"Greening" Good And Green™
Our conference tote bags by b.happybags are 100% domestic cotton and have a reduced carbon footprint because they are made here in the US instead of being imported from China. Their grocery-bag shape, sturdy handles and cheery fabrics mean lots of stylish trips to and from the grocery store.
Our eco-friendly conference notebooks by Eco-Jot also have a reduced carbon footprint, as they are produced in Canada of 100% post-consumer waste (PCW) paper, cardboard and wire, and are printed using soy inks.
The pen in your bag is courtesy of Ingeo by Natureworks and is made from plant-based polymers, not petroleum-based plastics. For every one million pens produced, 4,490 gallons of oil and 65,200 lbs. of CO2 are saved from being released into the atmosphere.
We re-use our name badge holders from conference to conference (in fact, we have a 90% return rate at each event!) and the paper insert is printed on at least 30% PCW paper.
The luggage tag affixed to your tote bag is made of recycled styrene instead of new plastic, and will last years longer than the flimsy paper ones they give you at the airport.
We rely mostly on email blasts and personal phone calls for conference promotion, and all mailings were printed at a FSC-certified plant using 100% PCW paper and vegetable-based inks.
Instead of disposable plastic water bottles, Brita has supplied reusable nalgene bottles and filtered tap water for all attendees.
Attendees staying at the Hotel Allegro are using hotel key cards made from plant-based polymers, not petroleum-based plastics; again, courtesy of Ingeo by Natureworks.
NativeEnergy has offset all of the CO2 emissions from energy use, waste and attendee accommodations for Good And Green™. The only piece missing is your travel to the event! Most attendees will create one or two tons of CO2 pollution going to and from the conference. With NativeEnergy you can quickly and easily compensate for your travel emissions by helping build new renewable energy projects. Click here (http://www.goodandgreen.biz/travel_lodging.php) to find out more.
At the Opening Night Reception on Wednesday, Good And Green™ is proud to serve wines from Parducci, a family farmed, locally owned and operated winery in California’s Mendocino County. Parducci – our Official Wine Sponsor – is committed to sustainable winegrowing practices that yield top quality grapes and wines while protecting the environment and supporting their communities and local farmers. Parducci uses solar power and earth-friendly packaging and is the first carbon neutral winery in the US.
Good And Green™ has teamed up with Second Chance Toys, an organization that rescues unwanted plastic toys that would otherwise be discarded, and recycles them by sending them to needy children. The gently-used plastic toys displayed in the Rotunda are not headed for a landfill, but to needy children served by the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
The Chicago Cultural Center rooftop garden covers 20,370 square feet and contains more than 950 shrubs, nearly 12,000 plants, and four beehives. Green roofs improve air quality, conserve energy, reduce storm water runoff and cut down on the urban heat island effect. The Cultural Center roof also contains 18 solar thermal panels, which use the sun’s rays to heat the building’s water. The honey from the beehives is sold to benefit the Gallery 37 Center for the Arts.
Both the Hotel Allegro and the Hard Rock Hotel engage in award-winning green practices, including extensive recycling, use of environmentally-safe cleaning agents, energy-efficient lighting, guest linen and towel re-use programs, and energy-efficient heating and cooling. In addition, this summer the Hotel Allegro received Mayor Daley's Greenworks Award, and Hard Rock International gives generously to many charitable and environmental organizations, in an effort “to make the earth a safer, healthier and better place to live.”
