Surprisingly, cost wasn’t the biggest obstacle. Access was. Most venues didn’t recycle, organic food was nowhere on the menus and contractors didn’t offer options in environmentally friendly materials whether or not you wanted to pay more for them. Still, NPE wouldn’t be deterred. Staff struggled and juggled to incorporate environmentally friendly elements into the show. It worked with partners to bring more green options to the table and created its own clever workarounds when vendors just couldn’t deliver.

 

Eventually, a sea change came and now access to green products and services in the trade show industry is much improved. But what about cost? Admittedly, some environmentally friendly options cost more, but Sandy Voss, Group Show Director at

 

New Hope Natural Media, has found that economies of scale and reducing inefficiencies and waste more than make up for additional expenditures. In fact, NPE makes it a priority to find a way to offset any additional cost that a green option may add. And with so many environmentally friendly options available today, you may be surprised by how economical green has become. If the current economy has you wondering whether you can continue to make the environment a priority with so much pressure on your budget already, NPE’s story may be just the inspiration you need to keep the green dream alive.

 

First steps: organics In the beginning, in order to provide organic meals at its events, NPE asked natural food exhibitors to donate the meals. It was labor intensive and certainly less than ideal, but at the time it was the only option. “Not only did people not understand why this was important to us as a show, but they didn’t know how we could make it an easier process.”

 

Over the next few years, NPE and their partners began to come up with more permanent solutions. “The whole thing probably took three or four years to get any traction, and then all of a sudden, the lightbulb went on,” Voss says. “Organics cost 20 percent less today than they did five years ago because there’s more competition in the marketplace.

 

Safeway has them, your mass grocer has them, Walmart has them.” As the market for organic food blossomed, NPE was perfectly positioned to benefit from the increased availability because its partners were already on board. That was the key to expanding access to organics without an unrealistic increase in cost. “Prices for organic products have come down, but if you’re sourcing it from a vendor that isn’t used to doing it, it’s still going to cost a premium,” Voss says.

 

Expect to pay about 10 to 20 percent more at venues that already focus on organic and local foods, and much higher premiums elsewhere. At the Anaheim Convention Center, NPE now has a partner with similar priorities — Aramark. “When we started asking for more natural foods, they didn’t have any of this in Anaheim. Now, they’ve gone as far as buying their own herd of cattle because they’re so focused on the local movement,” Voss says. “They have a comprehensive organic option built into their menus. They believe this is the future.

 

So the price differential there, or in other areas where the products are more available, is less than it would be in a city where that’s not happening.” NPE’s size and its affiliation with other New Hope Natural Media and Penton shows allows it to work in economies of scale that make pricing more competitive, so greening all your events at once could help you negotiate lower prices than you might get taking a one-at-a-time approach.

 

NPE also leveraged its relationships to expand its organic options to other shows in other areas. “We brought NPE East to Boston partly because Aramark in Anaheim agreed to talk to Aramark in Boston about what they were doing for us,” Voss says. Phase two: detoxing NPE next shifted focus to reducing the toxicity of the products it uses — from inks and adhesives to paints and finishes. In the beginning, finding money in the budget to pay for upgrades was less of a challenge than finding the products themselves.

 

The transition was especially taxing for NPE’s vendors. “In 2005, Freeman spent months researching the various options that were out there,” Voss says. “They were working with vendors they’d never worked with before. It was as much about experimenting as anything else.

 

There were thoughts on using corrugated cardboard instead of foam core, but we didn’t know if that would stand up. And what about finishes? If we were going to go with a low or no VOC (volatile organic compound) finish on the fixtures, were we going to have to repaint it the next year? Were the adhesives going to stand up? It was all brand new.”

 

Today, all contractors have entered this area. If you’re looking to use environmentally friendly adhesives, substrates, signage or finishes, it won’t be difficult to have it sourced, and the quality of the products has been proven. But cost is a mixed bag. Some things will cost a little bit more, though not nearly as much as they might have even five years ago. Other materials can sometimes be cheaper. “For signage, one material we currently use is paperbased and it’s cheaper than the foam core version we used to use,” Voss says.

 

NPE finds most additional costs can be offset. “Even in the beginning we weren’t necessarily saving money, but we weren’t spending more either,” Voss says. “As a large organizer, we’re able to get contracts with our vendors and partners that provide environmental options at pretty competitive rates.” The same holds true for increasing the recycled content of the paper used on marketing materials. The cost tends to be about 10 percent higher, Voss says, but instead of adding that to the budget, her marketing team works smarter. Reducing a list size to save the equivalent of that 10 percent can be accomplished without major slashing.

 

“We send one or two pieces to a location instead of sending multiple pieces, or we pull from a specific region instead of doing a huge national campaign that isn’t really necessary,” says Voss. Today: reducing waste, maximizing savings This year, the troubled economy influences every decision — environmental policy included. “We’ve focused our efforts on waste,” Voss says. “With everyone trying to cut back, it’s all about reducing what we’re printing so we can really use our green policies to add to the bottom line.”

 

The most dramatic cut New Hope Natural Media will be making this year is a complete elimination of show directories for all the events it runs. For Natural Products Expo West alone, the anticipated savings will be around $70,000. “You can’t just get rid of the show directory and say ‘good luck,’” Voss says. “We’re developing a marketing campaign for the exhibitors and the attendees to communicate why we’re doing this. We’re making sure they’re aware that over the three major shows we do, we create 11 million pieces of paper, which is close to 2,000 trees.

 

But we can’t deny that this is a part of every trade show out there. So we need to do a lot of communication around it.” NPE will be sending electronic communications to all of its attendees and exhibitors to make sure they all understand where and how to find the information that used to be in the directory.

 

 There will still be a printed, foldout map available on site that includes a copy of the schedule and agenda. Everything else — exhibitor contact information, policies, rules and regulations — will be available online. As far as the revenue stream from directory ads, they’ve been translated into new opportunities online and in the new printed floor plan. The piece looks like a foldout city map, and will have a single sponsor. Full- and half-page ads are available on the back and two-inch ads will be on the front.

 

There will also be enhanced Web listings and mobile opportunities because attendees will be able to download exhibitor information onto their PDAs if they opt not to use the map. All the new sells will be bundled together to keep things streamlined. “We were pretty nervous when we started selling this,” Voss says. “We’ve tried to sell this map before and it didn’t work. But it’s been about five weeks now and advertisers seem to be seeing the value. This is the only printed piece that will be available at the show, so we’re having good traction with the sales at this point.”

 

NPE is reducing paper usage and postage in other areas as well. The show has stopped printing its media kit for the sales process this year. Normally they would send out 7,000 to 8,000 kits. That’s paper and postage, but it’s also energy and resources — from airplanes to mail trucks — required to transport the kits all over the country. Eliminating that waste will seriously reduce the show’s carbon footprint. “We’re probably saving another $10,000 on printing there and that’s all money that’s just dropping to the bottom line — but has a significant environmental impact as far as pollution reduction,” Voss says.

 

The kit will be available on the company’s Web site so that salespeople can show it to clients online or e-mail them the PDF. NPE eliminated paper forms and contracts a few years ago and has just introduced online invoicing and payments as well. It all adds up to more incremental paper and postage savings. In addition, the show’s “Save a Tree” campaign allows registrants to opt out of direct mail campaigns. About 10 percent do. Attendee brochures have been reduced from four to two, and next year, they may not be printed at all. “It’s very hard to measure ROI. You print a hundred thousand brochures and that costs you $30,000, maybe more, and you can’t measure its success,” Voss says. “We’ve seen that when we reduce the number of pieces we send out, attendance isn’t affected. In 2010, we’re planning to transition to more e-mail options.

 

If you don’t give us your e-mail, you’ll still get direct mail.” NPE has also started using social media to fill in the gaps reduced direct mail has left. “We can reach people in a place where they’re active,” Voss says. “We’re providing content that’s interesting, but that’s not a sales pitch, and we’re getting them involved in a daily or monthly experience with us that’s not about ‘register today’ or ‘buy a booth now.’ It’s engaging them on a different level. And it’s free.

 

You may have a person in your marketing department who’s dealing with the content, but if that person’s no longer working on print pieces, it’s a wash.” NPE has come a long way in the last nine years and it doesn’t plan on letting a tough economy cause a backslide in its environmental initiatives. Keeping focused on slashing waste, increasing efficiencies and making smart buying decisions will keep the Natural Products Expo a leader in green for years to come.

 

PRODUCTS THAT WORK FOR NPE

There was quite a bit of trial and error when New Hope Natural Media, a division of Penton Media and producer of the Natural Products Expo (NPE) East and West, first made the push to green the materials it uses to produce its shows. But today show management has settled on a reliable stable of products that are durable, environmentally friendly and don’t cost a fortune.

 

When the costs are higher, NPE compensates by using the products over multiple years instead of throwing them away, which saves money while further reducing waste, thereby helping the environment even more. Here’s a look at some of the green products NPE uses: Banners Jet 220 is a fabric made from water-based components and doesn’t contain extractable heavy metals or carcinogenic and allergenic colorants.

 

The initial cost of this fabric is higher; however, NPE uses it at multiple events. Therefore, the cost per use is consistent with other options. “We’re on our fourth use per event with the banners,” says Sandy Voss, Group Show Director at New Hope Natural Media. The material has excellent mechanical resistance and doesn’t curl, making it easier to reuse. Signage NPE has switched to fiberboard instead of foam core for most signage. It’s made of 67 percent recycled content and is 100 percent recyclable through the cardboard channel. The initial cost is higher, but it, too, is used for multiple events.

 

Wood for fixtures NPE now specs bamboo panel inserts for the modular systems used to create entrance units, registration counters, exhibits and show management offices. The bamboo panels are sustainable, because the bamboo plant has a growth cycle of less than five years. The pieces are also produced using low VOC (volatile organic compound) glues and binders. The initial cost of this material is higher, but it’s also used for multiple events. “In some cases, we’re using the wood panels for both the east and west events, and we’re now on our eighth use,” Voss says. Low- and no-VOC paints and finishes Low-VOC paints and sealants are derived from raw materials such as casein milk solids, lime, clay and cellulose. The cost is comparable to other paints. (No-VOC paint will likely be more expensive.)