Green Initiatives
A&WMA is known for providing industry-leading education and networking opportunities to environmental professionals from around the world. Understanding what it means for our members, conference attendees, exhibitors, and presenters working in the environmental field, we are consciously making efforts to reflect their commitment in our offerings.
The A&WMA staff and Detroit local host committee volunteers have worked hard to put together an environmentally friendly program for ACE 2009. We are committed to making each year's annual conference greener than the last and for the first time this year, all of our conference promotional materials are printed on 100% recycled paper using soy based ink.
For 2009 A&WMA is asking ACE attendees to donate $25 on their registration form to help us offset the carbon emissions caused by the conference. The money we raise will be donated to Tist, a non profit organization that plants trees and promotes sustainable agriculture in countries in Africa and Asia including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and India.
Not only will we be donating to trees to be planted across the world, we will be planting trees locally as well. Sponsored by WE Energies, A&WMA and the Greening of Detroit will be planting five trees along the Detroit Riverwalk. We hope these trees will stand for generations and make a lasting impression on the landscape of the city.
The site of this year's annual conference, the Cobo Center, has taken great strides in recent years to integrate environmental considerations into their facility management. Recent updates include the replacing 84,000 fluorescent lamps with energy efficient lighting, installing automated faucets in the restrooms and a lighting system that monitors natural light levels and cycles on/off as needed, using green cleaning products, and implementing a new recycling program.
During the conference, all food and beverage will be served with biodegradable cups, plates, and utensils and all leftover food will be donated to local food banks.
In addition to Cobo's recycling program, this year's local host committee has also arranged for the recycling of shrink wrap, cardboard, and metal bands.
We will be working with the Cobo Center to measure our environmental impact by monitoring our use of utilities and keeping track of our waste so after the conference we can weigh our trash and recyclables to determine what percentage of discarded items were recycled.
The headquarters hotel, the Detroit Marriot Renaissance, an Energy Star building, also has environmentally friendly features including an offsite recycling program, a towel/linen reuse program, low flow showerheads and toilets, compact florescent light bulbs, LEDs in Exit signs, and motion controlled lighting.
A&WMA staff and ACE attendees aren't going to be the only ones making this conference green. 2009's exhibitors are also being asked to get in on the action. For the first time this year, the exhibitors will be accessed on their green practices and the "Greenest Exhibitor Award" will be presented to our most environmentally friendly exhibitor.
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