When it comes to green meetings, George Gay wrote the book. Or at least the RFP. As CEO of First Affirmative Financial Network, in Colorado Springs, Colo., a network of financial advisers who practice socially responsible investing, Gay plans the annual SRI in the Rockies Conference, a model of social responsibility (and not only with regard to the environment).

The first conference, in 1990, was “45 people at a Colorado dude ranch,” he remembers. By 2007, attendance hit 663, selling out the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

Gay's request for proposal includes extensive questions regarding a hotel's sustainability efforts, such as whether or not the property has evaluated its carbon footprint, is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified, uses locally grown and/or organic food, and donates unused food. Further, Gay requires hotels to complete the Best Practices Survey developed by Ceres, a public interest group made up of investors and environmental organizations, as part of its Green Hotel Initiative. Hotels that fail to address the RFP's sustainability questions or to complete the GHI survey are simply out of the running for the six-day conference.

Ask the Questions

But you don't have to hold yourself to George Gay's standards — yet!

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the changes your company would have to make to create a truly sustainable workplace and genuinely “green” meetings. So consider the Convention Industry Council's green meeting definition: “A meeting or event that incorporates environmental considerations to minimize its negative impact on the environment.” That's an entry point for anybody.

And whatever you do now — even simply asking questions of hotels — contributes to the momentum that will move green meetings to the mainstream. As Gay says, “If no demands are put on the system, the system doesn't change.”

Of course, for many meeting planners, the demands must be made not just of suppliers but of internal meeting sponsors. And without executive-level support, let alone mandates, asking sponsors to build carbon offsets into budgets can be a tough sell.

It's Not Fluff

When Jennifer Dela-Cruz, CMP, makes her green pitch to internal clients, she has $50 million behind her. That's the amount of money the Toronto-based bank, RBC, which operates in 38 countries, has pledged to the cause of water conservation. “This is not fluff,” she tells them. “The company is making a large investment. You should support it.” In addition to the pledge, referred to as the RBC Blue Water Project, the bank has developed an environmental blueprint for the company's entire operations.

Meanwhile, Dela-Cruz, senior meeting planner, event production, helped to draft the company's blueprint for green meetings. It's not yet official policy; however, meeting and event sponsors are “strongly urged” to follow its guidelines. And Dela-Cruz always hopes that these clients see her pitch to go green as, well, an offer they can't refuse.

“As planners, we are trying to push the cause,” she says. “It can be a challenge. In some cases you're saving money, but in many areas you need to invest money.” For example, RBC's green meetings blueprint suggests buying carbon offsets to balance the greenhouse gas emissions from a meeting's use of air travel and hotel stays. (See sidebar, page 26.)

“So we suggest ways to save money elsewhere in a program or reallocate money,” says Dela-Cruz. Rather than an elaborate gift that attendees then have to carry home, for example, a sponsor could give them the gift of knowing they are helping the environment.

Audiovisual is usually a very large cost, she points out. “If there are multiple breakouts, I talk to the speakers and ask if they can bring their own laptops, rather than having us rent laptops. Sometimes we can use the main meeting room as a breakout room, saving rental of another room and additional AV.

“And I'll also sometimes find savings in food and beverage,” she continues. “I'll underguarantee or eliminate items in the buffet and ask if we can cut our per-person cost. Sometimes the answer is yes.”

However, she adds, “if a client doesn't feel like skimping anywhere, they'll pay up.”

Another of her green suggestions: “Meeting sponsors can create a meeting Web page, and at the end of each day, post the presentations of the day there instead of creating handouts or manuals.”

So far, RBC is not requiring that meeting hotels have green policies in place; however, they must be able to accommodate RBC's requests.

Off the Radar

Of course, not everyone has a company with the environmental focus of RBC. Says one planner at an insurance company in the northeast U.S., “It's an evolutionary, rather than a revolutionary, process. From the million things we all have to do on a daily basis, it's not something that has bubbled up to the surface yet, unfortunately.”

Another meeting manager, based in the western U.S., is even more blunt: “With the economy the way it is, the last thing my company thinks about is going green.” Says another: “It's not even close to being on our radar screen.”

Then there are those like Kelly Riche, CMP, senior meeting planner, incentives and conferences, for Mutual of Omaha. The company has long been involved with wildlife education and environmental awareness through its sponsorship of the “Wild Kingdom” television series. At the home office, there are paper-recycling shredders on every floor and the company is undergoing an “energy audit” to identify opportunities to lessen its impact on the environment.

However, green meetings initiatives haven't yet been discussed, says Riche, whose department handles 200 to 400 meetings per year. “If they are turned back in, we reuse plastic name-badge holders, and we are considering using a ‘greener’ type of name-badge holder,” she says. “So we are doing things here and there, but there are no overall guidelines. The awareness is there. But the execution will take time.”

A survey of Financial & Insurance Meetings readers showed that 42 percent are creating or have created green meetings guidelines, while 72 percent said that they personally consider environmental issues in meeting planning.

Don't Stop

Kim Boriin has a suggestion for them: Be relentless. Boriin, CMP, senior event marketing specialist at Guardian Investor Services LLC, New York, has focused attention on the topic in his position as board member and vice president of education for Financial & Insurance Conference Planners. “My credo and my suggestion to planners is to say it, say it again, say it again, put it in your RFP, put it in your contract, put it in your pre-con discussion, meet with the GM, push the envelope. That's what we've been doing with Guardian meetings for the past 18 months.”

Take steps even before corporate policies are in place, he urges. “Don't wait! It just comes down to deciding the level of commitment your team is going to make to raise the issue with your meeting partners. There are very few things that cost more. You can have a conversation with the chef to create a seasonal, local menu. You can request linen reuse. You can request water pitchers and glasses, which is a cost savings over bottled water. And don't have the banquet staff pre-pour drinks. Also, many cities now do transfers with hybrid cars.”