Checklist: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Carbon emissions are generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. For the meetings and events industry, the primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions are travel to and from the event, cooling and heating the venue, and shipping of materials to and from the meeting site. To help your meeting become more "carbon neutral" follow these steps to calculate your carbon footprint, and then work to o set your e ect on the environment.

BASELINE:
❑ Figure out your "carbon footprint"
To figure out the potential greenhouse gas emissions, start by estimating participant travel to and from the event, as well as potential emissions from heating and cooling the venue (ask the meeting site to provide data). There are a number of websites that have calculators to assist you with this process and can help you purchase carbon offsets for different aspects of the event (see list below).

REDUCE:
❑ Emit less greenhouse gases
Cutting down on travel is one of the best ways to minimize the carbon footprint of an event. Choose meeting locations closer to potential attendees and ensuring that sites are well served by public transportation. Select venues with strong energy effi ciency programs and investigate lower carbon freight and delivery options.

SEQUESTER:
❑ Take more greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and store it somewhere
What can't be reduced can be offset by purchasing carbon offsets or by directly funding activities that sequester carbon or take it out of the atmosphere, such as planting trees.

COMPARE BEFORE YOU PURCHASE:
❑ There are many sources of carbon offsets, so compare before you commit.

Important considerations include:
(A) How the carbon offset was generated (tree planting or renewable energy).
(B) Transparency (how well does the source ensure and document carbon savings).
(C) Cost. Event planners that organize many events a year may want to consider becoming a participating member of a carbon exchange, such as the Chicago Climate Exchange, so they have ready access to a pool of carbon credits that they can retire as needed.

SUPPORT:
❑ Let participants know what you're doing
Consider charging participants an offset fee or asking for a donation towards the purchase of offset credits. Encourage attendees to work with one of the commercial online travel companies that offer carbon offsets, shifting some of the cost to them.

Get Connected:

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