Basic Checklist. A Few Small Steps with a Big Impact!

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2 Basic Checklist A Few Small Steps with a Big Impact! Establish specific sustainability goals for your event and identify campus partners who can assist you in the planning process. Use sustainable utensils and eliminate single-use products. Make recycling easy and obvious. Ask your caterer if they can provide composting. Advertise online for your event and communicate your sustainability efforts. Avoid traditional Giveaways and instead think of creative green alternatives. Green what you eat.

3 Planning a Green Event First Steps Establish goals Formalize and promote specific sustainability goals for the event. Develop partnerships with relevant campus departments, including Buildings and Grounds Maintenance, the Sustainability Office, Cornell Dining / Cornell Catering, and R5 Operations/Cornell Recycling early on in the planning process. Create a plan Develop a planning timeline and use this checklist to consider outreach and communication, location of the event, energy use, giveaways, transportation, food, waste, and clean-up in the initial phase of planning. Submit a Use of University Property form as needed for event locations on Cornell s campus at Be sure to include your sustainability goals in the related question. Designate a green coordinator All members of the planning committee will need to be involved in the efforts to create a sustainable event, but establishing a point person to coordinate recycling and composting efforts will ensure the successful implementation of the plan. Confirm vendors After developing your green plan, the coordinator can select approved vendors and event supplies that fit your goals. Find a list of approved vendors at erlist/suppliers.cfm.

4 Outreach & Communication Create a website for the event and consider using online registration to limit paper use. Use online advertising and social media to promote event, instead of printed materials. fliers over listservs. Reuse banners and laminate signs that can be used again in the future. When printing is unavoidable, use responsible printing techniques: Provide reusable name badges. Communicate your sustainability efforts Inform attendees, exhibitors, and speakers of sustainable event standards. Promote waste reduction efforts with well-labeled signs located by compost, trash, and recycling bins. Find downloadable signs and posters at Use double-sided printing for promotional materials and handouts. Use recycled papers and soy-based inks if offset printing. Avoid laminating and keep your signs and posters recycleable.

5 Where & When Transport When selecting a time and place for the event, try to use rooms that are energy efficient and let in natural light. Cornell has several LEED-certified buildings and several that are currently pursuing certification, including Weill Hall, Alice Cook House, Martha van Rensselaer, the Physical Sciences Building, Cornell Plantations Visitor Center, and Milstein Hall. If your event involves multiple locations, ensure that they are within a walkable distance of each other to limit car travel. If participants need accommodations, recommend hotels that offer recycling and re-use programs, or are certified efficient buildings. Check out the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation s Certified Green Hotels: Consider virtual conferencing. Make your event a Webinar or video conference if in-person meetings are not necessary, in order to reduce travel costs and fossil fuel use. Encourage biking, when weather and location permits. Highlight bike routes. Members of the Cornell community can rent Big Red Bikes at no charge from Uris Library, Mann Library, and Appel Commons. For more info, visit Promote the use of public transportation and car-pooling. The TCAT bus system runs between campus and downtown every 10 minutes, and there are convenient runs to and from student housing areas. For more info, visit Hybrid car rentals are available at Ithaca CarShare. Visit Encourage participants to carpool through online rideshare sites. Hire shuttles to transport participants to the event site if it is off campus.

6 Energy Food yum Conserve energy. Contact the building manager and the event planning team to request that lights, electronics, heating or air conditioning be turned off when rooms are not in use. Purchase carbon offsets or renewable energy. Calculate the carbon footprint of travel required for your event and offset your emissions through the Finger Lakes Climate Fund ( Carbon offset donations are used for grants to fund energy efficiency projects that would not otherwise be possible in low- to moderate-income households in the Finger Lakes region. Green what you eat. Work with Cornell Dining, Cornell Catering, or an outside caterer to create a menu that has as much of the following has possible: Locally grown and/or produced foods Seasonal produce Organically grown foods Fair Trade foods or beverages Vegetarian/Vegan options Consider contacting Dilmun Hill Student Organic Farm for food grown right on campus! Visit /ag-operations/dilmun-hill/. Use sustainable utensils. Request that Cornell Dining / Cornell Catering use sustainable/compostable utensils, or check out the Hill & Markes Sustainability Catalog for product suggestions: ive/greeninitiative.aspx. Use dishware, tableware, tablecloths, and napkins that meet at least one of following criteria: Recycled content Reusable - ex. silverware or glassware Recyclable Compostable

7 Supplies & Giveaways Use local services and suppliers when possible. Check out the Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes for a directory of local green businesses and services: ories. Go electronic where possible for advertising, registration, schedules, etc. Use reusable decorations, including banners, signs, and table decorations that can be used again in the future. Close the recycling loop. Have all printed materials published on recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks, and on both sides of the page. Avoid traditional Giveaways and instead think of fun, sustainable alternatives. Consider raffling off experiences instead of things and promoting local businesses. Here are some ideas: A raffle for a pair of tickets to a Cornell Hockey Game A gift certificate for a private lesson at Cornell Outdoor Education s Climbing Wall A gift certificate to a local coffee shop delivered inside a reusable travel mug A gift card to the Cornell Store, to ease textbook costs Organic cotton t-shirts with the logo of your organization A small potted plant from the Hortus Forum Plant Sale A flash drive with the event presentations on it

8 Waste, Recycling, & Composting Eliminate single-use products: Take Back the Tap! Offer water coolers with reusable bottles or compostable cups, rather than bottled water. If your event is catered, talk with your caterer about offering water coolers with compostable cups. For more info, visit takebackthetapcornell.wordpress.com/. Avoid individually packaged items like condiments, cream, sugar, or beverages. Avoid plastic coffee stirrers, paper doilies, straws, or packets of plastic flatware. For buffets, use smaller plates for food to reduce waste. Make recycling easy and obvious: Develop a plan for composting food scraps, paper products, and plant-based compostable plastics: Talk to your caterer to see if composting is an option for your event. If so, develop a compost plan will include identifying: What will be compostable at the event Supplies needed (cups, plates, bags, etc.) and where they can be purchased Who will monitor the compost collection during the event Who will be responsible for event cleanup. Provide visible and accessible recycling services for as many materials as possible (paper, metal, plastic and glass). Announce recycling services at the event and in materials. Place recycle bins next to landfill bins, and label both clearly. Downloadable signs and posters are available at

9 Waste, Recycling & Composting, cont d When composting, ensure a compost bin is next to each recycling and trash bin. Clearly label recycling, compost, and trash bins. Downloadable signs and posters are available at Managing Waste Collect paper and recyclable beverage containers in meeting areas. For buffets, use smaller plates for food to reduce waste. Collect cardboard and paper in exhibit areas. Collect cardboard, beverage containers, steel cans, plastics, and food in food vending areas. Recyclable paper, cardboard, glass, tin, and plastic can be collected in clear plastic bags and placed in blue recycle dumpsters by any building on the campus. Train students to work at the waste stations during the event to guide and educate event-goers to appropriately separate waste, compost and recyclables. Donate excess food to charitable organizations, such as Loaves & Fishes ( conforming to state health and safety regulations.

10 Post-Event Clean-up Clean up and arrange for custodial staff through the UUP process ahead of time, if necessary ( Reporting Event Results: Follow up a green event with an evaluation Craft and distribute a press release about the event s successes Prepare an internal report for use in planning future events Report your successes to the Sustainability Office at sustainability@cornell.edu