"Eco-responsible" Event Planning for the Agropur Managers’ Annual Meeting
| Region(s) | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
|---|---|
| In domains | Conservation of Source Materials, Food and Beverage Industry, Good Governance, Optim Ressources, Reduction of Greenhouse Gases, Stakeholder Engagement, Waste Reduction, Worker Friendly |
| Participants |
The Agropur Managers’ annual meeting took place in October 2008 at the Marriott Hotel in Montreal.
160 participants came from various places in Canada and the US. The whole day was taking place at the hotel and was a succession of conferences.
The central topic of the meeting being sustainability, Agropur had decided to organize an ecoresponsible, and possibly carbon neutral, event.
The program and the location of the event were already decided. It was still possible though to collaborate with the hotel to understand the ecoresponsible practices already in place and to adjust the menus and the recycling equipment. It was easy to calculate and compensate GHG emissions, reduce paper and gifts supplies and raise participants’ awareness on sustainability issues.
Optim Ressources is accredited by the Conseil Québécois des Événements Écoresponsables for this type of consulting service.
A detailed analysis of the event’s different components (location, food, transportation, energy, gifts, decoration, communication tools) was led with Agropur’s organizer in order to identify the most significant opportunities.
The hotel was contacted in order to get a full picture of all the measures contributing to sustainability and to identify new measures that could be implemented.
Three priorities were chosen for the Agropur event, taking into account constraints related to the location, the corporate culture and the managers’ expectations regarding ecoresponsibility:
1. Reduce resources consumption and waste, by using less packaged goods, recycling and redistributing food surplus
2. Reduce and compensate GHG emissions generated by participants’ transportation
3. Favor responsible consumption, giving priority to local or fair trade food, requiring less transportation and contributing to Canadian or developing world economy
Participants were informed before and during the event about the ecoresponsible measures.
• Change practices while respecting corporate culture
An ecoresponsible event needs to fulfil the company’s objectives in priority. In this case, it had to be prestigious, educational and to ensure an excellent employer image. Some consumption habits could not be changed, the place had to be high end, those criteria being well anchored in the company culture.
Therefore, many soft but significant initiatives (less printing, no water bottles, local meat and food, etc.) were an excellent way to improve the sustainability balance sheet of the event. They prove to participants and company top management that they by no means undermine the quality of the event. They also prepare the ground for more radical choices in the future.
• Commit partners, in particular the host of the event
A meeting of this type is constrained by the hosting place, which has its own policies, practices and equipment. It is therefore very important to value what is already in place and to identify with its owners new measures that will bring them benefits, either in terms of reputation, competencies, etc. Some initiatives, like composting, might need more time to get organized and might not be ready in time for the event. However, it is useful to start the dialogue between the hotel and a charity to set base for a future collaboration.
The following measures were adopted :
1. Reduction and collection of waste
• Water, juices and other drinks (including milk and cream) served in carafes
• Minimal document printing and systematic use of recycled paper and vegetal ink, no printing of menus or day schedule
• Collection of nametags at the end of the day
• Exclusively reusable dishes
• Recycling bins for paper, plastic, aluminum available in every room
• Donation of food excess to a charity or to the hotel employees
2. Reduction and compensation of GHG emissions
• Suggestions made to Quebec employees to car-pool
• Choice of a downtown location for the meeting and accommodation
• Calculation and compensation of GHG emissions due to transportation *
3. Sustainable consumption
• Revised menu to include local food or at least North-American (the meeting being held in October, the local food available was not as varied as in the summer), Quebec cider, apple and cranberry juices
• Fair trade tea, coffee and sugar
• Company gift made of recycled material
4. Awareness-raising to SD
• The central topic of the meeting being SD, several guest speakers were invited to present their achievements
• In his opening speech, the master of ceremony explained the measures in place and their importance to the company
• A poster listing all initiatives was placed at the door
• Participants were informed after the meeting of the GHG compensation results
* Concerning GHG compensation, a large majority of participants had to travel by plane to the Montreal meeting. Some others based in the Quebec province could car-pool. Two approaches were used :
• Quebec participants were asked to travel together if possible
• Emissions were calculated during the meeting and compensated
The compensation project had to fulfill several requirements : the funds had to be used for a Canadian project, preferably for energy efficiency improvements. Several organizations were contacted and CarbonZero was chosen as an energy efficiency project for low-income housing in Quebec.
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