Becoming a greener guest

The most popular season for entertaining is right around the corner, beginning with Thanksgiving and then the slippery slope to Christmas and New Years. Many will receive invitations to homes during the holidays for either dinner, drinks or a party. Combining etiquette and sustainability, how can we become a “greener” guest?

Here are some tips to help to minimize your environmental footprint and that of your host during this upcoming holiday season.

RSVP or “répondez, s'il vous plaît," which means "please reply." – By sending your RSVP to your host, you are actually minimizing waste! By letting your host know that you will or will not attend, you are ensuring that they do not overbuy or over-prepare food for the party, therefore minimizing waste.

These Boots are Made for Walking – When considering transportation to the party or event, consider how you will travel. If you live close, consider walking. Not only will you be minimizing your carbon footprint, you will not have to worry about determining who will be the designated driver. High heels? No problem, throw on your runners and change into your heels when you arrive. If you live in the city, there is no shame in taking public transit or sharing a cab ride with other guests. Of course, carpooling with other guests is always an option.

Hostess gifts – We always want to bring something for the host or hostess just to say thank you. Many bring wine….if this is the case, try to bring a local wine. In lieu of the traditional flowers consider bringing a lovely soy candle. If you have just finished a great book and are ready to pass it along, don’t be shy about tying a lovely ribbon around it and bringing it with you…..wrap it with a package of tea and a note that says, “Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did and you have a chance to relax with it and a cup of tea”. Home decor & living icon, Martha Stewart, suggests bringing something homemade like a preserve with a lovely personalized label. Whatever you bring, don’t be disappointed if they don’t serve it or use it that evening. There is no rule that a hostess gift needs to be used during the course of the evening. In fact, it is the opposite. Your host has already considered the food, wine and décor for the event and quite frankly, your gift may not suit the theme.

Potluck? – If your host asked you to bring a food item, consider using local ingredients. Make sure you bring your dish in a reusable container. Tip – If you are concerned about getting your serving dish back, put a piece of tape on the bottom with your name.

Green it forward – What about bringing your host something which will help them green their future dinner parties. Purchase some linen napkins in a neutral colour and present them wrapped in a lovely ribbon. Simple napkin rings can be added the next time you are invited. Linen napkins can be used over and over again, taking the place of single use paper napkins.

J

Do green events lack creativity?

I don't know what it is, but for the first time in my green meeting planning career, I have been asked the question "don't green events lack creativity? I don't want to have a boring event" not once, but twice recently. Once we begin planning the event, their fears are soon dispensed. It is clear that their green event will not be boring.

So I have to ask the question.......

Are we emerging from the recession driven period of individuals shying away from over indulgence who came over to the "green side" in an effort to not appear over indulgent? Are clients once again jumping on the "the more the better" band wagon?

I never questioned the motives of clients who wanted to green their events. For me..it didn't really matter what was driving them to greener pastures because once they went on that journey with me, I knew I could convince them that it truly was the better way of doing business. When the recession occurred, clients felt that going green = being able to still hold meetings/events because they were being "good". Now that the economy is picking up, I am finding that new clients are questioning the amount of "greening". They don't want to appear cheap.

Green events/meetings do not have to appear cheap. In my experience green events and meetings can be some of the most creative events out there! Why? Because we are always looking for ways to innovate. We are the early adopters.

Is there anyone else out there sensing a shift?

J

The dry, dry summer of 2010

Why do we fail to appreciate something until it is gone? This summer has been one of the driest on record where I live and for the very first time (in my whole life), we have rapidly moved from Stage 1 water restrictions to Stage 4.

Stage 4 water restrictions mean that you are not allowed to water anything...period. No watering lawns, flower beds, gardens. No Sunday afternoons washing your car in the driveway. No children playing in the sprinkler. Large fines for anyone doing any of the above, bylaw officers paroling the neighbourhoods. It felt.....scary.

Water is not a right. Water is a resource that must be conserved and protected. It can be gone in a heartbeat. We must remember this.

Redefining luxury

Although I knew that cruise ships were far from eco-friendly, I was shocked to read some of the statistics in the attached article from Investigate West.

Cruising is not unlike the meetings industry in many ways. Large groups of individuals gathering for a specified time period. We have begun to change the way attendees see the meetings industry, why can't we do the same with the cruising industry?

We have learned in the meetings and event industry that green meetings can be as exciting and impactful as traditional meetings and events. The cruise industry can do the same thing, one cruise at a time. It is simply a matter of redefining luxury.

Judy

It's paperLESS not paperFREE

I have been reading with extreme interest some of my meeting planner colleagues posts about paperless conferences.

The subject caught fire recently after the MPI World Education Congress in Vancouver where some attendees were openly critical of the decision to not print programs. A firestorm of comments were posted on Pathable by some attendees who were not pleased with this decision stating that they didn't have an I-Phone or blackberry (couldn't download the app), they didn't have the resources for some of the technology being utilized, etc. Perfectly justified comments when faced with the prospect of possibly having no access other than digital to conference information.

Just to be clear, I don't believe that the MPI ever indicated that they were going paperfree. What they did say was:

(source http://www.mpiweb.org/Events/WEC2010/Information/Sustainability)

Printing - This year MPI has decided to use a digital format for its conference guide. The guide information will be available through the MPI website and through a mobile application on both iPhones and Smartphones. We will share basic schedule information with attendees through a z-card. These are daily cards that give attendees an at-a-glance view of the day. These will be printed on FSC certified paper.

Phone/Blackberry Application - We’re trying to cut back on printed materials at WEC and to help in the transiation we’re providing conference materials in real-time with the free WEC iPhone/Blackberry app. Easy to navigate, the app offers a searchable conference agenda, speaker information and profiles, access to the MPI Twitter feed and Facebook page, an attendee list and a direct connect to social networking site Pathable.

Paper"less" yes....paper"free" no

Omnipress has posted a couple of great blog entries about the decision to limit handouts and has even offered to do the printing at the next MPI WEC in Orlando. The comments on his blog entry are great and I highly recommend you to read them - some great information.

My thoughts are as follows. The word "paperless" conference has been used and abused so much that even green meeting planners like myself are struggling to define it. In frustration, I have quit using it, relegating it to the shelf with other words and phrases I dislike like "carbon neutral" meetings or "zero footprint" meetings.

If I have learned nothing else in the past few years as a green meeting planner it is that utilizing all or nothing strategies leads to failure. Using terminology like "paperless" leads the attendees and organizers to assume that the strategy is to be paperfree when in fact the very word is paperLESS, not paperNONE. Simply stated...use less paper.

The comments surrounding the MPI WEC decision to limit handouts, limit printing of programs, etc. has created so many terrific conversations about alternatives that it was worth the price of registration just to hear them all.

Judy