Amandeep1
Assistant
Professor, Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, Central University of
Haryana.
Dr.
Dilbag Singh2 Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism and Hotel
Management, Central University of Haryana
ABSTRACT:
Green
meetings save the environment and also help an organization to save money and
contribute to their Corporate Social Responsibility activities. Everyone has
been watching and listening how every event or organization is striving to go
eco-friendly, some even market their initiatives and special activities which
help them save the environment and reduce the carbon footprint, but how much do
we know about going green and what exactly counts to be green or eco-friendly?
Meetings and business tourism is increasing than ever, and negative
environmental impacts of associated events can be significant. The hotel or
hospitality industry has also come up with green meeting initiatives which
strive in the direction to save our environment and produce the least amount of
waste which has been an emerging problem in terms of food, accommodation, energy,
water, etc. Many hotels have benefited from green management in ways such as
enhanced reputation of the firm and an increase in loyal customers. This review
paper aims at understanding the importance of implementing sustainable and
green practices in the meeting of hotel and hospitality industries. The
findings and review of data discussed in this paper, may generate ideas and
prove to be beneficial by implementing of such green practices in hotels which
they could consider in near future to be a part of a greener, more sustainable
Industry.
KEYWORDS:
Sustainability, green meetings,
conferences and conventions, business events.
INTRODUCTION:
During the last few decades, the
increase in pollution and hazardous waste produced by various manufacturing and
services industries have seen a rise, contributing to the increased carbon footprint.
There is a need for more sustainable business environment by many industry
sectors, and the meeting industry is no exception. The hotel industry is a
large business sector catering to the meeting industry, which means hotels can
play a vital role in changing the present practices being followed in order to
achieve sustainable growth by adapting to a changing, more environmentally
aware working culture to implement green practices and initiatives.
According to Events Industry
Council, “A green meeting or event incorporates environmental considerations to
minimize its negative impact on the environment” [1]. Sustainability means
meeting the needs of the present generations without compromising the aptitude
of the future generations [2]. Green meetings mean making healthier, safer,
less wasteful and less damaging event by implementing eco-friendly practices
and by controlling the use of natural resources. These eco-friendly meetings
are usually held with the aim of leaving a positive impact on the environment
and community. Greening the meetings is a way of doing things that take the
present and the future into account by applying sustainable and environmental
practices. Eco-friendly practices of green meetings mainly include reducing
waste, reusing, recycling, conserving energy and providing water efficiency.
Holding a green meeting can help an organization to institute environmental
protection measures more broadly, thereby obtaining even greater financial
benefits. Along with the positive environmental benefits, greening the meetings
can be a good way of saving money for meeting organizers as well [3]. A meeting
can be converted into a green with basic sustainable practices which may be
related to saving of energy, use of local sourced materials, and highly
optimised use of resources such as paper, water and food. Effect on environment
starts when a person starts planning for a meeting. From his travel,
accommodation, mode of transport opted, food he might be served and other
supplies matter and contribute to environmental pollution and waste. The
tourism and hotel industry have been always quick in responding to the needs of
the customers as well as the environment and such can be seen with the adoption
of various green initiatives by the industry by certifying and following
sustainable practices recommended by green councils and certification
organisations such as LEED, ECOTEL, ISO 14000 certification and many more. Now
by targeting an essential part of organisation of meetings and finding ways to
make it greener the hotels can further take the sustainability to next level
which is not only appreciated by the new age customers and travellers but also
making an impact on environment worthy. Being a new concept which is just at
primary stage there is a need to spread and inform the mass about the concept
and literate them about the same so to achieve more adaptation rate by
prevailing and upcoming tourist and meeting destinations around the world. There
is a myth that considering green practices generates higher costs due to the
green products and the requirements, which needs to be put light on and bring
awareness about the benefits it brings along, such as positive word of mouth,
branding, and corporate social responsibility which would be additional key
factors not only in eco-awareness but also in marketing strategies.
Accordingly, this paper will try to explore and identify the various areas and
steps of going green through meetings.
LITERATURE
REVIEW:
Barbara
Obritzhauser 2011, stated in his research that while
conducting a green meeting the main initiatives undertaken were in the F&B and waste
management areas of a meeting by serving jugged iced water, using local
suppliers, composting food waste and using different purpose recycle bins which
may separate paper and plastic waste. To spread awareness and see better
results the organisers also distributed pamphlets mentioning ways by which each
individual can make a difference and also provided an estimation calculator to
count the carbon footprint they make and can save through different activities.
The hotels or meeting places also follow sustainable building design for the
venue to minimise waste and reduce consumption of non-renewable resources by
using water saving faucets, LED lightning and solar water heating sources [4].
Amandeep
(2017)
highlighted that using green practices
the businesses not only benefits the environment but also save on cost in long
run by promoting their business apart from the competition, by adopting
sustainable practices one can also improve the sustainability of business too.
When one is less dependent on natural resources than competition and have ways
to deal with the rising cost due to climate change or scarcity, the business
will have greater chance of long term success [5].
Green
Meeting Industry Council and the International Standards Organization ASTM International, have
developed “Green Meeting Standards which can be classified into nine major
areas namely [6, 7]
|
1)
Accommodation: Hotels, motels, as well as bed and breakfasts, hostels, or
other facilities.
2)
Audio-Visual: Including sound, lighting, and staging at meetings.
3)
Communications: Event communications, programmes, and promotional materials,
including name badges and conference bags, etc.
4)
Destinations: Any city or area supporting meetings, including aspects such as
municipal recycling, etc.
5) Exhibits:
The practices of the general service contractors who set up the shows.
6) Food and
Beverage: Related to the restaurants, hotel, or independent caterers serving
food and beverages.
7) Meeting
Venue: Any facility hosting a meeting.
8) On-Site
Office: Practices of an organization related to the meeting while setting up
and executing during the event.
9)
Transportation: Participant and staff travel.
|
Source: Greenbiz Website [6]
https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/01/21/epa-approved-standards-green-meetings
|
Mair
and Jago (2010)
in their study proposed a model to understand how some business events
operators are willing to invest in sustainable practices and facilities. They found
number of internal and external drivers such as the presence of a Corporate
Social Responsibility policy, a desire for image enhancement, perceived
competitive advantage, and customer demand. They suggested that ‘green’ or
sustainability will become a hygiene factor, which will simply become
expectation from organisers and participants. [9]
L.
Ranacher & U. Pröbstl-Haider (2014) in their research concluded that
if meeting venue have some kind of ecocertification of green meetings it is
perceived positive feature. Creation of green meetings is considered to be
dependent on the organiser’s sense of environmental responsibility, as it’s
influenced by personal, sociocultural and situational factors. [11]
According to Bongkosh Rittichainuwat & Judith Mair
(2012) research results it indicate that the people attending the green
meetings were most likely to agree to staying in the same hotel where meeting
is held, saving transportation effect on environment and being served with
local food instead of importing meats/veggies/fruits. They were also happy to
minimise the wastage of food resonating the mantra of reduce, reuse and
recycle. These findings suggests that organisers should be aware of these
options and can freely go ahead to implement and contribute towards greening of
meeting industry. [12]
Chiou,
Shin Yi (2011)
said green meeting trends have a strong commitment to conferences, trade shows,
meetings in the hospitality industry these days. With the available
technological advancements, the hospitality industry could easily meet the need
to reduce, reuse and recycle the products generated for meetings and also cut
down the cost of organising. Along with financial benefits its other benefits
such as moral, ethical and social responsibility are worth relishing. Green
belief and philosophy should be viewed to minimize the potential negative
impact on environment and nature. Green meetings can infuse sustainable
developments into environment, education and community creating a win-win
relation between commercial activities and environment. [15]
United
Nation Environment Programme in their Green Meeting Guide 2009 provide us with some key instruments for success
which in combination helps to achieve good results in organising a green
meeting which are:
·
Decision-making: It needs to be made sure that
throughout the planning phase sustainability is considered at each stage and
it’s ensured that the location and local providers can compliance with the
green criteria. It is also important that the top management supports the
initiative.
·
Awareness: To motivate the staff and service providers and the
participants it is very crucial to make them aware of the green aspects in
proper lead time so they can understand the importance and act accordingly.
·
Access to sustainable products and
services: One needs to
make sure that sustainable products and services are readily available for use
which in turn increases the potential success and once they are accepted these
products and services will automatically generate demand beyond meetings too.
·
Communication: The effect of proper communication is
very important for lasting legacy so all aspects of the greening must be
communicated with the participants making them proud of their achievements and
results by contributing in the same.
·
Measurement: Calculating the environmental footprints and
measuring achievements of the meetings will build reliability and prove the
effectiveness of the meeting which will be useful in future meetings and can be
further improved. It will also provide case study for other organisers and for
communicating purposes.
·
Procurement: The consumption decisions can have a major
environmental implications, those who are responsible for the procurement of
catering services, paper, printing etc. need to understand the impacts of
wastage and purchases must be made in accordance to minimise wastage.
Source: Reducing environmental impacts, UNEP Green Meeting Guide
2009. [8]
|
Environmental target
|
How?
|
|
Reduce
energy use, and the
resulting
greenhouse gas
emissions
|
·
Select venues and accommodation that
implement energy efficiency measures, comply with green building standards and/or
use renewable energy sources.
·
Choose location and venue minimising
local and long distance transportation needs for participants and products.
·
Where long-distance travel is
unavoidable, offset GHG emissions.
·
Apply energy-saving office practices
during the organisation and hosting of the meeting.
|
|
Reduce
materials consumption
and
waste generation
|
·
Minimise materials provided to
participants and used by service providers (e.g. caterer), before, during and
after the meeting.
·
Avoid the use of disposable items, use
pre-used/recycled and reusable/recyclable products and reduce packaging needs
to a minimum.
·
Separate and recycle waste where
possible
|
|
Reduce
water use
|
·
Select venues and accommodation that
implement water conservation practices and use water efficient appliances.
·
Minimise the distribution of bottled
water to participants where possible.
|
|
Reduce
indirect environmental
impacts
to air, water and soil
|
·
Minimise the need to transport food
and other products and prefer local organic food.
·
Use products manufactured with or
containing fewer harmful substances, such as chlorine-free paper or nontoxic cleaning
products
|
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY:
The Objective of the study is to
make the people aware about the concept of Green Meetings, its impact and the
potential for the sustainable practices for the environment. Since most of the
key factors in the research are subjective it will be very difficult to
interpret through quantitative approach so a qualitative approach is suitable.
Taking into account the nature of the study, it has been decided that the best
strategy to implement the exploratory method or research with the help of
existing available literature and the organizations working in the same field.
The study will be very helpful for the practitioners to work in the field of green
meetings and make a positive change in the growth of environment.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It have been observe with the
help of literature review that the main need to time is to make the
stakeholders aware about the various applications and benefits of green
meetings before every event/meeting etc. After the completion of the meetings
proper evaluation or the total saving should be counted so that the
participants and the stakeholders can came to know about the benefits of green
meetings. In the modern Era the concepts such as Corporate Social
Responsibility, green meetings is a very effective channel to attract more and
more business. The hotels should make their practices in such a way, so that
they step towards the sustainable development of the environment. Hotels can
reduce the wastage by adopting the green practices. In addition to make these
practices reachable such societies on government level should be constructed.
This type of concepts helps the stakeholders to build a strong image in the
market and also helps them to attract more investors in the particular field.
In other words we can say that Green Meetings is such a effective tool to
retain more and more customers as well to develop the sustainable environment
practices.
CONCLUTION:
Finally, we would
suggest that there is a need for the industry as a whole to share what they
have learned and spread the importance of adopting sustainable practices. In today’s
era organisations are judged on the ethics and there social accountability. As
people’s awareness increases according global warming and climate change the
customers and stake holders would expect the industry to also direct themselves
towards sustainable practices. There is an urgent need for the top management
and decision makers to show their interest towards the greening of meetings and
overcome together the cost issue, but that is only possible when more detailed
understanding and facts are presented to them regarding the benefits in long
term as ever since the ultimate goal of executing meetings have been to
actually generate profits.
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Aksu1*, İlker Şahin 2, Adnan Öztürk 3 and Selami Gültekin 2015, Analysing Green Meeting Perceptions of
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Barbara Obritzhauser 2011, Environmental
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Amandeep, (2017) Green
Hotels and Sustainable Hotel Operations in India, International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR)
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Spatrisano,
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International, (2014) Standards and Publications, URL: www.astm.org
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United
Nation Environment Programme, Green Meeting Guide 2009.
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