How to Design a Sustainable Conference

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
― John Muir

The challenge of conserving our environment is not new. But our industrialized energy-hungry economy is inexorably accelerating year by year, climate change is an emergency, our task is urgent and our responsibility for action is great. Defeating climate change is the global task of our time and will take national and international action to design and implement a sustainable economy on a worldwide scale. We at Rosenfeld Media are working to do our part.

To paraphrase John Muir, the great conservationist of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, nature is a “world-wide-web” and each constructive action we each take is a positive force for change that can reverberate around the globe.

Conferences and the travel and hotel stays associated with them can be large producers of solid waste in addition to the carbon and other pollution impacts resulting from energy use. Change is incremental, and Rosenfeld Media, the company I am a partner in, is doing its best to mitigate the impacts. We communicate how we do so transparently so that each of our attendees will be able to judge if participating meets their personal standards and also to learn how they can be part of the solution and take charge of their own consumption. We hope these best practices will reverberate around the globe, reducing waste, helping to create economic demand for sustainable products and political demand for requiring a sustainable economy by design.

Catering

Working with a caterer who understands and is committed to sustainability is ideal. Your caterer will have the largest overall influence on the success of your sustainable conference. Sourcing food, minimizing food waste, composting, recycling and choosing eating utensils all have an impact. An important part of the process is to develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) that specifies sustainable practices and gives the caterer both guidelines and flexibility to be a true partner in designing sustainability into the conference.

While it would be ideal to find a caterer who not only meets your budget requirements, provides excellent food and service and also already cares about minimizing waste, local food sourcing and healthy eating, that is not always possible. Many venues have several or only a single approved vendor. Constraints are inevitable in any business and the challenge is to work for the best outcome even if it is not ideal. The areas that are under the control of the caterer that can be included in the RFP and suggestions for making the right choices are as follows:

Food

If possible, preparation on-site not only ensures a fresher, higher quality product, but the caterer will be able to minimize wasteful packaging. The caterer will be able to better judge meal quantities on-site and not overproduce.

1. Use locally sourced products. They not only support family farms, but minimize shipping and the need for refrigeration.
2. Survey your attendees to determine food preferences such as vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free. Make special dietary needs like allergies or kosher meals available by request so you have little or no waste or leftovers. If your audience would accept it, you could go completely vegetarian (WeWork has notably gone that route). Design your menu to accommodate special dietary needs with as few extra dishes as possible. This will both save money and will allow the caterer to project how much of each dish to provide.
3. Find out if your caterer will donate leftovers to a food pantry. If they do, that demonstrates a real commitment on the part of the caterer. The logistics behind donations are daunting in terms of volume, timing, transportation and food safety and some caterers will tell you it is illegal but it can be done.

Plates, beverage containers, and utensils

These are the components most visible to the attendee.

1. Ban plastic bottles and coffee cups. Beware of beverage cups and utensils that claim to be plastic made from plants or cups that are recyclable in “industrial” composting facilities unless you verify that such facilities are used.
2. Always trace as much as possible in your supply chains down to the disposal level. If your venue or caterer does not have a carter that brings the compostable containers to such a proper facility, they will likely not be composted — they’ll just end up in the trash. Even if industrial composting is available, these kinds of materials end up producing methane that is captured and burned, not nice, black compost.
3. Paper plates, cups, and glasses and bamboo utensils are the best bet unless your facility, caterer, conference design and budget can allow you to specify real china and utensils.

Attendees

Encourage and educate so they become active participants in your sustainability effort.

1. Encourage attendees to bring reusable beverage containers and utensils. You can offer branded reusable containers and utensils for sale or your sponsors can provide them.
2. Minimize swag giveaways. Have attendees choose which sponsor swag and printed matter to take, rather than pre-filling a bag or folder.
3. Waste and Recycling. Find out how your venue and caterer disposes of waste and recyclables. Discuss with their carter as well. Not all recycling is the same and what is recyclable or is recycled is locally specific. A few locales like New York City can recycle most plastics other than single-use plastic bags (which will be banned as of March 1, 2020) and styrofoam.

Those little numbers on the bottoms of plastic containers tell what kind of plastic they are made from. The “cycle” symbol does NOT necessarily mean “recyclable”. Once you have determined what is recyclable, compostable or trash, make sure the disposal containers are clearly labeled indicating what products should be deposited in which receptacle. Do not simply say “recyclable” or “trash”. Do not assume that attendees have knowledge of what is recyclable in any specific locale. List exactly what goes where, like “plastic bottles and cans,” “paper,” “organic waste and soiled paper,” and “other trash”. Make sure all vendors know you care and are watching.

Travel and Shipping

Getting to and from your conference has an impact, but it is less than one might suspect. If you commute to work daily that impact is daily, while travel to a three-day conference means three days of daily travel savings. Here are some ideas to mitigate the impact of your conference:

1. Provide a live stream alternative. This also makes your conference more accessible to those whose budgets, ability or time would prevent participation.
2. Purchase carbon offsets. At Rosenfeld Media we have created a Sustainability Sponsorship to subsidize carbon offsets and the distribution of reusable cups. If not otherwise budgeted, provide attendees with a link to a carbon offset program. The cost of offsets is not great. For instance, the cost of a carbon offset for roundtrip air travel from London to NYC is US$14.00.
3. Encourage use of public transit by providing directions and guidance on using local transit systems.
4. Encourage rail travel—although, counterintuitively, airline travel per mile is not much less energy intensive.
5. Minimize shipping costs by ordering locally. When supplies are returned to the home office utilize reusable bins to eliminate cardboard boxes.

Hotel

Many events take place completely within a single hotel venue, so your hotel can be a key partner in designing your accommodations and catering to be sustainable. Hotels may have sustainability goals or offer incentives to opt-out of housekeeping. Because “green” claims assure no specific standard, be sure to truly investigate the hotels you are considering. Incorporate your standards into your RFP. Also, ask open-ended questions such as “what specific policies do you have to operate your hotel sustainably”? Hotels are responsive to consumer demand and, at the minimum, your query can have a long-term impact.

Recommended questions to ask:

• Do rooms have disposable water bottles or plastic cups? Refillable containers and glass are preferable.
• Is there an option to forgo housekeeping to save on linens and towels?
• May a single traveler ask for excess towels to be removed in advance of the stay?
• Does the hotel use single-use shampoo, conditioner, bath gel and lotion? Refillable dispensers are a much more sustainable option. If the hotel doesn’t offer dispensers, encourage your attendees to bring their own personal care products. In the US, three-ounce sizes are TSA compatible and can be refilled with an attendee’s favorite products.
• Can guests request any other sustainable accommodations such as electric car recharging or assuring shuttle buses do not idle with engine on?
• Does the hotel have a recycling program? If so, how are receptacles labeled in both rooms and common areas?
• What are sustainable practices regarding food waste/composting/donation, local sourcing, and healthy eating? Are there vegan and vegetarian selections?

Swag and Printing

Conferences of all types have both promotional and communication aspects. That is what makes them useful to attendees and producers. So there is a good deal of pressure to assure the conference and its sponsors are not forgotten. At a conference there are ongoing needs regarding communications around the speakers, the program, the schedule and the sponsors. Often we go to great trouble to produce all sorts of swag and printed matter, much of which ends up as waste. Tactics to minimize printed material and swag waste include:

1. Swag. Choosing swag items that are unique, high quality and useful will have a better chance of being used by the attendee and not tossed. Select products that minimize packaging and use sustainable materials. Have attendees choose which items they want rather than pre-filling a bag or folder.
2. Printing. Use a specialized app rather than physical documents for schedules, conference information, speaker bios and other information needed at the conference. Provide conference notes, transcripts, decks and recordings on-line for attendee use after the conference.
3. Lanyards. Collect and reuse lanyards (when not co-branded) and holders for badges.
4. Banners. Specify banners and banner stands that are reusable all or in part.

Sustainability improvements can take place in the hierarchy of public, private or personal action. Actions to improve sustainability ultimately depend on public action to regulate and require us to design the entire supply chain and economy on sound principals. Private efforts by conference producers can help by making their conference more sustainable as well as through education that creates demand for sustainable products and public actions around regulation, R&D and taxation of polluting systems. At the personal level, we can educate attendees about making better choices around travel, hotel, and cooperative behavior at the conference.

With a commitment to deep thinking and research about creating more sustainable conferences, we hope our tips and best practices can be emulated.

Rosenfeld Media is a member of the Sustainable Event Alliance.