Greening the World One Tradeshow At A Time

Exhibits • Events • EnvironmentsAtlanta • Boston • Chicago • Kingman • Las Vegas • Lehigh Valley • New York • Orlando • San Francisco • St. Louis • International Affiliates • 800-537-8073 • www.mc-2.com


Greening the World… one trade show

at a time…


Lowering your ‘environmental footprint’ when exhibiting at a trade show

Your exhibit

Your staff requirements

Your travel

Your give-away program

Your setup

Concurrent events or meetings

Your life at home

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Your Exhibit• Use rental properties and you will have a 0% impact on the build process.

• Use recycled materials if you build. Be aware, these can cost 10 – 30%

more on average.

• Use a company that has offices close to your major trade shows – this will

lower the carbon footprint getting your property to the show.

• Design a space that will require fewer people to transport and setup.

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Your Exhibit• Look to re-use, recycle, re-skin graphics and substrates.

• Inventory everything that is thrown away for future reference.

• Consider the utility of your properties and set a schedule for the lifespan of

your exhibit’s components. Longer life = less waste.

• Consider weight when designing and shipping.

• Consider energy use within the exhibit and turn down equipment when not

in use or immediately after the show.

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Your Staff Requirements• Take less staff. Use local professional trade show presenters. They live in

the city you are exhibiting in and will leave a smaller travel footprint.

• Have your national sales meeting concurrent with your largest trade show –

as long as your sales people are at your largest show, why not reduce one

extra flight they would have to take to get to another meeting?

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Your Travel• Take the most environmentally efficient mode of travel. Use trains instead

of planes if possible. That will lower your carbon footprint by 10 times.

• Stay at hotels that are eco-friendly and offer environmentally friendly

programs.

• Don’t purchase bottled water. Get a sports bottle you can reuse.

It’s also cheaper.

• Don’t allow the hotel to change your bedding every night. Every other night

saves 50% on the energy to wash your bedding and you already know how to

make up your bed. (Remember?)

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Your Travel• Don’t use every towel in your room each day. Try putting your extra towels

in your closet and take out a set each day.

• Refuse a free newspaper if you don’t want one.

• Turn off AC or heat when leaving your room.

• Conserve your water use in drought cities like Las Vegas and Atlanta.

• Share cabs if you can and use mass transit whenever possible.

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Your Giveaways• Assess your marketing program on how it impacts the environment.

• Bring just the minimum printed literature. Save what you don’t

give away.

• PDF your literature and create a dedicated web site for your prospects

to download from. (They’ll appreciate not having to lug around pounds

of paper.)

• Don’t use hand outs or giveaways that use batteries or material that’s not

environmentally friendly. These items usually wind up in the trash when they

stop working. Try using something that has utility and is environmentally safe.

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Your Giveaways• Don’t give away plastic bags as a way of promoting your logo or brand.

• Don’t give away branded water bottles in your booth. Give away reusable

sports water bottles to your qualified prospects. They will appreciate your

environmental awareness.

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Your Exhibit Setup• Use material that is environmentally friendly.

• Don’t use vizqueen to cover your carpet before the show opens. But be prepared

to have carpet that is not pristine. Choose a mottled color that hides marks.

• Require your installer to only use cleaning products that are environmentally safe.

• Require show management to recycle any items that are recyclable – such as

water bottles, wooden crate scraps, etc.

• Ask the show management to use electric fork lifts instead of propane powered

lifts. This will lower the overall show carbon footprint dramatically.

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Before you go…If you are leaving behind an empty home:

• Turn down refrigeration.

• Turn off set-top boxes, computers and any other appliances that draw

power.

• Turn down heat.

• Turn off air conditioning.

• Cancel newspaper delivery.

• Use mass transit to travel to airports and train stations.

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MC2 can help…As a national provider of 6,000 exhibits and events each year, MC2 has

convention-city locations, 350 trained professionals in design,

fabrication, shipping, installation and dismantle, program marketing,

promotion and measurement, and electronic media.

Call us today to assess your program. Or visit us on the Web.

800-537-8073 • www.mc-2.com

Greening the World One Tradeshow At A Time

Business

Transcript of Greening the World One Tradeshow At A Time