The New Orleans hospitality community along with the New Orleans Hospitality Community Green Task Force are working together to ensure the PCMA is the most environmentally-friendly meeting PCMA has ever had. Below are the Green efforts of the hospitality community.

Working Together to Reduce the 2009 Annual Meeting Footprint on Our Environment

PCMA Environmental Mission Statement
PCMA is committed to educating our members on green meeting practices, conducting our meetings and organization in an environmentally friendly way and moving our industry toward a more ecologically responsible future.

PCMA Initiatives

• To reduce plastic waste, individual bottled water will not be served at the 2009 PCMA Annual Meeting
• All PCMA Annual Meeting printed material will be printed/copied on post-consumer recycled paper
• The preliminary program will be replaced with a small promotional mailer encouraging the use of the Annual Meeting Web site for detailed information
• Online registration will be encouraged over the use of paper registration
• The attendee list will be available electronically instead of printed
• All handouts will be available on the PCMA Online Learning Center and at Print on Demand stations on-site to reduce paper waste in the concurrent sessions
• All speaker management will be conducted electronically
• All speaker presentations will be available after the meeting on the PCMA Online Learning Center
• All PCMA Partners are encouraged to offer paperless marketing collateral
• An area for discussion and sharing of ideas on green meetings will be available in the PCMA Pavilion
• New Orleans is a walkable city and the host hotels and Convention Center are in close proximity

New Orleans Morial Convention Center

The NOMCC is making every effort to become more eco-friendly. New ideas for being more “green” are being considered all the time and the NOMCC is open to suggestions that show managers have to help continue and expand their “green” efforts. Along with the food and beverage provider ARAMARK, the convention center is making strides to reduce, reuse, and recycle. It is their goal to continually grow the “green” programs.

• Offers china instead of Styrofoam cups
• Uses cloth napkins and cloth tablecloths
• In-house Starbucks uses a recycled beverage cup
• Ability to use water coolers instead of individual bottles of water
• Ability to eliminate box lunches with a box lunch theme
• Condiments can come in serving containers, not individual packets
• Largest donator in the city to Second Helping and Second Harvest, local community organizations that accept prepared and unprepared food surplus
• Ability to collect plastic nametag holders
• Electrical and IT orders are online, paper use is discouraged
• Permanent recycling program for all trash cardboard
• Reduced number of dumpster pulls each year due to a change in policy, thus lessening the fuel usage
• Recycling of paper and plastic

Hilton New Orleans Riverside

Waste Reduction

• Recycling of paper and plastic
• Cardboard recycling
• Contributions to Second Harvest, the area food bank
• Free water stations in each meeting room as an alternative to bottled water
• Offices recycle toner cartridges and other office supplies
• Foods, beverages and condiments are served in bulk when practical
• Wholesalers serving the hotel use reusable cartons and crates
• Guest room amenities are replaced upon guest request only and not daily during hotel stay

Water Conservation

• Water saving devices throughout the kitchens in equipment and faucets
• Automatic sink and toilet flush valves installed in all public restrooms
• Linen and towel reuse program for guestrooms
• Low flow showerheads and toilets in the guestroom bathrooms
• Water recycling system in our laundry facility

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

• Most of the chemicals the hotel uses for cleaning are biodegradable and environmentally friendly
• Recycled paper products are used throughout hotel where practical
• Hotel has placed recycled toilet paper in all guest room bath rooms and public restrooms
• Locally grown food items and sustainable seafood items used in all outlets and layouts

Energy Conservation

• Computerized monitoring of energy usage in guestroom AC units, hallways and public areas
• Some equipment used to clean and wash items are steam heated, saving electrical usage
• Chiller energy watch system for the AC units throughout the hotel
• Light controls in meeting rooms and offices
• Hotel wide retrofit to T8 fluorescent lighting and electronic ballast from the old T12 type
• All guest room lighting has been changed from incandescent to fluorescent lights

New Orleans Marriott

• Implemented a Green Team to oversee all efforts
• Participates in Marriott’s Just like Home – linen reuse program
• Nearing completion of the Window Replacement Project – new windows are green tinted to reduce glare and double insulated to reduce in-room temperatures, thereby reducing energy
• Installed water saving toilets and shower heads and efficient lighting throughout the hotel
• Shows preference to local grown and organic products when possible
• Recycle many materials including cardboard and paper
• Participate in several community cleanup programs across the city each year
• Participate in Marriott's companywide Environmentally Conscious Hospitality Operations (ECHO) program to reduce water and electricity use

The Sheraton New Orleans

Guest room initiatives

• Motion censored HVAC controls
• Energy Star rated Shower Heads
• Green linen and terry program
• New guest room drinking glasses cleaning program to reduce water consumption
• Six Sigma reduce energy consumption project for kilowatt hours, water & sewer and gas
• New guest room lock trouble shooting process connected to property management system reducing escalator and escalator use for general service calls

Public Spaces/General hotel

• Electrical dimmer boards for lighting controls
• HVAC controls and central chilled water on building management program utilizing variable frequency drives to control KWH usage
• Energy Star rated chiller
• Cold cathode bulbs in chandeliers and public space lighting
• Energy efficient bulbs in 24 hour lighting applications such as stairwells, guest room corridors and etc
• Laundry equipment “energy star” rated with exhaust fans filtered to improve air quality
• Presently testing software for PC/Laptop energy optimization for Starwood North America
• Initiating recycling program for white paper, newspaper, magazine and telephone books.
• Various processes within multiple departments that have converted document storage to an electronic process rather than a paper copy

Tour Company

As a DMC we do not offer a particular product, but rather intellectual property which is a renewable resource. With that said as a DMC we are responsible for educating and enforcing our clients and vendors/suppliers of with best practices for each client’s individual needs.

• Establish detailed environmental policies and a strategy. Consistently communicate the policies in various ways to engage all employees, vendors and clients.
• Work from home to cut down on usage of gas coming/going to work.
• Focus on cost-saving, energy-efficient efforts. These can include:
  • Using laptops when possible (on average they use 10% less energy than desktop computers)
  • Using LCD rather than CRT monitors
  • Encouraging employees to turn off equipment and lighting, and turn down thermostats when leaving for extended periods of time
  • Using inkjet printers rather than laser printers as they use less energy
  • Use equipment that can print on both sides of paper
  • Use multi-purpose office equipment (i.e., all-in-one fax, printer, scanner, and copier). These generally require less energy and space than their individual counterparts
  • Shift written communications to e-mail. i.e., rooming lists and layouts, event orders, settlement of accounts and other contractual documentation
  • When printing is required; use double-sided copies and post-consumer recycled content paper with soy-based ink.
• Minimize the use of costly new packing supplies by reusing boxes and packing materials.
• Save directional, food and beverage, and other generic signs for reuse.
• Reuse nametags made of recycled content and provide ‘reuse’ collection bins for them. For example, guides are asked to use their name badges as their ID's.
• Ask Tour Guides to wear non-dry clean type uniforms when possible.
• Occasionally use regular mail, rather than bulk discounted mail, to ensure that mailing lists are valid which can reduce waste.
• Purchase goods in bulk.
• Use eco-friendly cleaning supplies in offices as well as request this of the transportation companies they work with.
• Use Smart Power Strips that sense our appliances and/or equipment is off to cut phantom or vampire energy use.
• Recycle binders/folders used for tour instructions.
• Recycle signage used for tours where applicable.
• Request caterers to use eco-friendly service-ware and production methods with all F&B provided during a tour or at a venue.
• Use of technology to cut down on printing and shipping needs
• Email communications to clients and vendors.
• Keep all client files as "Electronic Files" versus paper.
• Create a conference website to offer electronic registration and confirmation to promote the event, offering electronic registration, and providing the event itinerary.
• Include a clause in the contract with the vendor/property that states their commitment to comply with the event organizer’s environmental requests.
• Recycling program includes paper, metal, glass and plastic products.
• Staff is instructed to shut blinds, turn off lights, and turn down the heat/air conditioning when rooms are vacant.
• Reduce paper usage as much as possible
• For materials that need to be printed print on double-sided, post-consumer recycled paper using vegetable-based inks.
• Request the hotel/venue provides Banquet Event Orders (BEO) and rooming lists electronically.
• Evaluate every opportunity to execute "Walking tours" versus tours which require transportation.
• Use ground equipment which is either bio-diesel and/or hybrid vehicles.

Superdome

• Individual bottled water will not be served – water dispensers will be available
• Recyclable paper in restrooms
• All food will be served on compostable plates and bowls.
• Lanyards with a map showing entertainment and restaurant food items will be printed on recycled paper.
• Recyclable paper, cardboard, aluminum and plastic
• Donate food to Second Harvest

Mardi Gras World Kern Studios

• Recyclable paper, cardboard, aluminum and plastic
• All food will be served on sugar cane plates and bowls.

Shuttle and Tour Buses

• Most airport shuttle and mini-buses were recently converted to Propane fuel which is emission free.
• Approximately 65% of buses used for shuttle and tours were newer models with 90% reduction in Carbon Dioxide Emissions.

Pedometer Program

• A Pedometer program was created to encourage:
  • walking and reduce emissions
  • “healthy heart” habits

· A solar Pedometer was chosen to eliminate batteries.
· Signs were created throughout the convention center to promote the program. The signs were designed to be generic so they could be used for other conventions.


Host city and Volunteer Jackets

• The New Host Committee wanted all volunteers to wear something that made them stand out from the PCMA attendee. We looked for something that was unisex and could be repurposed. The purple jacket was selected because it was unisex, would be used as the official clothing for all other 2009 NOMCVB events and the purple color was chosen because many locals are LSU fans. It was thought that the locals would reuse the jacket for LSU games.

PCMA Board of Trustees Education Foundation Individual Giving

New Orleans Host City recommended and was approved by PCMA Board of Trustees a Coastal Restoration and Protection Project. This idea not only helps restore our coastline but reinforces the Greening efforts of PCMA and New Orleans.