ESTABLISH THE ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS OF YOUR MEETING OR EVENT UPFRONT: One lesson that has been learned by all who have “greened” a meeting is that the environmental objectives of any event should be established at the outset.   Responsibility for ensuring that the events’ environmental objectives are met must be delegated before the event and then a system should be established to monitor progress towards the objective. The environmental criteria to be used should be distributed to all involved at the outset of the meeting planning exercise in order to ensure that sufficient time is left to source appropriate suppliers and for making any required changes to existing arrangements. 

MAKE THE ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES A HIGH PRIORITY: The environmental objectives of your meeting must be raised as a priority at the highest corporate or political levels.  Senior managers should publicly commit to the greening process and make it clear to employees that the environmental objective is an important part of their jobs.

ALLOW SUFFICIENT TIME TO ENSURE THE OBJECTIVES ARE MET: Appropriate time and resources must be allocated to the planning phase to ensure that the objectives are met.  Briefing and training materials should be provided to all employees to provide specific guidance on how to implement the goals of the greening program, and management should provide continued direction promoting these activities.  For example, an effective waste diversion system must be planned well in advance of a major event.  Contractors need time to determine the waste stream and design facilities to efficiently and effectively manage it, and must be involved early in the planning process.  Source separation facilities for the public must be very carefully designed with the characteristics of the user group and location in mind. 

WALK THE TALK”: A host organisation or host city should consider an event as a strong incentive to put its own house in order and to ensure that what it is trying to achieve is more than just talk.  The environmental objectives of the event must reflect the corporate and social objectives of the host or organisers. 

PLAN TO LEAVE A LEGACY AFTER THE EVENT: The environmental initiative should result in impacts that go beyond the event itself—the meeting presents the opportunity to leave a social or environmental legacy after the event and to educate and inspire delegates, participants, organisers and suppliers alike.

INCORPORATE EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: Today, many organisations are considering or already have in place an Environmental Management System (EMS) to help them manage health and environment issues.  The EMS approach involves establishing senior level commitment, clear responsibilities and reporting systems on environmental management, and integrating environmental management practices into all aspects of an organisation’s operations.  Where appropriate, the organisations EMS standards should be incorporated in your planning.

CONSIDER EVEN ROUTINE ACTIVITIES IN YOUR PLAN:  For large-scale events, even the every-day and routine activities or aspects of the event should be considered and coordinated by an environmental officer.  Organisations sometimes assign all environmental responsibilities to a mid-level manager who is expected to receive input from people at all levels and to report to a senior manager who will take responsibility for the environmental initiatives.  Lower-ranking employees who are not involved, however, tend not to contribute, and senior managers may not give a greening initiative its due unless their commitment is obtained from the outset. 

PLAN AND IMPLEMENT AN INDEPENDENT ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION OR REVIEW:  By utilising an independent organisation or watchdog party to review or assess your environmental actions, you create a method of external accountability, and a forum for discussing successes and areas where improvement is needed. The independent assessment process needs to begin early in the planning phase so that working relationships can be developed with the planning and operations staff, and in order to develop a baseline understanding of the environmental goals and activities.  Records of purchases, leases, contracts, etc. must be kept for all transactions associated with the event and be easily accessible for review by potential assessors. Also be aware that some event aspects can be highly visible (e.g., avoidance of disposable products, use of recycled materials, presence of recycling programs.)  Others (e.g., energy management programs) may be less visible though no less important. 

RAISE AWARENESS AND INTEREST: A “green event” provides an opportunity to educate participants and the public about environmental issues.  Delegates and participants at the meeting should be informed of its green aspects.  The efforts made to ensure a sustainable meeting can be described in communications materials.  For a large-scale meeting, the public and media should be informed of the nature and importance of the environmental stewardship program through a formal public relations campaign.