Waste diversion efforts at the Democratic National Convention

Tuesday, February 9th, 2:00 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. - Special Event Recycling

Jaime Nack, President, Three Squares Inc.

The greening plan for the Democratic National Convention has become an industry case study and we are on the US EPA/GMIC national committee establishing green meeting standards based on these efforts to reduce waste from large conventions.

The presentation will address the challenges and benefits of adapting events, such as conventions, conferences, festivals, etc., to include a greening and sustainability initiative. The largest event in history ever to be greened, the Democratic Convention spanned over four days and three venues, including the 85,000 capacity Invesco Field in Denver, CO. As Director of Sustainability and Greening Operations, Ms. Nack managed an effort that required 1,008 volunteers and included the most monumental diversion of recycling and compostable materials to date.

Topics to be featured in the presentation highlight the future of event greening, such as:

- How to incorporate greening across multiple departments of an organization,
- How to elicit cooperation from sponsorship entities,
- Utilizing carbon footprint analysis,
- Incorporating carbon offset programs,
- Creating a successful recycling and composting program,
- The importance of volunteers and public outreach, and,
- Combating media scrutiny and potential sabotage efforts (reporters following waste haulers to the landfill!).