On Tuesday, June 3, 2008, I attended a Green Expo put on by the Newton Chamber of Commerce. I was very excited to attend this since I missed the Boston Business Summit.
The exhibit hall opened at 10:30AM (the same time as the breakout meetings started). I got there at 10:25AM and they wouldn’t let me in yet…although other people were walking in so I just followed them. I walked around the show and met some great companies and people.
The companies who exhibited were:
Solar Sam, Green Needham, Furnature, Pearl’s Premium Lawn, Gentle Giant, MA Collaborative Law Council, Green Roundtable, Green Decade, Coca Cola Bottling Company of New England, Hill Energy/Rate it Green, EMS, Waste Management, Chapman Construction, National Grid, Charles River Watershed, Progressive Asset Management, Climate Energy, Aircuity, NewBridge on the Charles, Poirier Appliances, Equal Exchange, Stonyfield Farm, Sterritt Lumber, Anderson Windows, Shaklee, Sunshine Cleaning Systems, Mass DEP, WXRV 92.5, E.L. Harvey, Borrego Solar, Mass Technology Collaborative, Sustainable Construction Services, Casey Company, Big Toys, Curtains Up & Down, Clean Energy Design, New England Window Systems, Mass Biofuel, Suez Energy, NStar, Northeast Data Destruction/Miller Recycling, Burke Oil, Wainwright Bank, Boston Business Journal, City of Newton/Mass Recycle, Arbonne International, Waterless/Ralco, Indrsano Electric, Conservation Solutions, Applied Ecologics, Newton Marriott Hotel, Sustainnovation Consulting, Dustless Floor Sanding, Boston Green Building, Geiger Promotional Products, Mass Energy Alliance, Gorman Richardson Architects, S&H Construction, Shear Color Printing, Next Level Promotions, Earth Our Only Home, Green On the Side, Smart Growth Alliance, ERG.
So as you can see a good amount of companies but they were really focused on the house/construction side. I was there to look for clients. I wanted to talk to Coca Cola, Stonyfield Farm, Boston Business Journal, Newton Marriott, Boston Green Building, Earth Our Only Home and Green on the Inside. I was able to talk to all of them except the Newton Marriott…who really needed to talk to me.
This was the Newton Marriott’s opportunity to shine in front of 200/300 local green businesses and in my opinion they did a not so great job. First there was no recycling bins in the exhibit hall or any of the break outs. There were bottled sodas at lunch and the water glasses were pre-poured. There was no mention of donating the leftover food or composting the waste. They did mention that the chicken was local but what about the rest of the meal? Plus the major lunch sponsor was Stonyfield Farms, Gary Hirshberg was actually speaking…so they should have used Stonyfield yogurt in the dessert. The next day when I was back in my office, I wrote to the Director of Sales at the Newton Marriott and told him these concerns. I also told him to call me if he wanted to learn more about being green.
I also sent an e-mail to the President and the Director of Events at the Chamber and told them my thoughts. There were other logistical issues besides being green. I even had people at my table at lunch telling me that this event could have used my help…kind of flattering! 
So if you go to an event that you see things that could be more green, don’t hesitate in telling the planner and the meeting site. We need to have minds changed…be a revolutionist!
