Are there degrees of being green, kind of like being a vegetarian or vegan? How do you know what is green or how green?

P&V Enterprises is a technical production company who also manages meetings and events. How do we as managers or producers work with a client to produce a green event? Or do we work to produce a “sort of  green” event.

About a year ago, we were asked by a non profit to produce an entirely green event. It was a small event, so we put together our green bid with almost all elements falling into the green category.  We also wanted to save green for our client. Yet, the cost was too high and we had to produce a non-green event.

My second quandary is what is important to a client, green or green? Thus fare, the first green is money and the second green is environment.

My best guess is that it is important to find ways to be green that are cost effective, rather than simply buying products that claim to be green.

Of course, choosing a venue that is considered to be green is a good place to start.

For the past four or five years we have used LED lighting for our staging. LEDs use less power, which is good for the environment and saves a lot of money if you would otherwise need to order additional  power from a venue, and it can be very effective.

Look for name badge stock that is made from recycled products and is recyclable. All the the major name badge sources have these.

I’m sure that in the past year or so, you’ve received many “green bags” as conference bags. These are great totes to take with you to the super market or any shopping trips. However, I, personally have accumulated far too many. It’s a budget issue, but there are so many interesting, attractive and useful green bags available that are worth looking into.

There are many resources for green meetings.

Two really good ones are:

http://www.greenmeetings.info/(Green meetings Industry Council)

http://tinyurl.com/2fl7uzq (Green Meetings Task Force of the Convention Industry Council)

There is so much to read and learn about Green Meetings, the above are good places to begin.

P&V is making a conscious effort for 2011 to compile a list of cost effective green resources for our clients. As we find resources and then check them out, we will have gained some education and in turn can education clients.

We’re in the middle of a blizzard, here in New York, so I’ll have some extra time to begin my quest.