Meetings and Conferences
Environmental Attributes to Look For
- Accommodations with efficient transportation routes
- Accommodations with energy and water conservation programs
- Accommodations with mass transit-accessible location
- Accommodations with recycling and waste minimization programs
- Electronic distribution of materials
- Minimize travel distance for attendees
- Minimize packing and shipping materials, disposable products
- Online registration
- Recycle handouts and badges, signage, paper products
- Reusable badges, signage
- Reusable food serviceware
Procurement Guidance
EPP Guide: Greening Your Meetings and Conferences
Procurement guide for federal purchasers of environmentally preferable meetings and conferences.
Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG)
Recycled-content recommendations for procurement of conference and meeting supplies.
Web Resources
EPP Database
EPA Web Sites
Green Meetings Web Site
Information on greening meetings and conferences for meeting planners; suppliers of meeting services; meeting hosts who contract with meeting planners; and attendees of meetings.
Non-Government Web Sites
The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), Green Hotel Initiative (GHI)
GHI works to leverage buying power to increase the supply of green hotel services - for both businesses (as institutional purchasers) and individual travelers.
Green Seal, Lodging Properties
Green Seal is an independent, nonprofit organization that sets environmental standards and awards a Green Seal of Approval to products that cause less harm to the environment than other similar products. Green Seal has consensus-based standards for lodging properties. This standard and a list of qualified properties are available on the Green Seal Web site.
Oceans Blue Foundation (OBF), BlueGreen Meetings
BlueGreen Meetings is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on developing environmental best practices for all sectors of the tourism industry. The BlueGreen Meetings tool provides information for hosts and planners, and suppliers, of meetings and conferences.