Environment Canada’s
Green Meeting Guide
August 2007
version 2.0
Environment Canada
Environmental Affairs Division
Environment
Canada
Environnement
Canada
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Much of the information contained in this publication came from the Green Meeting
Guide developed by the Atlantic Region of Environment Canada in 1995. Information
from that guide has been updated to incorporate progress in greening techniques and
approaches over the past decade.
The Government of Canada is committed to hosting green meetings and ensuring that all
environmental aspects are considered in the planning and execution of both small and large
events.
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HOW TO USE THE GUIDE
The guide contains three broad categories of information:
1. The up-front part of the guide has concise general information on the major steps for
organizing a green event.
2. Checklists in Appendix 1 provide detailed descriptions of specific tasks to ensure that
you cover all environmental requirements at each stage of organizing and carrying out
an event.
3. Appendices 4, Eco-labelling Programs and 5, Further Information, describe relevant
environmental programs and provide links to key Web sites.
Using the Guide for various kinds of Meetings
The guide is a comprehensive document intended to cover all aspects of greening
meetings of different types and sizes. You can easily select parts of the document that
apply to the particular needs of the meeting at hand. For example, each of the checklists
in Appendix 1 applies to a particular aspect of a meeting: logistics, transportation, food
and beverage services, accommodations, green office procedures, procurement and
communications.
You can choose the checklists that are relevant to your needs:
• Checklist 1, Logistics, is useful for any meeting because it addresses basic
organizational tasks such as registration, assembling meeting materials and managing
presentati