Prevue March/April 2015 - (Page 16)

good business On The Agenda: Zero Waste The Oregon Convention Center and Unitarian Universalist Association are working together on the ambitious goal of creating zero landﬁll waste from their upcoming convention to incorporate sustainable practices into the 4,700-person event, which has become a model for green meetings around the world. This year's goal: to create zero landﬁll waste. "As things change in the world, the sustainability scene is changing," says Sneegas. "In the past we had encouraged our convention centers to buy compostable serviceware. But the Oregon Convention Center has changed its systems to methane recapture, which means that their compost streams can now only be food products-and all that serviceware has to go to landﬁll." She is now in discussions with Rowland and her team at the center to encourage their food outlets to use china and silver. Rowland acknowledges that using durables at concession stands "is new for us to explore," and is trying to come up with options for serving food and drinks in durables and then collecting them afterwards. "If we can't make that adjustment, we can't Picturethat goal," meet caption says Sneegas. GETTING THE WORD OUT Oregon Convention Center T here's little that the Oregon Convention Center in Portland hasn't done when it comes to greening its facility and the meetings held there. For starters, it is one of only a handful of convention centers around the country with a full-time sustainability director, Erin Rowland. "We've been recycling for 15 to 20 years now and we were the ﬁrst center to earn LEED Platinum," Rowland says. At the end of major events, she provides planners with a comprehensive report that includes benchmarks and standards they can bring to the next center they work with. "In the past year we have had ﬁve events ask us for such reports." The upcoming UUA General Assembly, the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association June 24 to 28, has been one of her biggest green challenges yet. The UUA's Director of General Assembly and Conference Services Janiece Sneegas has been working with the experts at Portland's MeetGreen since 2004 16 | prevue magazine Each year, the UUA also includes a community service project at its convention, and collects contributions from its service that can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. This year, volunteers will work with the Reentry Transition Center of Mercy Corps Northwest, which assists people returning from incarceration. Sneegas' challenge is getting the word out about these CSR and green initiatives. "We haven't done enough make everyone aware in the past," she says. "This year, the inside back cover of our program book is all about what we have accomplished in the past and what we are doing at this meeting." There will also be video presentations before the general sessions, and information posted on social media and the event app. She relies on a volunteer group of 25 of what she calls "the hard-core folks" to help staff the recycling stations and assist attendees in separating out recycling and composting. "But we have so many other people who come up to ask questions and want to be engaged in this as well. This will show them how." -Barbara Scoﬁdio uua.org; oregoncc.org; meetgreen.com "As things change in the world, the sustainability scene is changing." http://www.uua.org http://www.oregoncc.org http://www.meetgreen.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue March/April 2015

Planner’s Pick: Los Angeles
Fresh Meets: The Evolution of Local Hospitality
Bureau Buzz: Atlanta
Good Business: On the Agenda: Zero Waste
Sea Shores: American Queen Steamboat Company
Incentive Bound
FLORIDA
CALIFORNIA
NASHVILLE
IHG EUROPE
On Location: Bermuda
CLUB MED CANCUN YUCATAN
On Location: Beaches Turks & Caicos
On Location: St. Kitts
On Location: Delano Las Vegas
Club Med Meetins, Incentives and Corporate Events 2015 Edition

Prevue March/April 2015