by kingdesmond1337

Everyday each attendee has a soda and a bottle of water. Everyday the empty bottles and cans are thrown away – not a single bottle or can is recycled – 1800 bottles go into a landfill. If you’ve spent time in the corporate world you know, conferences are everywhere, every day. This means you need to multiply that 1800 by at least a hundred to account for all of the simultaneous events taking place in a single day. Waste, plain and simple. This is one example of one item, bottles or cans, now factor in food, the presentation materials, and transportation and you understand the countless changes that can be made to make the meeting industry more “green.”

So whether you are planning a birthday party or a large conference greening your next meeting isn’t as complicated or costly as you might think. Below are 5 simple and low cost changes that can have a big impact.

Try going paperless: There are countless ways this can be done. Try distributing presentations on electronic devices (for example a flash-drive) or via an event web site versus printing manuals for each participant; Go for electronic registration and email correspondence; and advertise using the web and/or email as opposed to mailers.

Go local: Make sure the menu has vegetarian meals and have the chef include local, seasonal produce.

Recycle: Request that your meeting venue to provide recycling bins for paper, metal, plastic and glass. Recycle or reuse left over event materials.

Print it Right: Work with an FSC certified printer; make sure materials are printed on recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks, and print on both sides of the paper.

Forget the sugar packets: Request bulk dispensers for sugar, salt, pepper, cream and other condiments.