Successful Meetings - November 2008 - (Page 104)

11.08 PLACES SPACES & Gauge Your and Brew Red, White, Greenness By Leslie Gilbert Elman Planning a meeting close to home is the first step toward making it green. The shorter the distance attendees have to travel, the less fuel they consume to reach their destination, the lower their carbon emissions, and the smaller the stress (on both the attendees and the Earth). So it’s good news that there are a growing number of venues in North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean demonstrating a world-class effort in environmental conservation and sustainability. “Your meeting facility is your point of departure for greening a meeting,” Inside says travel sustainability consultant PAGE 108 > Las Vegas Megan Epler Wood of EplerWood > Bermuda PAGE 129 International. “Everyone wants a > Dallas Metroplex PAGE 132 LEED-certified venue, and they’re > Kansas City / becoming more common, although St. Louis PAGE 137 they’re not abundant.” > Boston PAGE 140 At least not yet. According to a January 2008 report from the Pinnacle Advisory Group, there were then just eight hotels in the United States with LEED certification, but more than a hundred properties have applied for certification, including several from major international hotel groups, such as the Marriott New York Downtown and Starwood’s element brand, so the chances of finding a LEED-certified hotel for your meeting in 2010 and beyond seem very good indeed. Even if a venue is not LEED certified, there are ways to gauge its “greenness.” Many states and local municipalities have their own green certification standards. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, for instance, awards Green Lodging certificates to hotels that have demonstrated commitment to waste reduction, water and energy conservation, and other green standards. Planners also should create their own checklists of eco-friendly criteria. BlueGreen Meetings (www.bluegreenmeetings.org), an initiative of the Oceans Blue Foundation, offers a list of questions to ask a green vendor or supplier, as do the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ceres, a sustainability coalition. In many instances, green meetings tend to be small meetings— the fewer the attendees, the less impact on the environment. Similarly, many green hotels and resorts tend to be small hotels and resorts that can efficiently manage and offset their environmental impact. Case in point: the Lodge at Sun Ranch in Cameron, MT, which offers “whole-lodge buyout packages” for up to 18 guests (double occupancy) and provides luxury accommodations in green-built lodge facilities made of eco-friendly and recycled materials, gourmet organic meals, and tours of its sustainable ranching operation. General Manager Lara Morris says that the ranch’s meeting space can be configured for formal and informal gatherings, which appeals to its Fortune 500 clientele. While most green resorts are located in out-of-the-way places, green meetings are not necessarily rustic meetings. Arenas del Mar in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, is a luxury eco-resort in the Central American rain forest. It can host as many as 30 guests, but according to Hans Pfister, president of the resort’s parent company, Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, it specializes in high-end board meetings of 15 to 20 attendees. During meetings, attendees take notes on paper made from locally sourced banana or coffee leaves, snack on organic chocolates and coffee, and sip water from refillable bottles made from biodegradable plastic. NOVEMBER 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 104 successfulmeetings.com http://www.bluegreenmeetings.org http://www.successfulmeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - November 2008

Successful Meetings - November 2008
Editor's Note
Supplier News - Wyndham Worldwide Launches Green Program and Website with a "Global Green Day"
On the Record
Calendar
Supplier News - Oregon Convention Center Earns Silver LEED�Rating
Planner Spotlight
Management Matters
Meetings Law
Mouth for Sale
Websites of the Month
Professional Development - 25 Eco-Friendly Holiday Business Gift Ideas
Pre-Event
Professional Development - The Green Meetings Glossary
Tools of the Trade
On Site
When Red and Blue Make Green
Green Your Golf
Green-Centric Events Have Spice
The Green Continent
Places & Spaces
Las Vegas
South Africa Supplement
Bermuda
Dallas Metroplex
Kansas City / St. Louis
Boston
Gurus
California: New Perspectives

Successful Meetings - November 2008