A Moron, an Intellect, and Zero Waste
Eric Pan of Santa Cruz, Ca and "Mr. Cadillac" of Markham, Ontario make a perfect lead-in to the news from the Toronto Convention centre.
Mr. Cadillac was at our local Tim Horton's last weekend, doing everything he could to contribute to robbing our children of a healthy planet. He pulled up right in front of the entrance in his gas-guzzling Cadillac SRX Crossover and left it idling while he came in. After he bought his coffee, he sat in his vehicle, with the bloody thing still idling. Then he got out again, with a few items in hand. He hesitated in front of the garbage bin near the front door, but then came inside again to look at the recycling bin. Apparently deciding it would be too much work for him to look at the pictures on the bins and figure out which hole to use for disposing of his waste, he went back out the door and dumped it on top of the garbage bin. Visible among his leavings was a paper cup that could have been recycled. His SUV having remained on the whole time, he finally got in one last time and drove away. Moron.
On the other end of the intelligence scale is Mr. Pan. At his Share the Truth site, he is heading up an initiative to make copies of "An Inconvenient Truth" available, free. Telling his readers "there is nothing more urgent you can do at this moment" than watch Al Gore's wake-up call about global warming, Pan has undertaken an effort to get the "Truth" out to as many viewers as he possibly can, with a little help from his friends. He gives five suggestions as to how readers could get involved and then asks for anyone with more ideas to share them. After encountering Mr. Cadillac and Mr. Pan, the news from the Toronto Convention Centre just seemed to follow right along in sequence.
On January 8 a convention got underway here in T.O., a convention worthy of notice. Hosted at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the gathering is the 51st annual meeting of the Professional Convention Management Association, and it began with the announcement that it would be the first ever large-scale meeting to boast a zero-waste policy.
Since the expected attendance is about 3,000 delegates, it is also expected that the gathering will generate a great deal of waste. In fact, 90,000 cans and bottles alone, not to mention cups, napkins and plates will be designated as "waste" during the conference.
To rule out the possibility of any waste being mistakenly tossed into the garbage, trash compactors have been removed from the centre, with the help of the good folks at Turtle Island Recycling. This 60,000 square foot facility is state-of-the-art, with a "passion to function as an ethical business with environmental responsibility".
The Turtle Island employees will be key in carrying out the plan to collect and recycle the waste generated during the event. Delegates are being encouraged to act like environmentally responsible adults and use the proper bins provided. Convention centre president and CEO says those involved in this initiative "will have to find a home for everything that leaves the building." To facilitate that end, organic waste will be composted and left-over food and drink will be picked up by Second Harvest, an organization that redistributes fresh left-overs to social service agencies across Toronto.
Smith raises a great point when he says he hopes others "will start saying to other buildings they go in: "Well, what about doing a zero waste event?" This one should be watched carefully, and the resultant (hoped-for) success should be publicly blazoned for any and all to see. Setting such a precedent should mean that other convention centres begin to follow suit immediately. There should be no excuse for being lax about jumping on this environmental bandwagon.
Are you ready to jump on board, too? If there is an upcoming convention that you will be attending, will you contact the hosting facility and ask them Smith's question? It wouldn't take much of your time, and only good could come of it. The environment needs everyone like you it can get to counteract the likes of Mr. Cadillac.
Mr. Cadillac was at our local Tim Horton's last weekend, doing everything he could to contribute to robbing our children of a healthy planet. He pulled up right in front of the entrance in his gas-guzzling Cadillac SRX Crossover and left it idling while he came in. After he bought his coffee, he sat in his vehicle, with the bloody thing still idling. Then he got out again, with a few items in hand. He hesitated in front of the garbage bin near the front door, but then came inside again to look at the recycling bin. Apparently deciding it would be too much work for him to look at the pictures on the bins and figure out which hole to use for disposing of his waste, he went back out the door and dumped it on top of the garbage bin. Visible among his leavings was a paper cup that could have been recycled. His SUV having remained on the whole time, he finally got in one last time and drove away. Moron.
On the other end of the intelligence scale is Mr. Pan. At his Share the Truth site, he is heading up an initiative to make copies of "An Inconvenient Truth" available, free. Telling his readers "there is nothing more urgent you can do at this moment" than watch Al Gore's wake-up call about global warming, Pan has undertaken an effort to get the "Truth" out to as many viewers as he possibly can, with a little help from his friends. He gives five suggestions as to how readers could get involved and then asks for anyone with more ideas to share them. After encountering Mr. Cadillac and Mr. Pan, the news from the Toronto Convention Centre just seemed to follow right along in sequence.
On January 8 a convention got underway here in T.O., a convention worthy of notice. Hosted at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the gathering is the 51st annual meeting of the Professional Convention Management Association, and it began with the announcement that it would be the first ever large-scale meeting to boast a zero-waste policy.
Since the expected attendance is about 3,000 delegates, it is also expected that the gathering will generate a great deal of waste. In fact, 90,000 cans and bottles alone, not to mention cups, napkins and plates will be designated as "waste" during the conference.
To rule out the possibility of any waste being mistakenly tossed into the garbage, trash compactors have been removed from the centre, with the help of the good folks at Turtle Island Recycling. This 60,000 square foot facility is state-of-the-art, with a "passion to function as an ethical business with environmental responsibility".
The Turtle Island employees will be key in carrying out the plan to collect and recycle the waste generated during the event. Delegates are being encouraged to act like environmentally responsible adults and use the proper bins provided. Convention centre president and CEO says those involved in this initiative "will have to find a home for everything that leaves the building." To facilitate that end, organic waste will be composted and left-over food and drink will be picked up by Second Harvest, an organization that redistributes fresh left-overs to social service agencies across Toronto.
Smith raises a great point when he says he hopes others "will start saying to other buildings they go in: "Well, what about doing a zero waste event?" This one should be watched carefully, and the resultant (hoped-for) success should be publicly blazoned for any and all to see. Setting such a precedent should mean that other convention centres begin to follow suit immediately. There should be no excuse for being lax about jumping on this environmental bandwagon.
Are you ready to jump on board, too? If there is an upcoming convention that you will be attending, will you contact the hosting facility and ask them Smith's question? It wouldn't take much of your time, and only good could come of it. The environment needs everyone like you it can get to counteract the likes of Mr. Cadillac.
1 Comments:
Share the Truth is such a cool concept. It looks like it's going to be quite the success.
And on the convention recycling ... I've attended a few conventions and have seen the waste. The last one was the Oracle conference in SF. I think the attendance topped 50,000 people. You should have seen the waste. Food, paper and lots and lots of other crap that could be recycled. I doubt they did such a good job recycling. I tried to do my bit, including saving the apple from my boxed lunches to hand out to those in need on the streets.
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