November/December 2007 Best Practices: Offsetting carbon emissions BSR’s sustainable conference aims for net-zero impact on the environment By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor
The debate about global warming has shifted from whether it exists to how to stop it. One strategy is to minimize the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Or, if emissions are unavoidable, offset their impact by funding projects that help the environment: planting trees, building wind farms or installing solar panels, for example. The goal is to have a “net-zero” impact, or to be “carbon neutral.”
The Business for Social Responsibility (BSR, www.bsr.org) Conference, “Designing a Sustainable Future,” committed to producing a carbon-neutral event for 1,100 attendees, Oct. 23-27, at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. To do so, BSR enlisted the help of the green meeting experts at Meeting Strategies Worldwide (MSW, www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com). It is their second year working together to green the conference.
In 2006, the New York City venue posed significant challenges.The hotel contract had no provisions for reducing, reusing or recycling waste, and the city offered no business recycling. Still, MSW took a few steps toward sustainability, such as substituting pitchers of water for bottled water. This single initiative diverted an estimated 12,000 plastic bottles from the landfill and saved BSR about $30,000.
For this year’s conference in San Francisco, the hotel contract included language requesting environmentally responsible practices. BSR asked the Hyatt to feature locally grown foods on the menus, minimize waste during food-and-beverage service — using china plates, not pre-filling glasses, putting condiments in bowls, etc. — compost the garbage, and donate leftover food still in its original wrap to charity. The simple act of not pre-plating salads and desserts, which people rarely finish, reduced waste and saved more food for donation.
To help conserve energy during the conference, hotel staff were told to turn off lights and turn down heating and air conditioning when meeting rooms were not in use. Recycling bins for paper, glass, cardboard and metal were to be placed on all meeting room and guest room floors.
Sponsors were asked to do their part by minimizing print handouts and providing sustainable products for giveaway in the reusable conference bag. Items packaged in non-recyclable materials were discouraged. For the tabletop exhibits, companies were advised to bring no more than 150 to 200 handouts, printed on recycled paper with soy ink.
Attendees could contribute, too, by offsetting the carbon emissions their travel to the conference generated. If an attendee flew in from New York, that roundtrip flight produced about one ton of carbon emissions. This could be offset by donating $5 to $25 per ton of carbon to an organization dedicated to funding sustainable energy projects. The BSR Conference worked with Better World Travel, part of the Better World Club (www.betterworldclub. com) to purchase carbon offsets for attendee travel, and 3 Phases Energy (www.3phases.com) to sponsor the purchase of carbon credits for other conference-related carbon emissions.
The goal of having a net-zero impact, although admirable, is virtually unattainable. “In reality, the terms net-zero and carbonneutral are misleading,” says Amy Spatrisano, CMP, Principal of MSW, which specializes in producing sustainable, green conferences and corporate social responsibility programs. “It’s not possible to produce zero waste or be carbon neutral.”
There are myriad other sources of carbon emissions that simply are not measured. Facility staff travel, freight transportation and even the energy generated to power the facility are unaccounted for in most carbon offset calculations. And conferences generate waste that would not occur otherwise; composting or recycling does not eliminate it.
“It’s a great goal,” Spatrisano says. “If you at least remember the three Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle — you’ll be a step ahead of the rest.”
Cathy Chatfield- Taylor is a San Francisco Bay-area freelance writer/editor. E-mail cathy@ cc-tunlimited.com. BSR’S STRATEGY Goal: Produce a “carbon-neutral” event. Objective: Demonstrate commitment to environmental sustainability. Strategy: Retain “green meeting” expert Meeting Strategies Worldwide to manage the conference. Tactics: Select a venue accessible by public transportation, include green meeting provisions in hotel contract, sell a carbon offset sponsorship, ask attendees to purchase carbon offsets, ask freight transportation company to use biodiesel fuel. Results: A near “net-zero” impact, offsetting as much of the carbon emissions generated by attendee travel and facility usage as possible.
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