No need to wait for Earth Day to sow the seeds for more sustainable meetings and events. We highlight three ways Canadian planners have been paying their proper dues to the environment.

Aim for zero. When Wal-Mart Canada hosted 350 business and government leaders at its Wal-Mart Green Business Summit last month, one planning consideration was obvious: “It had to be a zero waste event”, says Regan Lal, event producer with Reputations Corporation, Vancouver. Hosting at the Green Key-rated Pan Pacific Hotel, organizers partnered with BullFrog Power, Waste Management and GM to supply zero-emission vehicles. Even this little takeaway, created by The Uptown GiftBox Company in Vancouver, was made from “scrapwood,” reclaimed BC pine, with a pencil made from recycled currency.

Plant more than ideas. The main site of June’s much-anticipated G-20 summit may have switched from Muskoka to Toronto, but organizers of the smaller G8 meeting in Huntsville are planning an earth-friendly leave-behind for the region. In each participant’s welcome kit: a mention that a tree will be planted in his or her honour, supporting a non-profit mission to help reforest the province. The project is part of Trees Ontario company programs, managed by Wakeham & Associates, as a way for meeting planners to help offset their event’s environmental footprint and contribute to communities. Expect cost for similar programs across the country to range between $3 to $5 per tree planted, says Hugh Wakeham, who helps planners calculate the number of trees that can help offset resources consumed.

Develop consistency. Did you know Canada is one of 30 nations taking part in developing global standards for sustainable event management? Known as ISO 20121 – to be in place for the 2012 Olympics in London – it’s an attempt to set best practices that can be applied anywhere. “What we’re working on is a management system for sustainability in the way that any event is executed – it’s not just a checklist,” says Andrée Gauthier, general manager and partner with JPdL Québec in Quebec City, chair of the project committee reviewing the standards in Canada. The group is still recruiting meetings industry leaders to take part in the process: if you’re interested, just forward a note and resumé to Jacques.Blanchet@bnq.qc.ca by Monday, March 8, 2010.

Connect to more green meetings ideas and resources at ignitemag.ca

INCENTIVES + MEETINGS
Pre-event planning tool for you ‘accidental planners’
After a ‘hold’, many companies are moving to gear-up sales via meetings and events, observes Michelle Coetzee, owner/partner at Real Communications Inc., a Toronto-based event management consultant. “We have seen the tide change as people are realizing that while spending freezes in Q4 2009 may have helped meet corporate fiscal obligations, they certainly did not deliver sales in Q1 2010!,” Coetzee says. But rather than simply repeat events of the past, your plan should consider market changes and how to measure success. If you’re suddenly tasked to kick-start a sales rally, product launch, or off-site retreat for the first time, Ignite readers can download a complimentary pre-event planning template from realeventtools.com. Register and use coupon code IGNITE until April 1, 2010. Good planning!

CORPORATE GIFTS + REWARDS
Update from the “money can’t buy you love” files...
A new Rotman School study supports the idea that money – or points that can be exchanged like money – is seen as less fair for rewarding a group than tangible things like gifts. While fine for rewarding individuals, cash is not king when it comes to group performance, suggests Sanford DeVoe, assistant professor of organizational behaviour at University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. “We’re finding that a group reward is seen as much less fair if it’s money or something that can be exchanged. If you want to give a team bonus, there are good reasons to do so with goods that have value in use.” Read the study in the Journal of Psychological Science. Or just take our word for it!

CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT
Air security fees to jump more than 50%
Starting April 1, Canadian air travellers can expect to pay more for the privilege of a security shake-down and screening. An increase on the Air Travellers Security Charge (ATSC) added to airline tickets, proposed by Transport Canada and awaiting parliamentary approval, would see fees jump by more than 50%. For travel in Canada, the charge would rise from $4.90 to $7.48 for one-way travel, and from $9.80 to $14.96 for round-trips. To the continental U.S., fees would go up from $8.34 to $12.71, and for other international air travel from $17.00 to $25.91, including GST or the federal portion of the HST, where applicable.