Conference Greening Efforts

by Paula Dohnal

November 16, 2009

At a conference focused on sustainability and land stewardship, attendees are likely to be cognizant of the environmental impact of their activities. This year's conference planning team has been working with staff at the Morial Convention Center to lessen waste and increase recycling on site.

At Brownfields 2008 in Detroit, participants chipped in to help recover more than 5,830 pounds of clean, marketable recyclables -- a recycling rate of 68 percent! Help us meet or beat that percentage this year by using the lime green recycling bins around the convention center.

We have reduced waste by replacing many disposable conference signs with TV screens, and we saved 10,000 pounds of paper by not printing the participants list. Leftover food and beverages are being donated to Second Helping and Second Harvest.

Carbon offsets for the conference are sponsored by SRA International, Inc. to help neutralize the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from conference activities. These renewable energy credits that are purchased through NativeEnergy will offset 311 short tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

If you have ideas to make the Brownfields conference greener in the future, please leave them in the comments!

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