I came across three great web sites for environmentally friendly holiday wrapping. Keep them in mind as you do your shopping this holiday season…
http://reducing-waste.suite101.com/article.cfm/recyclable_gift_wrapping
http://www.diylife.com/2007/09/10/environmentally-friendly-gift-wrap-options/
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/reuse-leftover-wrapping-paper.html
So two weeks ago I went attended Greenbuild which is USGBC’s Annual Conference. I am trying to get more involved with all things green with hotels.
I was wandering around the registration desk and found some information on LEED for Hotels. I think this is SO important that I wanted to share this information with you.
Can hotels, motels, resorts and other hospitality facilities use the LEED green building certification program?
Yes, LEED can be used by a variety of different space types including those in the hospitality industy. The LEED certification progra includes a range of environmental and performance measures that can be undertaken by a variety of building types. In some cases there are specific modifications to LEED thta recognize unique building opportunities and challenges. Currently those programs apply to the new construction of schools, healthcare facilities and retail (in pilot).
How many hospitality projects are involved with LEED?
To date, 10 lodging properties have achieved LEED certification. An additional 380 lodging projects have registered with LEED and are working towards certification. Non-lodging hospitality projects, mainly conference and convention centers, represent another area of growth: 50 such projects are currently using LEED, seven of which are certified.
Will there be a LEED certification program specific to Hospitality?
Hospitality properties can present unique challenges in certain areas of environmental performance, often due to features such as on-site amenities, food and beverage operations, convention facilities, and transient guest populations. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has taken the first steps in identifying areas of LEED that need further attention in light of hospitality-specific circumstances and is working to develop solutions that make adoption of LEED as feasible and effective as possible for the hospitality market.
When will these refinements to LEED be available to the market?
USGBC is currently finishing an initial needs assessment of the technical and non-technical changes that would make LEED more applicable to the hospitality market. The scope of and timeline for these changes will be determinded based on the initial needs assessment. It is not anticipated that any of the hospitality refinements will be available before early 2009.
The process of changing a LEED certification program is no small task. LEED is developed through an open, consensus-based process. The key elements of USGBC’s consensue process include a balanced and transparent committee structure, technical advisory groups that ensure scientific consistency and rigor, opportunities for stakeholders comment and review, member ballot of new rating systems, and a fair and open appeals process. While it does take some time, the transparent process ensures industry involvement as well as the rigor, integrity, and appripriateness for the industry of the resulting requirements.
Is USGBC’s certification system refinement work focused only on newly contructed hotels?
The needs assessment examines the potential changes to all applicable rating systems, including those focused on design & contruction, as well as LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance. All future refinements of the rating system will look holistically at design, construction, operations and maintenance. Improving the environmental performance of existing buildings’ operations & maintenance represents a significant portion of our environmental opportunity.
Will the changes tot he LEED certification program be significant?
It is anticipated that the bulk of the rating system will remain the same but that certian credits will be refinded to better suit the hospitality market. In past rating system refinements, between 4 to 10 credits have been significantly adapted. In some cases, additional credits have been added.
How can I get involved?
USGBC currently has an informal advisory group (at capacity) that is prividing tecnical input and expertise to the process. The advisory group consists of senior level technical staff from major hotel brands, design professionals, and representation from the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Other opportunities for input may be possible, particulary for subject matter experts in particular areas. To express your interest in participating and to add your name to the pool of potential volunteers please e-mail: leedinfo@usgbc.org
Should hoteliers use the existing LEED rating systems until the hospitality version is released?
Yes, hotelier use of the existing rating systems helps the industry to begin adjusting its practices and provides critical input back to USGBC as to potential furture refinements for industry-specific modifications.
How can I be sure that my product or service is represented in LEED?
USGBC does not certify, promote, or endorse products and services of individual companies. Products and services do play a role in LEED and can help projects with credit achievement. (Note that products and services do not earn project points.)
Since LEED does not specifically reference specific products or services it is suggested that you learn about the LEED Rating System to find out how your product or service can help projects meet credit requirements. Please visit www.usgbc.org for more information.L
This week I finally got around to reading the August 2008 version of Meetings & Convention Mangazine (M&C). There main story was 2008 Meetings Market Report. They actually asked some questions about being green. I was so discusted by the results that I had to share them with you.
“This year, to reflect how the “green” wave has taken over the meetings industry, we asked planners about their recycling and other conservation tactics. About a third of both groups make sure all their conference materials are printed on recycled paper. Surprisingly, in this climate, 33 percent of the corporate respondents and 21 percent of their association colleagues don’t know if recycled paper is being used.”
How do you not know if you are using recycled paper? I couldn’t believe that last sentence!!!
The article continued by doing a Green Planning Profile…
Every day, the “green movement reaches further into the meetings world. To gauge how planners are approaching the trend, a number of questions on the subject were added to the 2008 Meetings Market Report survey.
When asked how a destination’s reputation for being environmentally friendly weighed on their selections, 49 percent of corporate planners of events other than incentives said the area’s eco-friendly reputation was very important factor in their decision, while only 24 percent of incentive planners said it was significant. Just a quarter of convention planners said a destination’s reputation was a major factor, and even fewer of those who plan other association meetings, 22 percent, considered this important.
An unspoiled environment was a significant factor for just 37 percent of the corporate meeting professionals surveyed, but almost half (48 percent) of the incentive planners considered it important. On the association side, more convention planners (35 percent) than planners of other association meetings (28 percent) said a clean and unspoiked evnironment was a major factor.
Considering how high-profile the norion of social responsibility has become in the corporate world, it’s not surporising that corporate planners are more conscious of green practices when choosing facilities than their association counterparts. More than half of the corporate respondents (51 percent) and 42 percent of the incentive respondents said green practices at a facility were an omportant factor. Only 17 percent of association meeting planners and 18 percent of convention planners said ti was a significant consideration when choosing a facility or hotel. Planners generally are happy to implement green practices if the facility already offers them. Nine percent of corporate planners and 14 percent of association planners always arrange it so attendees can recycle papers, cans and bottles at events, but 41 percent of the corporate sample and 53 percent of association respondents do so only if the facility already offers the service.
When conferences are in progress, more than half of both groups (54 percent corporate and 57 percent association) make sure lights and air conditioning are turned off whenever meeting rooms are not in use.”
One other startling fact…9 percent of corporate planners follow a mandatory “green” policy for their meetings and only 8% for association!
This just makes me sad! 
The last couple of weeks have been very exciting and fun! I did a lot of nature things like camp at Arches National Park and white water raft down the Colorado River in UT.
During all that fun, there was some business. I attended Meeting Professional International’s (MPI) World Education Conference (WEC). It was mostly about networking and getting the Meeting Revolution name out there but I did attend one educational session that I wanted to share. It was taught by Fiona Pelham of Organise This based in England. She spoke about BS 8901which is a sustainable event management system. It is about implementing a way of working whcih considers environmental, economical, and social impacts. BS 8901 can be a self-certified or externally certified standard and was used at the MPI European Conference back in April 2008. BS 8901 is a three-phased system: planning, implementation and review.
Phase 1
Phase 1 includes appointing a Sustainability Champion, identifying issues specific to your situation, creating a development policy which includes objectives, and engaging with all stakeholders.
The MPI conference objectives included:
*To raise awareness and provide education on sustainability within the UK meetings and events industry
*To create a benchmark and measure the level of sustainability achieved at The European Meetings and Events Conference 2008
*To achieve BS 8901 Sustainable Event Management System
MPI’s stake holder engagement included: e-mails, conference calls, phone calls and site visits. Although every stakeholder was individually made aware of the sustainability objectives the most effective method of communication and education was a series of educational workshops. Stakeholders who attended the Positive Impact workshop demonstrated a clearer understanding of how to incorporate sustainability into their ways of working than those contacted through other means.
Positive Impact, a not-for-profit project, provided education on issues including waste, energy, transport, food, certification and community involvement. By providing this education in conjunction with MPI UK chapter, the organization left a legacy of suppliers educated about sustainability.
The BS 8901 Phase 1 assessment too place before the event so the conference could be marketed as BS 8901 Phase 1 compliant.
Phase 2
Phase 2 includes supply chain management, roles and resources, operational controls.
Implementing BS8901 at the conference required management level buy in from MPI President and CEO Bruce MacMillan, “MPI is on a journey to sustainability. And we want to share our story with others in order to learn from everyone. The opportunity to work in a way that was certified under the BS 8901 was a natural fit with our event at London ExCel the fit made the decision to go ahead an easy one – one that was supported not only by me as President and CEO but by our entire community.”
Phase 2 for the MPI conference included the collection of measurements onsite by a team of volunteers from the conference who received training on how to measure sustainability. MPI used an online sustainable event management tool to monitor their measurements. See results below:
SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENTS from www.eventsustainability.com
Item Measurement
Food and beverage waste 0.607 tonnes
General waste 2.458 tonnes
Electricity 21059.9 KwH
Gas 30301 KwH
Water 2976 M3
Delegate travel mileage 251,208 miles
Food and beverage mileage 20,742.51 miles
Recycled mileage 173.6 miles
Other mileage 13,699.15 miles
BS 8901 does not specify numeric measurement levels which must be achieved because each event, venue and supplier will need to measure according to their specific issues.
The Phase 2 assessment took place on the event site through a series of interviews between the certifier and event stakeholders.
Phase 3
Phase 3 focuses on reviewing compliance and performance in relation to achieving your specific objectives.
Measuring sustainability for the MPI conference aimed to encourage stakeholders to begin monitoring and minimizing their impacts in the future. Phase 3 also includes demonstraiting how what was learned will be taken into account and omplemented effectively within the company, creating new targets for continual improvements in their way of working sustainably.
Conclusion
Implementing BS 8901 at an event reflects an entirely new way of thinking about sustainability in the event industry. It is a great opportunity for the UK event industry to adopt the standard as it is internationally recognized, demonstrating Britain could be leading in the arena of sustainable event management.
The MPI conference left a legacy in sustainable events as MPI’s event mangement system delivering the event was the first to go through a third party certificaton process for BS 8901, and through education stakeholders via Position Impace. Stakeholder engagement for the conference was a challenge due to the size of the event, however the increasing interest in sustainability was apparent throught the team of volunteers who dedicated their time onsite to help meausre sustainability.
The success of implementing BS 8901 has resulted in ongoing discussions within MPI to plan their future events in compliance to the standard as a management sstem, and not just as an achievement for one event.
In addition, the outcome of BS 8901 achievements from the conference have resulted with Swiss Tourism, looking to have a number of venues and suppliers certified in BS 8901 in the near future.
Further Information
MPI: www.positiveimpactevents.co.uk
Organise This: www.organisethis.co.uk
BSI: www.bsigroup.com/bs8901
Oh and did you check out the latest edition of the MPI magazine One + yet? Not yet? Check out this article: http://www.mpiweb.org/cms/mpiweb/mpicontent.aspx?id=19374
On Friday, I will be leaving for Meeting Professional International (MPI)’s World Educational Conference (WEC) which is being held in Las Vegas, NV. MPI has actually done an impressive job being environmentally responsible. Here is a link to their master list of what they have done for this conference: http://www.mpiweb.org/cms/mpiweb/wec2008/wec_content.aspx?id=16982. The show is being held at Mandalay Bay which I would guess is the most green hotel on the strip at this time. Although, Harrah’s is catching up quickly! I am really impressed with their green program!
For the next two weeks, Marc and I will be traveling around the Southwest of the US. Starting in Las Vegas, NV, San Diego, CA, Phoenix, AZ, El Paso, TX, Roswell, NM, Albuquerque, NM, Arches National Park (Moab, UT), Grand Canyon (both north and south rims) and back to Vegas. We are driving 2,887 miles which is equal to .807 tons of Co2 and flying from NH to NV is 4,703 miles equals 1.881 tons of Co2. So I purchased a carbon offset to a wind farm for $36.00. I used NativeEnergy (www.nativeenergy.com) to help me purchase this offset.
I will be doing blogs from the road. I will be posting about things I see along the way. Stay tuned…
I found the cutest campaign for Sierra Club this morning and had to share it! They have this program called Lightbulbs to Leadership. Please visit the site: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/GetTogether?gettogether=activity_splash&cal_activity_id=1120
Speaking of videos, Meeting Revolution’s video was at 196 hits this morning! Thank you to everyone who has watched it! If you haven’t seen it yet, please click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/agourgue
I also just found a green festival that will be happening in Denver, CO on August 24th (the day before the DNC). For more information, click on this link: http://www.greenfrontierfest.com
So next month Marc and I will be going out West in conjunction with the Meeting Professional International World Education Conference (MPI – WEC). We are going to do a Western Adventure which I am very excited about! One of the stops on our trip is San Diego. I love San Diego but Marc has never been. So I’m trying to find fun quick touristy things to do. I logged on to Frommers and there is a new section that I find fascinating. Under the Planning A Trip tab, there is a new link called Sustainable Travel & Ecotourism. How cool is that?!?!?
So here is what that section says…
Each time you take a flight or drive a car CO2 is released into the atmosphere. You can help neutralize this danger to our planet through “carbon offsetting” — paying someone to reduce your CO2 emissions by the same amount you’ve added. Carbon offsets can be purchased in the U.S. from companies such as Carbonfund.org (www.carbonfund.org) and TerraPass (www.terrapass.org), and from Climate Care (www.climatecare.org) in the U.K.
Although one could argue that any vacation that includes an airplane flight can’t be truly “green,” you can go on holiday and still contribute positively to the environment. Choose forward-looking companies that embrace responsible development practices, helping preserve destinations for the future by working alongside local people. An increasing number of sustainable tourism initiatives can help you leave as small a “footprint” as possible on the places you visit.
Responsible Travel (www.responsibletravel.com), run by a spokesperson for responsible tourism in the travel industry, contains a great source of sustainable travel ideas.
You can find eco-friendly travel tips, statistics, and touring companies and associations — listed by destination under “Travel Choice” — at the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) website, www.ecotourism.org. Also check out Conservation International (www.conservation.org) — which, with National Geographic Traveler, annually presents
I have always been a fan of Frommers and it is the only web site that I turn to for travel information but now I love them even more! Please check out these sites and purchase some carbon offsetting when you go on vacation. Marc and I are going to!
Today will be another short blog just because it is so nice outside! I would rather be out than inside on the computer! 
So yesterday the boy and I were in Somerville, MA heading towards Arlington, MA. We passed a Whole Foods Market with a HUGE banner hanging on the store that said, “Did you remember to bring your reusable bag?” I LOVED that! It really was a huge sign…it took up a whole corner of the building. This brings me to todays topic of greenwashing. On Monday, I posted an article on the Meeting Revolution’s Facebook page that was all about greenwashing. Basically, greenwashing is saying that your company (or even personally) is green and environmentally friendly when your company (or you) really aren’t.
Here is the link to that article: http://thesietch.org/mysietch/keith/2008/04/10/how-to-spot-greenwash/
I see this a lot in hotels. I have to say to hotels that is great that you have a linen program but what else? There is so much they can do but they just don’t put the effort into it. I can see how some people think that being green takes a lot of effort but really it isn’t. It is changing some habits like mentioned in one of the videos on EcoTube (the British shopping video). If you are going to do something anyway, like grocery shop, then why not bring your own bags? Change is hard…I understand that completely!
First a random thought…This too was taken from Harvard Business Review for Green Business…”In a federal district court case in Mississippi, plaintiffs are suing oil & coal companies for green house gas emissions arguing that they contributed to the severity of Hurricane Katrina. The claims in that case include unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy (against the American Petroleum Institute), public and private nuisance, trespass, negligence, and fraudulent misrepresentation.” Interesting, huh?
This week I got an e-mail from one of the groups that I belong to on Facebook. The e-mail talked about a U-Tube for the environment. The link is: www.eco-tube.com/home.aspx. I recommend that everyone goes and looks at these videos. I have really enjoyed the videos so far. I really enjoy the videos that take a humorous look at the issues happening. For example, these two:
http://www.eco-tube.com/v/FUN/Pussy_Killers.aspx and http://www.eco-tube.com/v/FUN/Harrison_Ford_loses_an_acre.aspx
Yes, todays blog is short but I really want you to now go to EcoTube and check it out! Go…now!
So as an update from last week…I did hear back from the Newton Chamber of Commerce but not from the Newton Marriott. Here is what Vanessa (Director of Events at the Newton Chamber) had to say: Amanda~ Thank you for your feedback and suggestions. The information is valuable and we will consider your points when planning next year’s event. Thanks again. Vanessa Leite
Consider my points? I hope she does more than consider them!
Random fact from the Harvard Business Review: The World Health Organization estimates that burning dung and drinking contaminated water together cause eight million deaths per year! Can you believe that?!!? I was amazed when I first read that.
So on to the topic of today’s blog…I want to show that anyone can make a difference and it never hurts to speak up! Over the weekend, I attended a Chowder Festival in Portsmouth, NH. It is part of Prescott Park’s annual events. I have been attending this event for over 10 years!
This event has grown a lot over the past couple of years both in attendees and in safety…I think it started when a local company (Lupo’s) decided to serve cold chowder to a couple thousand people. That really got the health inspector’s attention. So now there are much stricter rules. This year they started to give out polystyrene bowls at every booth…there are about 14 booths and 4,000 attendees. I had brought my own bowl and spoon but was refused service. The reason why they switched from one bowl for every booth to one bowl for one booth is that the health inspector is afraid that the ladle will touch the dirty bowl and spread germs from one person to another. So when I got home I sent an e-mail to the Executive Director of Prescott Park and this is what I said to him (this is just part of the e-mail…I had other comments which is why this seems like a strange start to this paragraph):
Also what disgusted me more than the lines were the Polystyrene bowls. Prescott Park is trying to kill the planet. Why couldn’t we have used a corn or bamboo based product? Just think about it…there were 14 booths and over 4,000 people…that is at least 56,000 Polystyrene bowls! Here is an example that I hope you can use an inspiration, “When we “greened” the Live Earth concert in Giants Stadium, using china service for 51,000 fans would have been impossible. This of the amount of hot dogs, pizza slices, pretzels, etc. they went through during the eight hour concert! What we were able do, however, was convince the stadium caterer to use biodegradable cups, wrappers, cutlery, etc. Because we had composting available for the event, these items were then thrown into the compost bins along with the leftover food items, avoiding food waste going into the landfill waste. Meeting Strategists Worldwide
This year I even brought my own bowl and spoon. Of course the booths refused to serve me so I did something that would be worse in the eyes of the health inspector. I took the bowl that they gave me dumped it into my bowl and left my dirty bowl on the booth. While I was in the very long lines, I had time to talk to the people around me about the bowl situation and many were concerned about the polystyrene bowls. One guy even said, “I can’t understand why they wouldn’t use a corn base bowl?”
The Executive Director wrote back and told me that I was absolutely correct. He was horrified about the bowl situation as well but it was the only economical choice. So I have volunteered my services to help the Park become green. I want people to start speaking up about what they see or experience for themselves. How are things going to change if no one says anything?
As I was writing the e-mail to the Executive Director I was researching how long it takes polystyrene bowls to decompose…knowing that it took a long time. By the way, never found that number which can’t be a good thing but I came across this web site: http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_pfpg.asp?CID=1421&DID=5213. It is for American Chemistry and it is facts about polystyrene. This fact sheet made me laugh…it looks at polystyrene is a positive light. Of course they aren’t going to talk about the negatives…um like it kills the planet! Read it and I hope you find it kind of funny and sad all at the same time.
This week on the Meeting Revolution Facebook page, I posted a comment on the wall. I want anyone who does something green to write about it. Or better yet take a picture or video of it. Post it to the web site. Let everyone know what good things you are doing for the environment!
