Help your attendees, help the community, help the world....
One serving of low fat cheese - $.50
One biodegradable disposable cup - $.18
One carton of food donated to charity - $10.00
The effect on your attendees, the community and the
world – Priceless
The
sensibilities of meeting attendees have changed a lot since I first began
producing events in the early 90s. Back then people thought global warming was
fine because it allowed us to have picnics in December and eating right was
having a diet drink with their triple layer cheeseburger. Exercise was
something you watched on ESPN in the morning.
My, how things have changed! Today, there is a heightened awareness of our affect on our environment and people are interested in finding solutions that are friendlier to our world. Eating habits are changing and we want to know what we are putting in our bodies. Health is our number one concern. And, there is an increased interest in helping those who are less fortunate through community and charitable outreach programs.
Here are 21
tips on how you can create an event that helps your attendees, helps the community
and helps the world.
Help Your Attendees by Having a Healthy Meeting
1- Offer low
calorie and low or fat free foods along with more traditional meals.
2- Make fruits and vegetables available at breaks.
3- Serve smaller portions. People who want more can take doubles. Example: Serve half bagels. This cuts down on waste and calories.
4- Include a vegetarian option for meals.
5- Offer almond, rice or soymilk alternatives.
6- Provide unsweetened drinks. People who want sugar can add it.
7- Organize group activities such as morning walks, runs or activity-oriented games.
8- Create team exercises that include physical
Help
the Community by Being Involved
1-
Arrange to have all excess foods and flowers donated to local charities instead
of being discarded.
2- Create at least one team exercise that provides value to the community.
3- Seek input from attendees on which charities they are most interested in helping.
Help
the World by Being Responsible
1-
Use water coolers and pitchers instead of bottled water.
2- Recycle trash. Include separate bins for recyclables.
3- When possible, provide meeting materials in digital format, preferably through a web site or Intranet.
4- Ask caterers and hotels to use locally grown foods when possible.
5- Provide online registration (cuts down on labor and paper use).
6- Insist on products made from renewable materials whenever possible. Disposable cups and plates are available that are made from corn and other biodegradable and renewable materials.
7- Use hotels that have environmentally friendly policies.
8- Generate team exercises or other activities with ecological themes.
9- If available, have ground transportation use eco friendly fuels. This can include natural gas, electric or hybrid vehicles.
10- Use carbon offsets to counter the effect of air and ground transportation on the environment. If you want more information on carbon offsets visit http://www.carbonfund.org
When you plan your event communications, be sure to include information about the various ways you are helping the community and the world.
1- Tell them you are offering healthy food and beverage alternatives. Signage at the event also helps them make choices.
2- Provide information on how the event reduced its carbon footprint. For more information on carbon footprints visit
http://www.carbonfootprint.com
3- Send follow up information to attendees explaining how their efforts on behalf of the community helped the local people. Ask the charities you helped to give you photos whenever possible.
Have a healthy, happy and environmentally friendly meeting!
Contact Juice Studios for information on our meeting services, including green meetings.
Wendy Miller
Juice
Studios
