Green Congress - Action Plan
The 5th Science Centre World Congress International Program Committee and Local Organizers have made a strong commitment to environmental sustainability by presenting a Green Congress in Toronto. We are striving to minimize the environmental footprint as we organize this event and are undertaking numerous actions to reduce our usage of resources.
The 5th Science Centre World Congress Policy for presenting a Green Congress:
"We will address environmental considerations at various stages of congress planning. We are committed to concrete solutions to reduce the impact on resource consumption and air emissions and we will make every effort to reach sustainable and responsible decisions when purchasing services or products for this event."
The following actions will be undertaken to save energy and money, reduce waste and protect the environment and human health:
Initiatives to be Taken:
Waste | resource energy reduction and recycling
- Holding the Congress at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, a facility with an aggressive waste reduction program and energy efficient electric and heating systems. The Centre is centrally located within walking distance to many hotels and public transportation.
- Using a paper-free approach as much as possible for communications before the congress - communications between organizers, participants and committees are almost completely electronic. There will however be a printed program at the Congress.
- Doing electronic call for proposal submissions.
- Doing all-online registration and paper submission as well as confirmations.
- Not producing delegate bags for the congress.
- Making t-shirts for volunteers with organic cotton and lanyards with recycled material.
- Selecting hotels for participants that are all walking-distance from the main congress facility.
- Promoting the use of public transportation for delegates (where necessary).
- Printing on both sides of paper or reusing single-sided paper for internal documents.
- Not producing an abstracts CD; making all abstracts available via website.
- Choosing post-consumption paper, double-sided printing and vegetable-based inks for official congress documents.
- Onsite recycling:
- Provide recycling bins at various points in corridors and congress spaces.
- Sort, weight and arrange for transport of recycling.
- Provide volunteers who can help participants with sorting onsite.
- Provide training to housekeeping personnel.
- Provide signage at pick-up points.
- Maximize electronic signage.
- Ask signage supplier to use recyclable material (NOT foam core).
- Onsite composting:
- Provide composting bins in cafeteria.
- Composting in the kitchen and instructing kitchen employees.
- Weight and arrange for transport of compost.
- Provide volunteers who can help participants with sorting onsite.
- Provide bins for collecting liquids at coffee break areas.
- Provide composting non-bleached napkins.
- Provide signage at composting points.
- Onsite waste reduction and sorting:
- Sort and weight garbage.
- Report back measurements.
- Recycling of badges.
- Reducing the total energy consumed through our venue, Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre, measures such as increasing efficiency, retrofitting older lighting, using motion detectors in meeting rooms, and replacing and modernizing old natural gas boilers.
- Using recyclable containers in all box lunches ordered for the Sudbury day.
- Using dishes and cutlery that are reusable, avoiding disposable items as much as possible.
- Not providing bottled water, encouraging participants to use the water fountains located throughout the centre.
- Using cleaning products that are environmentally-friendly.
- Reducing waste from Sponsors who have a booth onsite:
- Request from sponsors that they limit the distribution of printed literature onsite and encourage them to use other means of communication as much as possible.
- Requesting that sponsors calculate judiciously the amount of material that they bring and ship the rest back; that they use recyclable or reusable packaging as much as possible; request that when they unpack, exhibitors sort materials (cardboard and paper on one side, and plastic on the other) before it is picked up; make signs only if really needed.
- Encouraging congress participants to reduce their own use of resource during the event by turning taps off, not printing anything unnecessary, using a reusable mug, walking or using the public transportation system, recycling their containers and papers, reusing their towels at hotel, etc.
Offsetting carbon emissions
- Calculating the global gas emissions generated by the congress.
- Neutralizing the emissions of greenhouse gas by purchasing carbon credits from an established carbon offsetter which offers a variety of carbon offsetting projects.
- Implementing a "green" levy on registration for each delegate attending the conference. These levies will be applied to the purchase of carbon emission reduction credits or sinks.
- Using the latest eco-friendly motor coach equipment for tours when necessary.
- Offering walking tours departing from the Congress Venue.
- Urging staff to take public transit.
- Using conference calls for planning meetings when possible.
Environmental and social responsibility
- Actively heartening congress participants to reduce their own use of resource.
- Requesting that food used in congress menus be locally-sourced as much as possible.
- Asking sponsors to support our green policy.
Communication and education
- Requiring suppliers, such as caterers, event venues, etc. to follow "green" practices in all business relations with the Congress.
- Documenting all actions taken in this project by the organizer.
- Requesting that suppliers involved also document their own initiatives.
- Asking hotels where delegates are staying to advertise their environmental policy. (This was also a criterium for hotel selection.).
- Promoting the ecologically-responsible initiatives on the congress websites and via email.
- Integrating the initiatives in the signage plan onsite:
- Elaborating the signage plan that integrates special signage of waste disposal points as well as large panels that advertise individual initiatives.
- Advertising the various actions through the congress: mentioned on stage at Plenary, mentioned in Congress Programme and on website, etc.
- Assigning volunteers to "Green taskforce" and "Green Congress booth":
- Prepare training for "green" volunteers.
- Visually identify volunteers.
- Having a booth promoting the initiatives onsite in the 5th Science Centre World Congress Hub.
- Holding a Press Release on the 5th Science Centre World Congress as an environmentally-responsible congress a few days before the event and integrating the actions in various press communications.
- Measuring the impact of "greening the 5th Science Centre World Congress" and advertising the results.
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