Tamara Kennedy-Hill Executive Director, Green Meeting Industry Council

Megan Rooksby,CMP GMIC Oregon Chapter President

Maxvantage Meeting Solutions

Inspiring Sustainability

Who is the GMIC?

The GMIC is the premier global meetings community solely dedicated to sustainability not only through education but also by spearheading research, policy and standards for the meetings and event industry.

GMIC Story

•Nonprofit global membership based organization started in 2003

•500+ Members in 19 countries

•45 Supporting Business Partners

•Member of the CIC.

•Partner in the APEX Process.

•Advisory Role in GRI.

What is a Green Meeting?

A green meeting incorporates environmental considerations throughout all stages of the meeting process in order to minimize the negative impact on the environment and make a positive impact to host communities in terms of environmental and social legacies.

Green Meetings – Better Meetings

Reduced environmental impact

Cost savings

Promotional benefits

Green business opportunities

Delegate and employee satisfaction

GMIC Mantra

Sustainability is our VisionCorporate Responsibility is our Obligation

Green Meetings are our Strategy.

INSPIRE. LEAD. SUSTAIN.

GMIC Member Community

Venues

On-Site

Destination

Communications & Marketing

Exhibits

Accommodation

F & B

Transport

GMIC OREGON CHAPTER

Milestones:Oregon is the first chapter to incorporate under the Green Meeting Industry Council

The inaugural GMIC Oregon event was held on July 15, 2009 at EcoTrust.

GMIC Oregon currently maintains close to 50 active members in the local community and seeks new members to join the sustainability conversation.

Is Green a Choice?

Discussion Time

What is a challenge are you facing with greening in your meetings/events and or facility?

• What is one change or idea you can put in action that reflects your organization’s or event’s commitment to sustainability (greening)?

• What does the industry need to provide you to take your greening to the next level?

The Business Case

“Companies that report sustainability data generally experience higher gross margins and return on sales, higher return on assets, and stronger cash flow and rising shareholder return.” PriceWaterhouseCoopers 2008

Slide Courtesy of Meeting Strategies Worldwide

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• The concept has been around for almost a century.

• It encourages corporations/organizations to consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of its actions.

Driving Business Pressure

FORTUNE 500 companies are increasingly recognizing that the most impactful climate change strategy is to “green their supply chains.”

What Do Corporations Say?

For many years, we have been working to mitigate our impact on climate change—through energy conservation programs, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and development of more energy-efficient products.

– Intel Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

Fortune 500

"Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing the world today, and it is a key issue for our stakeholders, who expect us to minimize the impacts of our operations and products."

Gregory Q. Brown, President and CEO

Motorola Corporate Social Responsibility Report

About Sustainability?

"We hold sustainability as one of our core values.“ -Keith Wendall, President and COO of Johnson Controls.

“We aspire to be the most environmentally responsible company in the world.”

"...our Company's financial success depends on our ability to protect the environment, respect our employees and be responsible to the world community“

- Johnson & Johnson Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

What Planners Are Saying Today…

Are planning or expect to plan a green meeting

during the next year…

Association 44%

Corporate 51%

Independent 43%

2009 Meetings Market Trends Survey

51% of independents (a 16% increase over 2008)

46.8% of corporate (a 10.5% increase over 2008)

44.4% both of association planners and government planners

Source: 2009 Meetings Media Survey

Who’s planning green meetings now 2009?

Competitive Advantage

84% of buyers felt meeting industry should take

environment more seriously into account

Source: IMEX 3rd Annual Survey Results 2008

THAT IS A REASON TO DO MORE

An average meeting attendee uses 20 pounds of trash PER DAY…

…That’s compared to 4 - 5 pounds of trash per day when at home!!!

Collect. Track. Report. Evaluate. Improve

Just the Trash Facts

Waste Diversion Defined

• Waste diversion, or landfill diversion, is the process of diverting waste from a landfill and is typically measured by weight. – Wikipedia

• The act of preventing garbage from being disposed of in landfills or incinerators by reducing the amount of materials that you use or buy, reusing products, recycling or composting. – Larimer.org

Million Tons of Trash Challenge

Green Meetings Industry Council estimates conferences in the USA produce an estimated 10.5 million tons of trash.

1 million tons therefore represents a reduction of about 10%.

Inspiring Waste Diversion

• Data Collection

• Tracking Your Data

• Reporting Your Results

• Evaluating & Celebrating Your Results

• Annual Improvement Plan

What Data Do I Collect?• How much trash the event or

company produced, and how much was recycled by weight at a minimum.

• For those who are also reducing trash by composting, providing to donation programs or cutting back on things like paper you can collect this information as well.

TrackMeeting planners and suppliers are partners in collecting waste management data.

At the most basic level, ask your trash hauler:

How much trash they collect by weight

How much they recycle and/or compost by weight

• Be specific about dates of measurement• To ensure venue and trash hauler compliance put it in your

contract with an agreement to provide reporting by a certain date.

Report & Evaluate SuccessDisposed Wet Waste/Food/Non-Recycables5 tons or 5.5 yards90 Gallon Recycling Totes24 bins x 150 lbs eachPaper, Plastic, Glass, Aluminum3600 lbs or 1.8 tonsCardboard Recycling1 and ½ balesFood Pans or Trays served 358 pansTotal Number of food pans reserved in employee cafeteria 26 pans

Case Study: Client in North America 2009Environmental Resources saved throughrecycling this week = 2.5 tons of material

•6 Trees Saved

•166 gallons of oil saved•8 gallons of gasoline saved

•2275 gallons water saved

•6278 kW electricity saved

•8 yards landfill space saved

Prepared by Allied Waste Industry

Supplier Savings from Going Green

The Fairmont Royal York has saved $51,000 per year by switching from incandescent to fluorescent lights.

Scandic Hotels estimates energy and water conservation measures have saved EUR 18 million between 1996 – 2000. That’s over $27.7 million USD (Scandic Hotels, 2008)

Airports can save over $100,000 per year by recycling.

More Supplier Savings

• InterContinental Chicago O’Hare Reflective roof system CFL & LED lighting in all guest rooms and hallways In-house purified water in corn based bottles Organic or seasonal menus sourced locally

• The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa Replaced 4,440 standard light bulbs with energy efficient

florescent bulbs Saved over 203,000 kwh of energy and $61,000 annually Stopped 317,165 lbs of carbon dioxide from entering the

atmosphere

Develop best practices and voluntary standards that can be implemented to create a more sustainable meeting or event.– Sustainable: economic, environmental and social aspect of

meetings and events.

Green Meeting Events Practice Panel Mission (APEX):

Meetings Industry

Venues

On-Site

Destination

Communications & Marketing

Exhibits

Accommodation

F & B

Transport

Communication/policy

Air quality

Comm

unity

Par

tner

s

Staff mgmt/policy

Procurement

Energy

Water

Waste

Eight Categories in each (sector) pie

Ways to Get Involved

• GMIC Chapters www.greenmeetings.info/chapters.htm• Join the GMIC Oregon Chapter today! Booth #207

• Join in on the Trash Action Challenge: – For the meetings and event industry to divert 1million tons of solid waste from by end of 2009.

challenge@greenmeetings.info– www.trashchallenge.com

• APEX Standards http://wp.apexsolution.org/

Tools & Resources –

• Convention Industry Council Guidelines - www.conventionindustry.org/projects/green_meetings_report.pdf

• GMIC website – www.greenmeetings.info

• PCMA Network for the Needy - www.pcma.org/source/community/

• GMIC & IMEX Green Meetings

Awards - www.imex-frankfurt.com/greenawards.html

• MeetGreen – book and calculator – www.meetgreen.com

“95% of the meeting professionals who have ever lived are alive today.

We have the opportunity together to decide what this young profession will be about; bringing people and

ideas together as part of the problem, or as part of the solution. “

David Berman, Expert Speaker on Design, Ethics, Social Responsibility.

Questions?Questions?

Tamara Kennedy-Hill

Executive Director

Green Meeting Industry Council

503-332-5739 direct

1-888-450-2098 main office

tamara@greenmeetings.info

www.greenmeetings.info

OR

Megan Rooksby,CMP

GMIC Oregon Chapter President

EMAIL: GMICOREGON@GMAIL.COM

THANK YOU!BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD! -Ghandi

www.greenmeetings.info

Visit us at booth #207 now!