managed.  Heavy, wet food is expensive to throw away into traditional systems. Once collected, it adds up to about 2000 pounds per cubic yard.   In a landfill environment, this organic waste creates methane, a Green House Gas 5 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. Still, standard practice throughout the United States is to throw this potential asset into the landfill.

Thoughtful venues, event planners and charitable organizations have developed solutions to reducing food waste by coordinating donations to community groups.  In San Francisco, Food Runners now has a network of 250 organizations to whom they deliver.  This network helps feed the estimated 160,000 people in that city.  In Las Vegas, Three Square Food Bankhas 23 trucks racing through the city to collect safe food from area restaurants. Can such organizations collaborate with events?

What you can do

1. Ask the caterer.  What strategies can they deploy to reduce waste?  What relationships do they have with local food banks or charities? Are there menu items that seem to be wasted less?

2. Ask the city.  What initiatives are in place to facilitate food donations?  Can they help you overcome barriers and concerns from the health department (often cited as a reason caterers fear donating food)?

3. Read the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996. In the United States, this active legislation dramatically reduces risk of liability  to any organization or person donating food to a charitable organization.

4. Engage your participants.  Explain the goal to reduce food waste.  On buffets, establish a table to serve a ‘put it back’ option for items like uneaten whole fruit and packaged yogurt.  Get and communicate accurate counts.

5. Communicate meal times to charitable organizations.  Help them plan to be on site to collect food at the right time.

You’ve seen good and bad examples of events managing their food waste effectively.  What tips do you want to share?

Go forth, eat well and waste less!

Jenny Yu, Dir. Global Sustainability, Venetian Hotel Resort Casino, Las Vegas
Image Credit: Venetian Sands

We regularly engage suppliers as part of a fundamental initiative to improve event sustainability.  Through interviews and site visits, we work together to review existing practices and gain commitments to conduct measurements needed to assess the environmental impact of events.  Over the years, we have found that some suppliers are more accepting of this practice than others.

When we were asked to tackle a sustainability project for IMEX America in Las Vegas nobody thought it would be easy.  The city in the middle of the desert offers many benefits to planners but few resources to make sustainability possible, or so we thought.

 Good things in small packages

Our call to The Venetian Resort and Casino was met with immediate and enthusiastic response from Jenny Yu, LEED AP and Director of Global Sustainability for the Venetian.  Full of bright questions and fast, efficient responses to requests for research and technical documents, Jenny proved herself invaluable.  Tiny in stature, Jenny is a power pack of energy and results, capable of marshaling the members of the operations team to respond to planner expectations for a sustainable event.

Beyond the normal supplier engagement, IMEX America 2012 pioneered a test of the just-released APEX/ASTM environmentally sustainable meeting standards.  This required Jenny and her team to perform research and report on operational processes. With verve and keen insight, Jenny, delivered on a promise to make IMEX America more sustainable.  In a city where the odds might otherwise be challenging, Jenny’s efforts, influence and know-how make sustainable event management not only possible, but easy and fun.  We salute Jenny Yu for all she does and encourage any sustainable event planner to ask for her by name.

Follow up

Interested in learning more about the results of all the efforts to integrate sustainability at IMEX America?  Don’t miss the sustainable event verification report available for free download here.  

When next you see her out and about, ask Jenny about her project to research efficient lighting for guest suites at the Venetian and Palazzo.  It’s an amazing story.

Have examples of people who are working to make a difference? Share them here!

I know many say they haven’t time or money to consider sustainability, what would you say in response to this?
This is not an untypical sentiment but I push back a bit because such perceptions are often changed with a bit of understanding. That is, when associations consider sustainability, they may not be thinking about innovation, smart design, better returns or more engaged members.  If we position sustainability not as a theoretical concept that will require great difficulty to understand and great expense to implement, but instead a framework to deliver business performance improvement, then the conversation often changes.

For associations, most of what’s needed is a commitment to support sustainable practices: a few policies, a bit of goal setting and, importantly a willingness to engage with supplier groups.  Associations have a tremendous opportunity to influence change in destinations and among suppliers.  So, a well integrated sustainability plan needn’t be resource intensive.

If associations implement a sustainable strategy, what are the potential benefits  for their members?
Many associations are working hard to be relevant and valuable to their members.  In an age where so much industry-specific information is instantly available from a wide variety of free resources, associations are challenged to be the best source of current information and professional development and often need to re-think their strategies.   Associations that engage in sustainable practices discover new ways to engage their communities and connect with members in new ways.

If we consider that members want to be part of respected organisations that are financially sound and which offer a vibrant community, then it’s not hard to connect the dots to making a case for an organisation which has good systems, transparent communication, high standards of ethics and a skill with building a community.  All these features are possible when associations engage sustainability in a strategic way and see sustainable practices and principles not as ad hoc and peripheral but as fundamental to organisational success.

For a bit more about the benefits of such a plan, check out this earlier post.

Is it worth them communicating what they are doing to members? Why?
Communication is important but, as always, it’s important to communicate effectively.  It’s not about shouting to the world what wonderful citizens we are, it’s about engaging in a conversation about our shared challenges and what we’ve experienced along the journey.  Further, many organisations communicate before they have a plan in place.  It’s important to create an understanding of the internal team and membership what is meant by sustainability and how that relates to the organisation.

Goals and measures should be in place as an important foundation for communicating action toward sustainability in a concrete way.  It’s important to be sincere and transparent. Don’t tell the members what the associations is doing, invite the members to share their story and let that be part of how the organisation builds community.

And how can they communicate/market their sustainable activities?
There have never been more platforms to engage communities.  Organisations can sponsor industry studies or invite student groups to review an industry issue and report on findings.  Social media channels are rarely used to effect.  There are now smart newsletter formats which are fast reads on mobile devices.  I’m a big fan of Instagram, a photo driven social network that is an ideal forum for organisations to invite engagement from members.  For anybody that doesn’t think it fits their brand, have a look at brands as diverse as Jamie Oliver, Kate Spade or Bon Iver, all of whom successfully create community by sharing their activities and inviting others on the ride.  Collaborate with other associations to address issues of mutual interest and share the results through industry journals.
The important thing is to have an understanding of why you have a sustainability plan and how it aligns with your central mission.  After that, communicating sustainability is just part of communicating your story and brand.

How can associations measure the success or benefits of their sustainable activity?
An important place to start is to identify a scope for your sustainability engagement and create a short list of specific goals around that.  Measure these goals and share performance results with members and, importantly, communicate what actions are planned to improve on any results. These are basic approaches to system improvement and are time tested, business friendly approaches to tracking steps toward success.

The trick, again, is to recognise sustainability not as an abstract, Byzantine concept unrelated to your core business but as a framework around which to create a strategic plan for growing revenue and delivering value in a responsible way.

I’ve seen a number of associations address sustainability in meaningful ways, most of them quite disparate, as each organisation’s initiative reflects their unique membership and mission.  One example could be Universal Unitarian Association, who have integrated sustainability expectations in there tenders and supplier selection criteria for their annual event.  Another example might be the Green Meeting Industry Council, who creates a specific set of goals and key performance indicators before each event and shares that with their potential suppliers.  In this way, they make clear their desired outcomes and invite their supplier partners to collaborate and be a part of the trek to success.

These were the whole enchilada of unedited responses.  For the final, snazzier version, check out / follow Association Event Planner magazine not only to see the full article when it comes out but also for great info on a wide array of relevant topics not only to associations, but any planner.  http://www.associationeventplanner.com/home/

What did I miss? Do you have different, or additional perspectives?  Please share your thoughts, tips and insights here and we’ll add them to the list!

The parallels:

1. Essential to the process:  It’s not much of an election without voters and it’s not much of an event without consideration for sustainability. Sustainable practices, and respect for sustainable development principles, are all about considering the positive outcomes for an event and taking steps to make those outcomes happen.
2. Easy to get started: A bit of commitment, a bit of research and a bit of willingness and you’re ready to take responsible steps.  Both voting and sustainable events require some paperwork and some intentional thought but starting either endeavor is hardly difficult.
3. Devil in the details:  As time passes, more information becomes available bewildering in it’s volume and speed. Complexities mount and the best answer isn’t always clear.  You’re asked to make informed, responsible choices in the face of mounting confusion.  With some planning and focus, good decisions are possible.
4. You feel better once you’ve done it:  A sense of accomplishment and a sense of being part of something greater than yourself await you in both instances.  Nobody is promising the perfect result but taking action based on what you feel is important matters.  Remember the hummingbird.
5. It’s about better economies, healthier communities and a better world

What parallels do you see? What ways are these actions different?  I welcome feedback.  Regardless, please vote and please pursue sustainable practices!

Students, consultants, seasoned planners and suppliers all enthusiastically shared ideas. Their electric energy and clever input is inspiration to anybody who thinks sustainability is:

-waning

-difficult

-expensive

-unnecessary

Once planners and suppliers understand the ‘why and how’ of sustainability, practical steps like these can be a spark to creating more innovative, more effective events.

Have a look and share your ideas here (comments, anyone?), the MeetGreen site
or via Twitter (@michaelluehrs and/or @MeetGreen) with hashtag #GMIC.

Short quiz:
The mega resorts of Las Vegas demand a great deal of fresh water.  The amount of the Las Vegas municipal water supply consumed by all the resorts annually equate to what percent of the total city water supply?
A: 15%
B: 32%
C: 4%
D: 21%

Joanna Haugen wrote a great article highlighting sustainability in action at some of the largest Las Vegas  resorts. What’s notable is how strategic and holistic are the sustainability plans. At the Venetian, the focus has been on building an internal culture through education and engagement.  Communication of the strategy only came this year with a GRI C Level report. Caesar’s Entertainment can claim some of the earliest engagement in sustainable practices in Las Vegas. Their GRI report was the first for the Las Vegas industry.  In, addition, they were instrumental in bringing Clean the World to Las Vegas with their early commitment to the program.

Worth sharing

These Las Vegas hotels are making the planner’s job easier. By having systems in place, and familiarity with industry standards, these properties can provide measurements to help planners deliver more sustainable events. For example, for IMEX America 2012, The Venetian will produce a custom impact report to identify energy, water and waste statistics. This report will be an important part of the goal setting process for the 2013 event.

Public-private partnerships

The ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System asks planners to consider needs of local stakeholders.  Many planners are investing time to create projects which give back to community.    In Las Vegas, event planners can benefit from a collaboration with a number of great charitable organizations including Shade Tree, Clean the World and Opportunity Village.

waste management:  Many Las Vegas resorts and venues have aggressive recycling and, for organic waste, composting programs which are supported by a number of waste management partners.  Hotels and venues are increasing diversion rates by collaborating with waste management companies to sort all waste at the dock. In a city that has a 19% recycling rate, resorts are averaging 30%.  Sands Expo routinely sees diversion rates of 80%. This is in part due to an engaged team and collaborations with local waste haulers, but also innovators like RePurpose America who accept ‘waste’ materials from exhibitions and give them new and improved lives on playgrounds and trade shows.

Opportunities:
Local food: Supplying locally harvested food (250 miles or less from source to plate) at great scale in the middle of the desert is not currently feasible.  Although Las Vegas produces some local product (honey, cucumbers and, wait for it  .. shrimp), they cannot currently supply the amounts of sustainable product. Resorts rely on large food service suppliers who may or may not source products from the nearest producer.  Greater collaboration with Californian growers can help to build more regional capacity and reduce transport required.

Outreach and education: Most planners who bring business to Las Vegas don’t ask for sustainable practices.  With greater outreach by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, planners could gain better understanding of the options to organize events in a sustainable way.

Many will be surprised by the levels of engagement in sustainable practices at a number of the Las Vegas resorts.  The investments they are making in researching and developing innovations in operational practices (energy efficiency) smart infrastructure (water savings) and reporting can inform the international events industry.

These practices need to be shared.  If you’re planning an event and considering Las Vegas, ask about how your event can take advantage of the programs in place.  But when you leave, don’t keep it to yourself.  When it comes to sustainable practices, what happens in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas.

The answer to quiz above? As a direct result of investment in efficient water systems and, in many cases, an ability to reclaim water for secondary use, mega resorts in Las Vegas collectively consume just 4% of the city water supply.