Earth Day Reminders

Earth Day came and went in my house, and to be honest I didn’t think much about it. I recycle, grow a few vegetables in my backyard, set my thermostat on a decent temperature, turn off lights and office from my home. As my hippie nephew says, ”My aunt composts and she doesn’t even live in 78704.” I guess that makes me a trendsetter in my neck of the woods. Then on Earth Day my 5-year-old daughter came home from school sporting a wonderfully colored picture of the earth and explained how they collected trash around their school. She even rummaged through our recycling bin collecting items of trash, which she meticulously placed throughout the backyard and then proceeded to demonstrate how they collected trash in honor of Earth Day. She found it quite entertaining and this scenario played out over and over for a good hour. Earth Day left an impression on her.

This article by Samantha Whitehorne with Associations Now talks about ways to make meetings and events more “green.” Living in Austin, we are very familiar with the term “green,” but I was still surprised by some of the statistics mentioned in this article. For example, “the Green Meeting Industry Council estimates that $12,000 is saved when water is served in pitchers instead of bottles during a three-day conference and that up to $40,000 in transportation costs can be eliminated if planners choose hotels within walking distance of meeting venues.” Who knew that such simple changes could save thousands of dollars for associations? Samantha goes on the mention a few more ideas, but I’ll let you check those out on your own. Do you currently have green practices in place for your conference or meetings? We’d love to hear your ideas!

— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.