|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Gold-Star Case Studies
by: Marlene Goldman
GLOBE Foundation of Canada won this year the coveted Green Meeting Award from IMEX and the Green Meeting Industry Council. The six-day, 10,000-participant World Urban Forum 3 was held at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre in June 2006, and was a “green-mandated” conference hosted by UN-Habitat and the government of Canada, organized by GLOBE. The conference addressed delegates from 150 countries on the issue of the rapid urbanization of the world’s population.
According to the Green Meeting Industry Council, GLOBE focused specifically on waste minimization, pollution reduction and energy conservation and actively engaged suppliers and delegates. In addition, it set out to make the conference carbon neutral.
“We communicated to participants what we wanted to do,” says Nancy Wright, vice president of GLOBE. “We worked closely with the Vancouver convention center to make sure all food was organic, fair traded, locally sourced. We used 100 percent recycled paper and also encouraged visitors to offset travel emissions to make it carbon neutral.”
Green achievements included:
- 41.4 percent of the food served was either local or organic
- Free transit passes were handed out at registration
- 2,065 tons of carbon was offset, which accounted for 100 percent of all local road travel, organizer travel, meeting venue energy, and accommodation energy; 15.6 percent of participant travel was offset
- Bike racks were rented for the event and were always full
- Over 9,000 pounds of mixed paper, cardboard and plastic were kept out of the landfill and recycled
- A green patrol was established to provide environmental information and encourage recycling
- Nearly 4,000 pounds of food waste was composted
- A Habitat House was built and donated to New Orleans
The convention center also brought in 15,000 bottles of "Earth Water" made by a company that donates 100 percent of its profits to the UN Refugee Agency.
|
|
|
|
