- change font size:
- email this
- printer friendly
- site map
Conference Greening and Accessibility Accomplishments
Through this conference, we hope to both create a space to share best practices and to have the space, in and of itself, be part of the solution. These are some of our accomplishments:
Virtual Conference
Webcast and podcast 10 sessions and all of the keynote presentations at the conference for free to everyone at sustainability.ucsb.edu/conference.
- Allowed speakers who could not travel to the conference to speak from their home location and to be broadcast at the conference.
- Planned the conference primarily through conference calls and electronic means.
- Set up a social networking site for the conference, through a service called “Ning,” where participants and people unable to attend the conference can discuss issues of campus sustainability.
Waste Reduction
- Created a waste minimization and recycling strategy early in conference planning, with the goals of minimizing waste, providing adequate recycling for all materials that would enter the waste stream, and raising awareness about recycling practices.
- Ensured that as much of the materials the conference organizers used and/or provided as possible was recyclable or biodegradable and had high recycled content.
- Printed the program and printed handouts on 100% recycled content paper.
- Requested that exhibitors not distribute non-useable give-aways or unrecyclable brochures.
- Provided recycling bins for glossy paper in the exhibitor area to encourage recycling of this more challenging paper type.
- Encouraged speakers and exhibitors to make materials available online rather than in print form.
- Eliminated tote bags and conference mugs from give-aways this year, and encouraged participants to bring their own.
- Asked conference participants to return their name badges at the end of the conference for re-use in future events.
- Plan to perform a waste audit the day after the event to track the success of the recycling program.
Food and Beverage Service
- Provided a minimum of 50% organic food at all catered events and sought out as much local food as possible.
- Eliminated red meat at all catered events.
- Offered a vegan option for all meals.
- Eliminated trays at cafeteria style meals. Many campuses have found that, without trays, people who are dining tend to take more reasonable amounts of food, thus reducing waste.
Energy
- Collected data required to calculate the energy use and CO2 emissions related to the conference. This will help us to track our progress and to eventually become a truly zero emissions event.
Transportation
- Encouraged participants to carpool and/or take the train, bus, or bike to the conference.
- Incorporated information on carpooling and other forms of alternative transportation in all emails and informational materials regarding the conference.
- Embedded a way to register for carpooling in the main registration system for the conference.
- Used electric vehicles to transport supplies between buildings on campus.
- Encouraged participants to bike to the conference by offering support in the form of trip planning and connections with biking experts.
- Tracked the mode split of conference participants and, after the conference, will calculate the impact of travel to the conference and the effectiveness of our carpooling system.
2009 UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference Rideshare Program
This year, we implemented a successful rideshare program in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation to the conference. Often times, ridesharing programs have difficulty getting enough initial users to jumpstart the program. We overcame this challenge by collecting data as participants registered and matched them with other potential carpoolers.
Hotels and Accommodations
- Encouraged participants to stay on campus to avoid further commuting and to keep the cost of housing low.
- Offered a subsidized housing option for students to make the event more affordable.
Accessibility to People of all Abilities and Affordability
- Planned ahead to make sure that we could meet the needs of our conference participants, setting aside adequate money for sign language translation and wheelchair-accessible vans. This prepared us to be able to meet most accessibility needs that might be requested.
- Subsidized student registration fees to keep their costs $300 less than regular conference participants and reduced housing costs significantly for students.
- Created a scholarship fund of $6000 to provide support to any conference participants who needed financial aid in attending the event.
Staff/Volunteers at the Event
- Provided training to all staff and volunteers on environmental policies of the conference, particularly the clean-up crew.
Recognition and Awareness
- Gave away drawing tickets to participants who were caught “green-handed,” which helped to make the event more sustainable.
- Posted guides to green event planning on our website, including information on how we made our event more sustainable.
- Kept track of how successful we were in meeting our sustainability goals and will use this data to establish better policies and procedures for future conferences.
Feedback
- Surveyed participants on what worked and what didn’t in terms of the conference greening.
- Created evaluations for exhibitors, event staff, hotels, etc. so that they can give feedback on the greening efforts and offer new ideas.
