This past weekend I attended my very first conference. I was glad for the experience, but to be honest I did not realize what I was up against and how hard it would be to keep up my earth loving ways. However, next time I will not be caught unprepared.

A few tips (you can apply these to plan old traveling as well):

1. Bring your own eco travel cup or eco travel mug for coffee or tea.

2. Travel plates and silverware for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and it also includes a cup for soup or drinks (OJ with breaky or cocktails by the pool–so Grace Kelly). The conference I went to provided all three meals and I was left using the provided disposable plastic cups, plates, and silverware.

3. Eco water bottle (a safe alternative to nalgenes) for all your hydration needs.

4. I very soon found out that you get bombarded with marketing collateral and swag at conferences. Only take what you want or are going to use. If you are attending the conference with someone else you don’t need doubles of pamphlets, schedules, maps, etc.

5. Green business cards printed using soy and vegetable based inks and environmental papers.

6. Bring an extra bag and space to take home anything in your possession that can be recycled.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 3rd, 2006 at 6:47 am and is filed under Environment, General, Green/Sustainable, One/Change tips, Products, resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.