Prevue July/August 2014 - (Page 61)

Sustainable Meetings Conference The GMIC helps planners minimize their meeting/event footprints [ON LOCATION] JESSIE FETTERLING T his past April, the green meetings conversation was taken to a new level during the Sustainable Meetings Conference, sponsored by the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC). Held at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, the conference showed that the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra is still alive and well, while introducing planners to the next wave of sustainability. GREEN COMMUNITIES Hosting the conference in San Francisco made quite the statement. The city has completely eliminated the use of water bottles at conferences (and the use of Styrofoam and plastic bags citywide for that matter), and is currently on track toward zero waste by 2020. "We work with SF Travel quite a bit and have a basic checklist of what meeting planners should do," says Shawn Rosenmoss, senior environmental specialist for the San Francisco Department of the Environment. "San Francisco is seen as a leader in the ﬁeld, but we're mouthing off about it a lot, and a lot of people aren't, so I think some of it is understanding what other cities are actually doing." Rosenmoss says San Francisco's stringent green business program gives planners a list of the city's 180 greenest businesses-an easy ﬁrst step in ﬁnding green suppliers. Mandatory recycling and composting in all buildings is also the norm. At the Moscone Center, for instance, leftover food waste from conferences is either donated to local organizations or composted. Plus, the 60,000-sf solar generation project atop Moscone South gives solar power back to the city's electric grid. In nearby Monterey, a.k.a. the "salad bowl capital of the world," 13 weekly farmers markets keep a farm-to-fork mentality going strong. We're told that Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program was a pioneer in linking dining behavior to ocean health, which led to the use of responsible seafood menus across the country. The Monterey Regional Waste Management District guarantees that county events will either be low waste or have a zero landﬁll impact. For those meetings that can't mitigate a zero or near-zero waste event, the Offset Project's Monterey Bay Carbon Fund pays for carbon offsets, which go to local renewable energy projects, says Sylecia Johnston, MTA, destination marketing/group sales for the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Sustainability has also been part of the Keystone, Colorado, culture since long before "recycling was sexy," says David Sackmann, senior national sales manager for the Keystone Resort & Conference Center. Sackmann made that point clear by offering to donate $5 to San Francisco's Friends of the Urban Forest foundation for every business card he received at the GMIC conference. "Because we operate within the national forest system, we give guests the opportunity to donate a dollar to the National Forest Foundation upon registration," says Sackmann. "In Colorado, we've had water issues for 100 years, so for years and years we've been promoting low-ﬂow ﬁxtures in our rooms, and we have had highly efﬁcient laundry services years before the sustainability movement even launched." Singapore is another destination that continues to make green advancements in the MICE industry-the nation's prevuemeetings.com | 61 61-62_GMIC.indd 61 7/2/14 9:30 PM http://www.prevuemeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue July/August 2014

Planner’s Pick: The Franklin Institute
Fresh Meets: Marriott Hotels
Bureau Buzz: Bermuda Tourism Authority
Good Business: Anaheim/Orange County CVB
Sea Shores: Table for 2 (Hundred)
Table Talk Creativity and engagement add flavor to culinary events
SPECIAL SECTION: THE CARIBBEAN More than a vacation spot, paradise for meetings
IRF INVITATIONAL Secrets Puerto Los Cabos hosts the biggest incentive forum yet
On Location: Dominican Republic
On Location: Westin Hilton Head
On Location: Vancouver
LOUISIANA Culture, dramatic venues and immersive tours surround the Big Easy
ORLANDO AIBTM host city is a top draw for meetings
On Location: Auckland
SUSTAINABLE MEETINGS GMIC helps planners minimize their footprint
Checkout: Thompson Chicago

Prevue July/August 2014