Hope is that quality of desiring and expecting something to happen...sort of like posting blogs, in fact. With a blog, you put your ideas out into the void and hope that someone sees them. Turns out, an old friend of mine saw one, and took the time to reply. I hadn't talked to him for years, but he saw the post and recognized a connection between the work I've done in sustainable and socially responsible events and the work he is doing now. He's working for a very interesting organization called Hotels for Hope.
Founded in 2010, Hotels for Hope is a young organization. It evolved from a hotel booking brokerage to an organization that helps social change. For every room night booked through Hotels for Hope, $2 is donated to a children's charity. To date about $300K has been donated.
True, Hotels for Hope is a for-profit organization, not a not-for-profit, or even a b-corp (for those unfamiliar with b-corps -- short for "benefit corporation, it's a kind of for-profit organization that also considers the environment and society in their decision-making processes, and have specific regulatory performance requirements they need to meet). but isn't it great to see a hospitality business model that is both profitable and beneficial?
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Sustainable Events, Take 2 (or 3, or 4)
For years, I have created tools for, written about, and designed sustainable events. I co-authored a book on socially responsible and ethical events. When I took a hiatus last year (to work as an ethics officer for an energy company), I thought that the events world might well be behind me.
Enter an opportunity at the business school, my alma mater, as a director of community engagement. Much of the community engagement here is done -- not surprisingly -- through events. Hundreds of events, in fact. About 250 a year. And not a sustainable event to be found.
So here we are, starting from scratch.
First things first, we drafted sustainable event guidelines, with a vision, mission, and sustainable objectives. My team loved it. So, fortunately, did my boss. In a business school, events need to (naturally) promote business...so these guidelines recognize the need to be both business-friendly and sustainable, while meeting the objectives of the meeting or event.
Secondly, we sent those guidelines out to our preferred suppliers (on a campus, these are limited), and asked if they, along with the institutional office of sustainability, would come to a meeting to discuss options for sustainability, so we could put together some measurable SMART goals. Not only were they enthusiastic, they were working on how they could be more sustainable themselves. One of the issues they had been facing was finding an internal client willing to be part of a pilot project.
Umm...pick me!
So here we are. We are starting a pilot project that, first of all, eliminates all disposable plates and cutlery. If needed for safety or other reasons, disposables will be replaced with compostable alternatives that can be composted in the institutional composter. The plan is to replace plastic trays used to cart food cross-campus with trays that are still stackable but with compostable bottoms, usually required because food is often delivered via wheeled trays that are walked across campus (about 300 -- 400 metres from the caterer to the building). Plastic covers will be collected and recycled. Events will be catered with either china or a new product made of a durable plastic that looks like china, meaning it is less likely to break and looks just like china on a display table.
We now need to come up with a solution to measure the waste streams (waste, compost, recycling) by weight and volume in a huge institution that currently has no procedures to do so, a union environment, and a common waste and recycling collection point (for reference, the university has about 10,000 staff/faculty and about 30,000 students).
The team is enthusiastically making changes where they can. They have replaced balloons as decor with re-usable (and eventually recyclable) paper lanterns, are ordering edible centrepieces for our large awards ceremony dinner (the hotel is partnering with us, allowing us to bring in third-party edible fruit centrepieces and providing us with dipping sauces -- chocolate & caramel -- so it becomes dessert). Another, smaller but still upscale event will use herb gardens as the centrepieces.
Next up -- designing signage to communicate our efforts, creating a baseline, crafting measurable goals and measuring success. The university's sustainability awards luncheon was just held recently, and we want to win something next year.
Wish us luck!
Enter an opportunity at the business school, my alma mater, as a director of community engagement. Much of the community engagement here is done -- not surprisingly -- through events. Hundreds of events, in fact. About 250 a year. And not a sustainable event to be found.
So here we are, starting from scratch.
First things first, we drafted sustainable event guidelines, with a vision, mission, and sustainable objectives. My team loved it. So, fortunately, did my boss. In a business school, events need to (naturally) promote business...so these guidelines recognize the need to be both business-friendly and sustainable, while meeting the objectives of the meeting or event.
Secondly, we sent those guidelines out to our preferred suppliers (on a campus, these are limited), and asked if they, along with the institutional office of sustainability, would come to a meeting to discuss options for sustainability, so we could put together some measurable SMART goals. Not only were they enthusiastic, they were working on how they could be more sustainable themselves. One of the issues they had been facing was finding an internal client willing to be part of a pilot project.
Umm...pick me!
So here we are. We are starting a pilot project that, first of all, eliminates all disposable plates and cutlery. If needed for safety or other reasons, disposables will be replaced with compostable alternatives that can be composted in the institutional composter. The plan is to replace plastic trays used to cart food cross-campus with trays that are still stackable but with compostable bottoms, usually required because food is often delivered via wheeled trays that are walked across campus (about 300 -- 400 metres from the caterer to the building). Plastic covers will be collected and recycled. Events will be catered with either china or a new product made of a durable plastic that looks like china, meaning it is less likely to break and looks just like china on a display table.
We now need to come up with a solution to measure the waste streams (waste, compost, recycling) by weight and volume in a huge institution that currently has no procedures to do so, a union environment, and a common waste and recycling collection point (for reference, the university has about 10,000 staff/faculty and about 30,000 students).
The team is enthusiastically making changes where they can. They have replaced balloons as decor with re-usable (and eventually recyclable) paper lanterns, are ordering edible centrepieces for our large awards ceremony dinner (the hotel is partnering with us, allowing us to bring in third-party edible fruit centrepieces and providing us with dipping sauces -- chocolate & caramel -- so it becomes dessert). Another, smaller but still upscale event will use herb gardens as the centrepieces.
Next up -- designing signage to communicate our efforts, creating a baseline, crafting measurable goals and measuring success. The university's sustainability awards luncheon was just held recently, and we want to win something next year.
Wish us luck!
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