A Friendlier Shade of Green

Going green no longer means confining your meetings to far-off rustic communes. Many hotels and resorts now offer eco-sensitive options to ensure an environment- friendly event, and help you save money

By Will Gibson

In the 1960s, more than a few green meetings would have taken place at communes, where the dress code would have been shoes optional and love beads a necessary accessory. Forty years later, green meetings have migrated to well-appointed hotels and resorts, and become mainstream among the Fortune 500 executive set. The move to eco-friendly conferences has become an easy way for companies to publicly display their environmentally friendly values by avoiding styrofoam cups, paper plates and bottled water. It also provides a tipping point for their customers, who are regular reducers, re-users and recyclers.

The migration of eco-friendliness from anti-establishment communes to oak-paneled boardrooms is no surprise to Amy Spatrisano, president of the Oregon-based Green Meeting Industry Council, an umbrella group for event planners, tourism officials, hoteliers and suppliers. Given that environment-friendly attitudes have moved into the mainstream of North American thinking, Spatrisano says most businesses see green meetings as “the right thing to do.” The challenge comes with a different shade of green – price point. “In the late ’80s and early ’90s, when the term ‘green meetings’ began to be bantered about, a lot of people assumed it would cost more money,” says Spatrisano, also the founding partner of Meeting Strategies Worldwide, a meeting planning agency based in Portland, Oregon. “And at that time, there was an assumption that it would because so many green products, such as recycled paper, cost more money than regular paper. However, as technology has changed, that is no longer the case.”

With more clients looking for environmentally friendly products and services, meeting planners such as Barbara Day have begun to source, and find, suppliers for eco-friendly products such as promotional materials. “I’ve been in the meeting professional industry for 20 years and it has changed. Meeting planners are looking for that environmentally friendly product or resource and suppliers have responded,” says the Edmonton-based Day, vice-president for marketing and communications for the Greater Edmonton chapter of Meeting Planners International, which represents 20,000 professionals in 66 countries.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts which operates 44 hotels worldwide, provides eco-friendly options for conferences at all of its 21 Canadian properties. The hotels – which incorporate green technology such as low-flow showers, recycling programs and energy-efficient lighting – will specifically supply eco-services that replace styrofoam cups, disposable plates and paper napkins with china and linen. “We also don’t use individual packets for condiments because that adds to waste generation,” says Michelle White, Fairmont’s manager of environmental affairs. “The only added cost to our eco-service is serving organic food at meals. Organic food has premium pricing and there are other issues, such as seasonality.”

That extra price has not dissuaded companies from booking green meetings at Fairmont properties already this year, bookings are up from six conferences in 2005. “Holding a reduced or zero-waste conference is a very easy way for companies to demonstrate their commitment to the environment,” says White, whose company started an environmental program in 1990 in its Canadian hotels. “Right now, we’re getting interest from groups ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the small groups such as the Mennonite Economic Development Association, which held a green meeting at our resort in Whistler in November.”

In addition to Fairmont properties in Alberta that provide eco-service, the Banff Park Lodge, Jasper’s Astoria Hotel and the Aurum Lodge in Nordegg are members of the Green Hotel Association, a worldwide group of hoteliers committed to saving water and energy while reducing waste. Small changes, such as handing out cards to guests to consider using their towels and bed sheets more than once, have added to waste-reduction. According to the Green Hotel Association, when gently reminded, more than 70% of hotel guests participate in waste reduction.

That doesn’t surprise Alan Ernst, who opened the Aurum Lodge six years ago in Nordegg, about 110 kilometres west of Red Deer. “There’s a growing trend for people to look at environmentally friendly products, whether its organic food, travel or FSC-certified furniture,” says the Swiss émigré, who estimates the annual per-room energy savings at $2,000 due to incorporating green technology such as solar power. “There are not a lot of people who are physically looking for a place like ours, staying at a eco-lodge. That’s probably 1% of the market. However, with everything else being equal in terms of location and amenities, if one hotel is more environmentally friendly than another, it’s an edge. It’s a feature that you can offer to your guest, but it is not a primary driver.”

What may push many larger companies is the realization that green meetings are a responsible and viable way for businesses to commit to the environment. “Green meetings are seen as the right thing to do,” says White. “Being associated with environmental responsibility does provide a return on investment. That’s why General Electric announced it was increasing R&D spending on alternative energy sources and Nike created a sustainability department. Being environmentally responsible gives them a competitive advantage.”

And that’s increasingly understood, both at the boardroom level and in the sales office. With a growing number of executives whose attitudes about the environment were forged in the 1960s and 1970s, during the days of granola and earth shoes, Spatrisano says today’s corporate leaders are a little more attuned to eco-friendly attitudes. More importantly, an increasing number of their workers and customers have been thoroughly indoctrinated, having grown up in the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle age. “If you look at people entering the workforce, they grew up recycling and composting. They don’t know any other way,” says Spatrisano, founding partner of Meeting Strategies Worldwide, based in Portland. “In the beginning, green meetings were presented as the right thing to do. Now, they look like a smart thing to do.”

Three Reasons to Plan a Green Meeting

1. A typical five-day conference for 2,500 attendees will use 90,000 cans or bottles, 750,000 cups and 87,500 napkins.
2. A 2003 survey by the Travel Industry Association of America indicates that 83% of US business and leisure travellers are willing to spend 6.5% more for services and products that are provided by environmentally responsible companies.
3. Serving condiments in bulk is less expensive than individual serving packages. Bulk cream is 62% cheaper and bulk sugar 50% cheaper than single-serving sachets.

Source: Green Meeting Industry Council

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