Event Sustainability Report

Transcription

1 Event Sustainability Report CMA 2014 OTTAWA Canadian Medical Association 147th Annual Meeting August 17-20, 2014 CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING - SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014 P1

2 CMA 2014 OTTAWA Canadian Medical Association 147th Annual Meeting August 17-20, 2014 Event Sustainability Executive Summary Aligning, Engaging, Leading Background The Canadian Medical Association s (CMA) Annual Meeting is working toward being a model of event sustainability. CMA seeks to measure event impacts and reduce harm, while providing positive legacies to members, host communities and peers in the medical association community. In 2014 CMA continued its efforts, improving on steps first initiated in 2006, by undertaking third-party verification and measurement of efforts. Moving forward, CMA has an opportunity to formalize consistent policies, procedures and practices that will help the organization continue to advocate for tangible and positive changes that prioritize personal and environmental health, and positive community benefits. Why CMA s event sustainability effort is important The world is facing many complex environmental and social challenges, all of which have impacts on the health of Canadians. CMA members passed eight resolutions at the 2014 Annual Meeting aimed at addressing some of these complex environmental health problems, including climate change. While some solutions to these issues are complicated and time-consuming, other solutions are remarkably simple. CMA has and can continue to take immediate operational steps to implement creative solutions to environmental health challenges, starting with how it plans and executes the Annual Meeting and other events. CMA has already come a long way to align event logistics with the spirit of sustainability and good health. A few highlights are shared in the following pages. Future opportunities include reducing waste, addressing and taking responsibility for carbon impacts and becoming more strategic about the legacies the Annual Meeting leaves in each host city across the country. By doing so, CMA can affirm its leadership as an influencer of positive change within communities, the medical profession and event industry. I love the fact that the CMA is innovating and showing leadership in the area of environmental sustainability. This is an important issue for our membership and we are pleased to be on the leading edge. Steve Mortimer Vice President, Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness Canadian Medical Association CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING - SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014 P2

3 2014 EVENT FOOTPRINT WASTE Total waste per attendee per day (Kg) Total event waste (metric tons) Total waste is equal to the weight of 13 polar bears. This includes: 0.27 Kg total landfill per attendee per day 1.17 MT total landfill This is 58% and 16% less than the MeetGreen average of 0.64 Kg landfill and 1.63 Kg waste per attendee per day. Top three ways for CMA to reduce event waste: 1. Provide signage or waste monitors to assist with waste sorting. 2. Reduce or eliminate food packaging. 3. Promote paper towel composting. CARBON Background and Methodology The environmental footprint of CMA s Annual Meeting is based on actual energy, water and waste data provided by vendors, from move-in through move-out. This includes the Shaw Centre and Westin Ottawa, which conducted waste audits during the event (pictured left). Scope includes meeting space, guest rooms, one offsite reception, attendee ground transportation, and freight. Waste includes all event discards recycled, composted, donated and landfilled. All data was verified independently by MeetGreen. MeetGreen comparisons noted below are based on an aggregate, anonymous sample of similarly scoped data from 32 non-cma conferences assessed by MeetGreen since Total carbon per attendee per day (Kg) Total event carbon emissions (metric tons) Total emissions are equal to the emissions produced by 75 cars in a year. This is 43% less than the MeetGreen average of 145 Kg carbon per attendee per day. Top three ways to reduce event carbon: 1. Provide remote participation opportunities. 2. Select green venues and hotels within walking distance of each other. 3. Reduce landfill. WATER Total water use per attendee per day (L) Total event water use (L) Total water use is enough to overflow 527,000 cups. Top three ways to reduce event water use: 1. Select venues and hotels with water conservation infrastructure and programs. 2. Choose menu options that have lower embodied water footprints (chicken over beef, for example). 3. Educate and inspire attendees to make water-conserving choices, particularly in their guest rooms and when it comes to personal bottled water use. I want to tell the CMA how proud I am of their sustainability efforts at this meeting. It s great to be able to have your banana and actually put the peel into the compost where you know that energy is going to be recycled to go back into the food system. Dr. Courtney Howard Board Member Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING - SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014 P3

4 Legacy What is the lasting impact? CMA s Annual Meeting 2014 has made several permanent and positive contributions to our communities TRANSITIONING TO GREENER AND HEALTHIER LOCAL ECONOMIES BY ASKING FOR MORE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS CMA event staff drive more value from purchases and stimulate the green economy by requesting event materials that have sustainability attributes. This includes local, seasonal, certified organic, post-consumer recycled content, fairly traded and Oceanwise products. 80% of spend at the Westin Ottawa and 48% of spend at the Shaw Centre (formerly Ottawa Convention Center were targeted to catering ingredients that meet at least one sustainability criterion. Many events use disposable materials that contain harmful chemicals, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), formaldehyde, phthalates, halogenated flame retardants and pesticides. CMA staff are working to identify and eliminate these items from the Annual Meeting. Vinyl banner material has been significantly reduced while vinyl tabletops have been eliminated. ALIGNING OPERATIONAL PRACTICES WITH CMA POLICY RESOLUTIONS Eight resolutions related to human health and the environment were passed at CMA s Annual Meeting in 2014, touching on issues related to healthy, green buildings, pesticides and climate change. This shows members are seeking action on sustainability issues. Onsite practices align with many of the environmental-health resolutions passed by CMA members, showing the Association is not just hoping to act, but already walking the talk. Great work! I am impressed. This Environmental Stewardship Work should be acknowledged as an example of what the CMA is capable of in this domain. Dr. Ewan Affleck, Board Member Canadian Medical Association (NWT) 100% of CMA employee guest rooms at the Westin Ottawa and 100% of venue energy at the Shaw Centre were powered with Ecologo-certified renewable energy, preventing six metric tons of carbon emissions and investing in less-polluting, low-emissions energy solutions for Canadians. CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING - SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014 P4

5 LEADING BY EXAMPLE CMA leads by actively sharing best practices and outcomes in sustainable events internally and with other associations. CMA staff have outreached and shared event sustainability resources with the Ontario Medical Association, MDPS, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canadian Medical Protective Association, World Medical Association, Canadian Society of Association Executives, and the Professional Convention Management Association. ENGAGING ATTENDEES TO MAKE SUSTAINABLE CHOICES Event participants are informed of CMA s commitment and actions to promote sustainable events through the event website, walk-in slides and signage onsite. They are also invited to make greener guest room choices and participate in wellness activities such as Walk the Doc. On behalf of the Ontario Medical Association, we want to congratulate the CMA for the work it is doing on environmental stewardship for General Council. As the host PTMA this year, we were really interested to learn how CMA incorporates environmental sustainability into the execution of its annual meeting. OMA staff observed the environmental initiatives at GC this year and were inspired to look into similar initiatives for OMA meetings. We look forward to collaborating and sharing best practices with CMA staff in the future. Jennifer Csamer Coordinator, Conference Planning Public & Corporate Affairs Ontario Medical Association 118 CMA guests opted into the Make a Green Choice Program at the Westin Ottawa, comprising 18% of total rooms nights. ADVOCATING FOR PERMANENT FOOD DONATION AT VENUES AND HOTELS Since 2013, CMA has enabled La Tablée des Chefs to pilot food recovery programs at four venues, including the Westin Ottawa, Shaw Centre, Calgary Stampede and Calgary Marriott Downtown. This is in addition to a donation program previously in place at the Westin Calgary and Calgary Telus Convention Center. 540 meals were redistributed to vulnerable populations in Ottawa during CMA s 2014 Annual Meeting. I just wanted to thank you for the generous food donation yesterday and also to tell you that we have posted on our Facebook. We are serving it for lunch today what a treat! Ash Afrasyabi Shepherds of Good Hope CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING - SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014 P5

6 INFLUENCING THE CREATION OF SUSTAINABLE EVENT SOLUTIONS BY SUPPLIERS THAT BENEFIT OTHER EVENTS In 2014, Freeman used salvaged carpet pieces to create more sustainable tie-down mats for AV cables. Reduced disposable adhesive tape use by 65% and kept 656 sq. ft. of carpet from landfill. Welcoming Reception caterer Culinary Conspiracy partnered with the Westin Ottawa and MeetGreen to pilot their first composting program at an event site. Back in 2008 I was contacted by CMA to see what kind of sustainable initiatives we could implement during the CMA conference that would be held at Le Centre Sheraton Montreal later that year. After the initial call with Sandra I realized that we had minimal environmental processes that would meet the CMA s expectations. I decided to create a Green committee with Managers and Associates that would work on developing and implementing green initiatives during the CMA convention. 251 Kg of compost was recovered, helping divert 83% of reception waste from landfill. The Shaw Centre established new event waste auditing processes to enable measurement of CMA s waste footprint. These practices can be reprised for other events. Already experiencing a high waste diversion rate of 70% of materials kept from landfill, CMA improved on this pre-event facility baseline by 8%. Florists are encouraged to use local, seasonal flowers for CMA dinners. The florist used in 2014 credits CMA with expanding her sourcing options to include new local suppliers that will be used for future clients. In total, eight vendors were engaged in expanding sustainability capabilities for the CMA Annual Meeting More sustainable alternatives are emerging for typical event materials like signs and name badges. By asking for less wasteful options, CMA helps catalyse adoption of better event material alternatives by suppliers. Ottawa Tourism adopted non-vinyl welcome signs for CMA s event, and eliminated their use of adhesive decals. Many times when planning an event we now stop to think: How would CMA handle this? It has become almost second nature for Freeman to consider the impact we are making on our environment before we pack an event. We more often than not take the time to consider different options for an event that are more environmentally friendly. Sandra Wood and CMA have played a large role in this. Joanne P. Kiriakidis Senior Account Executive Freeman Audio Visual Canada The convention was a success and proved to us that most of these new processes would be sustainable for the future. The Green Committee is still in place in 2014 and many new sustainable protocols have been implemented since then. As a few examples, Le Centre Sheraton was the first major hotel in Canada to implement La Tablee des Chefs food recovery program and the first place in the province of Quebec to implement an Electric Car charging station. Without the vision and the momentum created by the CMA convention in 2008, Le Centre Sheraton would not be one of the most innovative hotels in the province of Quebec. Didier Luneau, General Manager The Westin Calgary For information please contact: Michelle Gravelle Director, Meetings and Travel Management Canadian Medical Association E: michelle.gravelle@cma.ca CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING - SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014 P6