We switched from paper tickets for each individual function to wristbands several years ago. It has made the entry process into each event much faster and saved our team a ton of time printing and collating those with the name badges.
This is a great idea. Congratulations on saving money and the environment!
What success have you had on recycling name badges for use again at your next conference.
We have an average of 25% returned for reuse. When we offer a drawing for some type of electronic equipment for returned badges the number jumps to over 50%. This is another sponsorship opportunity by the way!
We need to provide sponsored tote bags. Are any materials preferable for these reuseable bags manufactured for meetings?
Look for post-consumer recycled materials first and then make sure the bag is easily reusable or can be recycled. You may want to pay special attention to where it was produced as well, the more local, the better.
What about third party certifications outside of the ones you list? I was looking at hotels in Florida, and hotels indicated they were "Florida Green Lodging Certified Hotel," but I hadn't heard of that certification.
The list I provided on the slide is a starting point and there are certainly other certifications. Make sure you take a look at the criteria and confirm that it is a third-party certification instead of a self assessment.
Will the venue charge us for measuring how much our meeting waste was recycled?
The venue should not charge you for measuring the meeting waste as it is an item they request from the waste hauler. We have seen a few instances where convention centers do try to charge. Make sure you talk about this upfront and negotiate it out of your proposed contract.
What are some carbon offsets - things you can do?
I think this question refers to when I discussed carbon offset projects as a possible sponsorship opportunity. It is possible to have the carbon offsets sponsored for attendee travel, meeting venue energy use, show freight, or the entire conference. You can chose one or all depending on the amount of the sponsorship. There are carbon offset project providers that will assist you in determining the amount of offsets and a price.
Are there any numbers that tell us what percentage of meeting attendees find Green meetings a priority? Or are picking one meeting over another because it is green? In other words, how can I convince my team to make Green meetings a priority?
I wish there were numbers to quantify this. Right now it is more an issue of how your organization will be perceived if you don’t produce a sustainable meeting. As we talked about during the webinar, what will the social media forums be saying.
what recommendations can you give for serving sugar in bulk. I find that it is messy looking and sticky.
My recommendation would be to serve the sugar in cubes in a container with a lid. It looks neat and doesn’t require the spoon be reused.
What are your suggestions for a conference of 2500 who always has box lunches? How do we avoid using disposables?
This is an area where you can really get creative. Start by determining what type of container they will be in. Can this be a sponsorship opportunity where the lunches are in a reusable bag, a carpenter’s apron or a reuseable “bento box.” We usually put out a buffet table with all of the items) guests put on their own condiments in the case of sandwiches) and then use a bag or box if they need one. Many times, participants use their own conference bags or backpacks. This also saves the caterer labor for the box assembly.
Can you provide the website where you can find food banks?
Here is the link for Second Harvest’s Food Bank Locator http://feedingamerica.org/foodbank-results.aspx
Don't your guests expect water to be provided, rather than asked to be served?Does this also apply in Canada? Our laws are pretty strong here.
Water is still provided, it is just poured at the guests request instead of pre-poured before everyone arrives. Even restaurants have started asking before automatically bringing water.