SACNAS Participating
Green Exhibitors
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SACNAS Green
SACNAS Environmental Commitment
SACNAS is dedicated to minimizing the environmental impacts of our annual national meeting and all of our programs.
In 2008, the Board of Directors and staff pledged to embed this environmental commitment in all aspects of our mission,
greatly expanding our previous green office, conference, and programmatic efforts.
Green Annual Conference
The 2008 SACNAS National Conference, "International Polar Year: Global Change in Our Communities," offers SACNAS
an important opportunity to fully implement our green conference protocol for 2008 and become one of the first scientific
and minority organizations to implement a carbon neutral policy for its conferences.
Providing a practical application of the scientific work being presented at the conference regarding the crisis of climate
change, SACNAS has put into practice sensible environmental measures. Following are some of the ways SACNAS is addressing our
environmental impact and a number of simple actions you can take to join us in this effort.
Be Green!
We invite you to learn more about what SACNAS is doing and what you can do to be part of these efforts.
- Conference Attendees: Discover easy steps that all
participants can take to be a green attendee.
- Green Exhibitors: Become a SACNAS Green Exhibitor. Review
our green exhibit program and sign up to partner with SACNAS in this effort.
- SACNAS Green Responsibility: Learn more about all of SACNAS'
green efforts, including the measures being taken by our conference vendors.
- Green Resources: Find out more about green travel and
reducing your ecological impact through our green links.
We encourage all conference participants to take an active role in making the SACNAS meeting a green event. At
the IPY-themed conference, attendees will be exposed to information about the importance of polar science and research—
including awareness regarding environmental impacts of current global practices especially on indigenous communities—and
be offered many ways to be active partners in SACNAS' green commitment.
Green Materials: Please help reduce conference waste.
- Conference bags: SACNAS and our conference Platinum Sponsor, the University of Utah, are proud to
offer customized conference bags for your convenience...made from recycled plastic! Use
your bag throughout the conference to collect information and materials. When you leave, we encourage you to continue to use the bag,
gift it to a friend, or, if you will definitely not reuse your bag, please return it at the conference registration area; SACNAS will
happily find your bag a loving new home through our precollege clubs, chapters, partnership, and outreach efforts.
- Water bottles save cups: SACNAS is happy to provide a water bottle to each conference attendee. Our
recycled plastic bottles can be refilled at water stations throughout the
convention center, including the exhibit hall. Take your SACNAS bottle with you and proudly display your affiliation with
the organization and your commitment to being green!
- Recycle: participate in SACNAS' onsite recycling program. At the Salt Palace Convention Center all
materials deposited in trash receptacles are sent to the recycling facility to separate and recycle as much as possible. If
you will not use printed materials, such as the conference program, after the conference, please recycle it at the
convention center before you depart for home.
- Reuse: SACNAS' plastic conference badge holders, lanyards, bags, water bottles, and other materials
may be returned at the conference registration area when you leave. SACNAS will reuse these materials at future events or
donate them.
Green Hotel Practices: We highly encourage you to take part in our all of our hotels' green
options. Procedures vary by hotel, so consider asking about them when you check in.
- Reuse your towels/reduce laundry: please follow the steps—such as cards provided by
the hotel—to indicate your preference to reuse your towels and that your sheets not be washed each day.
- Save water: Avoid leaving the water on when brushing your teeth and consider cutting back
your time in the shower.
- Support green hotels: When making your hotel arrangements, consider selecting hotels that have a
strong green policy and/or that are members of the Green Hotels Association.
Green Travel Practices: When making travel reservations, please look into green alternatives and into carbon
off-sets to compensate for the resulting CO2 emissions.
- Carbon Off-sets: SACNAS partner NativeEnergy
offers a carbon off-set program for individuals and for
businesses to address the impacts of air travel.
NativeEnergy has partnered with Clean Air-Cool Planet to offer an off-set program for emissions from driving:
Cool Driver.
- Greener Car Rentals: Consider selecting a rental company with green alternatives and specifically
arrange to rent a hybrid vehicle. Enterprise Rent-A-Car offers
the Toyota Prius at both the airport and South Salt Lake City Locations; the company's
Keys to Green program includes off-sets and fleet fuel
efficiency goals. Hertz Car Rental
offers the Toyota Prius at all of their Salt Lake City Locations.
- Public Transportation: SACNAS encourages all of our conference attendees to use public transportation
options and/or walk whenever possible.
SACNAS exhibiting organizations have a tremendous number of opportunities to offer conference participants, are highly valued
SACNAS partners...and have the potential to help SACNAS drastically reduce the ecological footprint of the annual conference.
"Paper products printed for distribution in the exhibit hall...and discarded at the end of
the event...comprise one of the largest areas of conference waste."
We invite and encourage all exhibitors to consider partnering in SACNAS' green exhibit program. Green exhibitors agree to follow
each of these green strategies as part of their participation in the SACNAS conference:
1. Limit paper materials: utilize the discipline-specific student participant information (to be provided by SACNAS
to all exhibitors in mid-September when preregistration for the conference closes) to avoid printing and shipping excessive
amounts of flyers and informational materials.
2. Limit paper use: employ creative, paper-free methods for distributing information at the conference, such as
offering small cards with web links to your resources and program(s) or collecting contact information onsite and sending
information electronically after the meeting.
3. Reuse: rather than discarding materials at the end of the conference, consider ways to reuse them: a)
bring them back with you for a future event or b) prior to the conference, research and make contact with local educational
or science-focused organizations to which you can provide any left over items.
4. Offer green materials: if providing printed materials or give away items, only offer items made from or
printed on recycled, recyclable, or other green alternatives.
5. Recycle: participate in SACNAS' onsite recycling program. At the Salt Palace Convention Center all
materials deposited in trash receptacles are sent to the recycling facility to separate and recycle to the greatest extent
possible.
6. Take Green Action: all exhibitors attending SACNAS on behalf of the exhibiting organization agree to
actively take part in SACNAS' conference participant green practices (see above section).
Interested in being part of the SACNAS' Green Exhibit Program? Contact exhibits manager Kelli Williams at (toll free) 877-SACNAS-1, ext. 225 to sign up as a partner organization.
From using ecological alternatives for conference supplies to creating an extensive carbon offset program to creating a
shared vision of green meetings with our conference venue and vendors, we have stepped up our green procedures.
SACNAS seeks to minimize the impact of our conference through the following measures:
1. Creating a carbon neutral conference: We off-set harmful emissions resulting from vehicular
transportation and energy consumption associated with the conference. $10 from each registration to the SACNAS conference
will be used to create a carbon neutral event. For this activity, SACNAS has partnered with
NativeEnergy, a privately held Native American energy company. (In August 2005,
the Intertribal Council On Utility Policy (COUP) acquired a majority ownership interest in NativeEnergy on behalf of its
member tribes.) Through NativeEnergy, SACNAS will help finance and build new clean and renewable energy projects that
help create sustainable economic benefits for Native Americans, Alaska Native villages, and other local communities, and
that help America’s family farmers implement sustainable farming practices.
2. Employing environmentally-sound printing: SACNAS works with our printing contractors to ensure that
conference publications have a minimized environmental impact, including the use of recycled/recyclable paper and
ecological inks.
3. Recycling: Supporting extensive recycling throughout the conference, SACNAS works with convention
facilities to require that substantial recycling options are available and that all recycling stations
(paper/plastic/glass/aluminum) are clearly marked, including drop-off stations throughout the exhibit hall. At the Salt
Palace Convention Center all materials deposited in trash receptacles are sent to the recycling facility to be separated
and recycled to the greatest extent possible.
4. Green Vendors: We have made a commitment to selecting and working with all conference contractors
that employ ecologically-sound practices both onsite at the conference and in their office headquarters to the extent of our
ability and the options available.
- Hotel Monaco - Kimpton Hotels EarthCare Commitment
- JetBlue - Jetting to Green program
- NativeEnergy - SACNAS carbon off-set partner
- Salt Lake City Green - city-wide environmental program initiated by Mayor
Anderson's office in 2001
- Salt Palace Convention
Center - our convention site for 2008 holds one of the highest levels of green certification ("silver" LEED
green building rating) and has a comprehensive set of green practices and policies.
- Utah Foods - SACNAS' conference caterer is fully committed partner
in SACNAS' green efforts; they will be providing recycled food service materials (compostable and/or recycled), donating
unserved food to local food pantries and shelter programs, and purchasing local produce whenever possible.
5. Providing ecologically sustainable conference materials: SACNAS reuses
conference materials; we collect items (e.g., plastic badge holders, conference bags) for reuse/recycling at the end of the conference.
We reduce by providing materials that are reusable, sustainably-produced materials
(e.g., conference bags and water bottles) made from recycled materials. We also reduce by utilizing biodegradable and/or recyclable
food service items instead of using plastic or Styrofoam products during receptions and the networking lunch. Whenever possible, we use
china and glass.
6. Following environmentally-sound office procedures/policies: The SACNAS office and all of our staff
firmly believe that we can make a difference. We have implemented a set of green office policies and practices. In addition,
SACNAS supports and encourages staff to become informed about and make their own personal commitments to reducing energy use
and resource consumption.
7. Education: SACNAS is committed to helping educate our conference participants about their role in greening
the conference by producing educational information before and during the conference.
Interested in more ecological alternatives and ways to live a more green life? SACNAS has compiled a selection of links to
websites that offer suggestions and support for stepping more lightly on our planet.
"According to Trees for the Future—a program aimed at offsetting travel-related
emissions—an airplane emits approximately one pound of carbon dioxide per passenger mile."
Green Travel
Green Science
Green Conferences
Go Green
Climate Change
For more information about global climate change see SACNAS' International Polar Year page.
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