What is a Green Event at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco? Since October 2008 when it was awarded ISO 14001:2004 environmental management certification, the Principality of Monaco's Congress Centre has been developing tailored solutions – Green Events – for organisers wishing to reduce the ecological impact of their event. The last concrete example – and success – of this policy was the international Drug Information Association's EuroMeeting that brought 3000 of its members together from 8 to 10 March 2010.

Green approach

From the very start, the meeting's organiser took a green line of approach in tandem with the Grimaldi Forum Monaco's teams. Breakdown of a "green success", as Dermot Ryan, DIA's Senior Event Manager, describes it : "We were delighted that the Grimaldi Forum Monaco shared our vision of an environmentally-friendly conference and appreciated the input and support of their Green Team in realising this".

Collaborating closely on every detail, the organiser, events teams and sales team worked out a tailored solution focused essentially on:

• sorting waste

• rationalising transport

• reducing paper usage

• ecoresponsible materials

• green catering

[NIEUWE_PAGINA]An ecoresponsibility publicity campaign was run on-site via an Act Green information stand and the meeting's team of 58 hostesses who were briefed on the various measures put in place and on the Grimaldi Forum Monaco's environmental policy.

ENCOURAGING RESULTS

Waste sorting

Numerous measures were introduced:

• more waste containers installed on-site, with instructions for sorting waste correctly

• a waste sorting guide published for exhibitors and visitors, available on the Act Green stand and at information desks

• an Act Green waste container for special types of waste installed in the main reception area

• a team of "green jackets" (waste sorting operatives) on-site during construction and dismantling stages and throughout the meeting

• sorting at source of the rubbish bins on the 230 stands

• reorganisation of the sorting area to give DIA a dedicated space and so enable precise traceability of the waste generated by the meeting.

The waste sorting produced:

• 1.23 tonnes of paper

• 2.32 tonnes of exhibition waste

• 274kg of glass

• 2315 returnable glass bottles

• 234kg of cardboard and packaging (including some of the 3963 cans of drink and 456 bottles of water consumed)

• 2.36 tonnes of food waste

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This optimised waste sorting with the gaol of efficient recycling meant the meeting was able to recycle approximately 54% of its waste.

Ecoresponsible materials

Instead of the traditional conference participant's bag in a synthetic material (polyester, nylon, plastic etc), DIA provided an ecofriendly version that could even be returned for recycling at the end of the meeting.

The 5900m² of carpeting and all the signage banners were recycled through the usual channels established by the Grimaldi Forum.

Transport

The Grimaldi Forum Monaco and the organiser combined their efforts to provide useful ecoresponsible services:

• free travel on the Principality's buses for everyone wearing a DIA badge

• promoting walking and distributing Monaco Malin maps (highlighting pedestrian routes) on the Act Green stand

• a free shuttle service between Nice airport and Monaco to reduce the use of individual vehicles

• a hybrid car to shuttle people with limited mobility between the Fairmont hotel and the Grimaldi Forum

• carbon offsetting for all DIA staff travel

• encouraging meeting participants to carbon-offset their trips.

Energy consumption

All the stands had individual power switches so the electricity supply could be shut off to help reduce energy consumption.

Green catering

The menus were planned to use healthy, seasonal, local products; organic tea was served.
For equipment, the organiser made the symbolic decision of banning all plastic and polystyrene waste, so no disposable crockery or cutlery.
For beverages, the decision to limit plastic waste meant the caterer provided drinks in returnable glass bottles or recyclable aluminium cans.