2007 BSR Conference: Sustainable Conference

Designing a Sustainable Future

October 23-26, 2007 | San Francisco, California

Sustainable Conference By Design

Meeting Strategies Worldwide logo The science is in. The debate about whether climate change exists has shifted to a debate over how best to manage and reduce it, and the best ways for companies to adopt sustainable business practices to preserve our natural resources. BSR is no exception. That is why we strive each year to produce our Annual Conference using innovative practices that minimize our impact on the environment.

Once again, we are proud to announce that we have enlisted the services of Meeting Strategies Worldwide (www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com), a meeting management company that specializes in "green meetings." Meeting Strategies' MeetGreenSM Certification Program quantifies our actual environmental savings and assigns points according to environmental impacts in eight guideline categories: destination selection, accommodation selection, meeting and venue selection, transportation, food and beverage, exhibit production, communications and marketing, and onsite office procedures. Using the MeetGreenSM Calculator, Meeting Strategies evaluates and certifies the environmental performance of the BSR Conference. This process provides a transparent framework for quantifying the event's impact on the environment and it affirms our Conference theme: "Designing a Sustainable Future."

Following are some of the resourceful measures we have implemented to "green the Conference":

  • Carbon offsets are available to attendees to offset the carbon dioxide emissions generated by facility usage and travel to and from the Conference, ensuring that the BSR Conference is a carbon neutral event
  • 3 Phases Energy (www.3phases.com) is closing the gap with additional carbon credits needed to guarantee a "net-zero impact," offsetting 100% of carbon emissions generated by travel and facility usage during the Conference
  • The Conference venue was chosen so that no ground transportation is required for attendees to get to the sessions
  • BSR has asked the Hyatt Regency to:
    • Implement a towel and sheet reuse program for the Conference
    • Provide recycling for paper, glass, cardboard and metal on sleeping and meeting room floors
    • Instruct staff to turn down the heat/air conditioning and turn off the lights when the rooms are vacant
    • Donate leftover and unused amenities (such as tote bags, product samples, etc.) to a homeless shelter
    • Have a compost program with throw-away food waste
    • Avoid the use of polystyrene products for banquet/ catering functions
    • Donate leftover food to a local charity
  • Whenever possible menus will be chosen with local/organic products and vegetarian meals will be served
  • Minimize the use of disposable service ware
  • To avoid paper waste, we will request that exhibitors print handouts on 100% post-consumer paper with vegetable-based ink and bring a minimum amount to distribute at the Conference
  • Freight transportation company is requested to use biodiesel fuel
  • All communications with speakers, sponsors and hotel are electronic
  • Online registration and confirmations are electronic

We hope that by investing in these activities, the Conference demonstrates BSR's commitment to environmental sustainability. Through these and other eco-friendly measures, BSR intends to model the practices discussed in our Conference sessions, to reduce the impact of this event, and illustrate ways other events can similarly reduce their impacts.