Working Together to Reduce the 2009 Annual Meeting Footprint on Our Environment

PCMA Environmental Mission Statement

PCMA is committed to educating our members on green meeting practices, conducting our meetings and organization in an environmentally friendly way and moving our industry toward a more ecologically responsible future.

PCMA is using the MeetGreen Calculator to help guide the green efforts this year. Find out more about this tool at www.meetgreen.com.

Destination

• Environmental destination selection criteria was included in the request for proposal (PCMA)
• New Orleans is a walkable city.  The host hotels and convention center are in close proximity
• Attendees are invited to participate in Hospitality Helping Hands projects on Saturday and Sunday to give back to the local community (PCMA)
• The Education Foundation Annual Individual Giving Campaign will support the Wetlands Coastal Restoration Project of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This project will benefit a total of 1,177 acres of marsh and open water and create and/or protect a net of 145 acres of emergent marsh over the 20-year project life (PCMA)

Meeting and Venue

• To reduce plastic waste, individual bottled water will not be served at the 2009 PCMA Annual Meeting - attendees are encouraged to bring their own water bottle for refilling at the water stations located throughout the convention center (compostable plastic cups will also be available) (NOMCC/PCMA)
• The 2009 registration bags, produced by BrandAdvantage, will be made from 100% recycled plastic bottles and extra/unwanted bags will be donated to the Magnolia School (PCMA)
• Plastic nametag holders will be collected for recycling (NOMCC)
• Permanent recycling program is in place for paper, plastic, and cardboard. The plastic is transported to another site to be converted into roofing materials (NOMCC)
• Reduced number of dumpster pulls each year due to a change in policy, thus lessening the fuel usage (NOMCC)

Transportation

• The frequency of the shuttle route has been reduced to lessen the carbon footprint of event transportation and encourage walking (PCMA)

Food & Beverage

• China service instead of Styrofoam cups (NOMCC)
• Utilizing cloth napkins and cloth tablecloths (NOMCC)
• Recycled beverage cups used at in-house Starbucks (NOMCC)
• Utilizing water coolers instead of individual bottles of water (NOMCC)
• Condiments will be served in bulk containers, not individual packets (NOMCC)
• Leftover food will be donated to Bridge House, a substance-abuse treatment center (PCMA/NOMCC)

Communications & Marketing

• New! A digital registration bag USB web key will be provided to all attendees, significantly reducing the amount of materials placed in the registration bag (PCMA).  Access it at pcma2009.org/bag The following items will be available electronically in the digital registration bag instead of printed: Attendee List, Session Handouts, Session and Overall Meeting Evaluations, PCMA Partner Offers,2009 PCMA Education Calendar, and more. Thank you to ProActive, A Freeman Company, for the design of this innovative idea.
  
• Attendees can share best practices and attend an “Ask the Expert” session in the Green Meetings Community located in the PCMA Pavilion (PCMA)
• The previous 60+ page preliminary program was replaced with a 12 page promotional mailer encouraging the use of the Annual Meeting Web site for detailed information (PCMA)
• All PCMA Annual Meeting printed material will be printed/copied on post-consumer recycled paper or fsc certified paper (PCMA)
• Online registration will be encouraged over the use of paper registration (PCMA)
• All speaker management will be conducted electronically (PCMA)
• All sessions will be archived and accessible after the meeting on the PCMA Online Learning Center (PCMA)
• Attendees are encouraged to practice being green while they are at the Annual Meeting. For tips on how to be a green traveler, click here
• All handouts will be available electronically on the PCMA Online Learning Center and at Print-on-Demand stations onsite to reduce paper waste in the concurrent sessions

Onsite Office

• All office printed material will be printed/copied on post-consumer recycled paper (PCMA)
• Boxes and packing materials will be reused for the return shipment (PCMA)
• Directional, food and beverage and other signage will be recycled (PCMA)

Accommodations

Waste Reduction

• Cardboard and paper recycling (Hilton, Marriott, Westin)
• Initiating recycling program for white paper, newspaper, magazine and telephone books (Sheraton)
• Free water stations in each meeting room as an alternative to bottled water (Hilton, Westin)
• Offices recycle toner cartridges and other office supplies  (Hilton, Westin)
• Foods, beverages and condiments are served in bulk when practical (Hilton, Westin)
• Wholesalers serving the hotel use reusable cartons and crates (Hilton, Westin)
• Guest room amenities are replaced upon guest request only and not daily during hotel stay (Hilton, Westin)
• Various processes within multiple departments that have converted document storage to an electronic process rather than a paper copy (Sheraton, Westin)
• Contributions to Second Harvest, the area food bank (Hilton)

Water Conservation

• Linen and towel reuse program for guestrooms (Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, Westin)
• Low flow showerheads and toilets in the guestroom bathrooms (Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, Westin)
• Water saving devices throughout the kitchens in equipment and faucets (Hilton, Westin)
• Automatic sink and toilet flush valves installed in all public restrooms (Hilton, Westin)
• Water recycling system in laundry facility (Hilton)
• New guest room drinking glasses cleaning program to reduce water consumption (Sheraton)

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

• Most chemicals used for cleaning are biodegradable and environmentally friendly (Hilton, Westin)
• Recycled paper products used throughout hotel where practical (Hilton, Westin)
• Recycled toilet paper placed in all guest room bath rooms and public restrooms (Hilton)
• Locally grown food items and sustainable seafood items used in all outlets and layouts (Hilton, Marriott, Westin)

Energy Conservation

• Computerized monitoring of energy usage in guestroom AC units, hallways and public areas (Hilton)
• HVAC controls and central chilled water on building management program utilizing variable frequency drives to control KWH usage (Sheraton)
• Some equipment used to clean and wash items are steam heated, saving electrical usage (Hilton, Westin)
• Chiller energy watch system for the AC units throughout the hotel (Hilton, Sheraton, Westin)
• Light controls in meeting rooms and offices (Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, Westin)
• Hotel wide retrofit to T8 fluorescent lighting and electronic ballast from the old T12 type (Hilton)
• All guest room lighting changed from incandescent to fluorescent lights (Hilton, Westin)
• Energy efficient bulbs in 24 hour lighting applications such as stairwells, guest room corridors and etc (Sheraton)
• Cold cathode bulbs in chandeliers and public space lighting (Sheraton)
• New windows are green tinted to reduce glare and double insulated to reduce in-room temperatures, thereby reducing energy (Marriott)
• Six Sigma reduce energy consumption project for kilowatt hours, water & sewer and gas (Sheraton)

• New guest room lock trouble shooting process connected to property management system reducing escalator and escalator use for general service calls  (Sheraton)

• Laundry equipment “energy star” rated with exhaust fans filtered to improve air quality (Sheraton)

• Presently testing software for PC/Laptop energy optimization for Starwood North America (Sheraton)