New Tool Allows Planners to Determine Eco-Friendliness of Meetings, Conferences
Portland, Ore.-based Meeting Strategies Worldwide (MSW) has launched The MeetGreen Calculator, a tool planners can use to gauge the environmentally friendliness of their meetings and conferences.
The Web-based calculator is available to anyone who wants to measure the environmental impact of their events.
To assess environmental impact, the Calculator compares practices of a specific event against the greenest alternative practices. Results provide a benchmark for future events and a comparison with other green events.
For example, environmental practices include use of locally produced food, selecting meeting sites where attendees can walk or use mass transit and diverting a significant portion of garbage by recycling and reuse.
The Calculator is part of a suite of products and services that includes tools to use throughout the planning process to lessen detrimental environmental effects and a program to certify that an event is following the best green practices. Together they are called MeetGreen and constitute the first move toward an industry standard for environmentally friendly meetings.
Groups such as Sierra Club, U.S. Green Building Council, Globe Foundation of Canada and Business for Social Responsibility have hired MSW for the approach now quantified in the MeetGreen tool.
“By working with Meeting Strategies Worldwide, we have attained a clear understanding of the level of environmental management we achieved with our recent World Urban Forum 3. Now we have a solid basis for improving our environmental performance in the future,” said Ginny Stratton of Globe Foundation of Canada. “We are ecstatic to know that the host of practices we employed resulted in the highest possible MeetGreen rating and hope that the results of our efforts will create a legacy for future organizers of the World Urban Forum.”
World Urban Forum and other events can make a difference in many simple ways, according to MSW.
Instead of providing bottled water, for example, an event following MeetGreen best practices provides water in large containers and cups that are reusable. Instead of treating food leftovers as costly garbage, a MeetGreen-certified event likely treats leftovers as a donation to a local food bank.
The strategy can result in reduced costs and translates into quantifiable dividends for clients, attendees, local communities and the environment, according to MSW.
“All organizations should be interested in the benefits of reducing waste,” said MSW Principal Nancy J. Wilson, a certified meeting professional. “Now MeetGreen is available to identify and stymie waste associated with meetings — whether in the form of energy, natural resources or finances.”
Wilson and MSW Partner Amy Spatrisano designed MeetGreen to respond to demand from an increasing number of corporations and other organizations incorporating waste reduction and healthy environmental practices into their strategies.
“MeetGreen is the latest entry in a growing collection of building blocks for organizations striving for sustainability,” said Spatrisano, a certified meeting professional and president of Green Meeting Industry Council.
In addition to the calculator, MeetGreen provides other avenues for improving events.
The MeetGreen Toolbox helps organizations use events to achieve further environmental benefits by providing suggestions for contract language, vendor policies, a list of green meetings resources and instruction on inspecting sites.
Events can also receive MeetGreen certification after a MeetGreen observer verifies practices first-hand.
To find out more about MeetGreen, visit www.meetgreen.com. For further information, visit www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com.