Envrionmentally Responsible Organizations Are "Walking the Talk" by Greening Their Events

By Deborah Popely

Even the Oscars have gone green this year – encouraging other environmentally responsible organizations to “walk the talk” by making sure their special events, conferences and trade shows are in line with their green policies.

Events are where organizations show their public face, and environmentally conscious organizations want to project a consistent image with all their activities. Greening these essential marketing activities is a way to demonstrate to customers and employees that an organization is serious about combating global warming and preserving the environment. As time goes on, corporations, nonprofits and government agencies will be under increasing scrutiny as to how well they are living up to their environmental statements, and people will be looking at their external events as clues to the sincerity of their commitment.

There are a number of sustainable practices that can help limit the environmental footprint associated with planning, coordinating and cleaning up after events of various sizes and types. Environmentally responsible organizations will want to select the “greenest” venues; reduce the amount of paper involved in planning, marketing and hosting the event; produce eco-friendly signage, premiums and decorations; arrange for green catering and disposal; and adopt strategies to reduce energy consumption associated with travel, shipping and lighting. It will also be important to document the environmental benefit and communicate this information to event participants, employees and the public at large.

One of the biggest challenges will be to maintain cost-effectiveness in green event planning. Many of the green practices do reduce costs – such as relying more on electronic communications and using energy-efficient lighting. These strategies can offset some of the costs associated with going green in other areas. But it’s hard to put a price-tag on improved staff morale and customer goodwill that can result from making these simple changes.

TIPS FOR GREENING YOUR EVENTS

  • Cut Pollution: purchase materials from local vendors to avoid shipping items long distances; reduce travel and encourage public transportation and carpooling.
  • Save Trees: print on recycled paper using soy inks, and use electronic formats (CD-Rom and DVDs) for handouts and sales materials.
  • Save Energy: use energy efficient light fixtures and high-to-low voltage converters to save electricity.
  • Reduce Waste: recycle booth materials and signage, use recyclable utensils, cups and plates for food samples, hand out green premiums.
  • Support Sustainable Businesses: Sponsor socially conscious organizations, serve healthy foods and beverages and use eco-friendly vendors.

For more tips and ideas on greening events, visit the National Resource Defense Council website at www.nrdc.org.

 

Deborah Popely is founder of GREEN2B/GREEN2C MARKETING,which works collaboratively with The Ashkin Group to build connections between individual consumers, corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations in a way that expands the market for sustainable products, practices and programs. The firm provides strategic marketing and communications services, e-marketing, market research, public relations, and coordination of trade shows, conferences and special events for socially responsible organizations.

 

 

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