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National Meeting Industry Day: Instead of holding our regular monthly Mixer, in April we are encouraging you to support the National Meeting Industry Day (NMID) on April 15th at 7:30 AM.
NMID has been celebrated across Canada for 14 years in eight major cities. In Edmonton they will be hosting a breakfast celebration and will be a time to connect with other professionals, to draw attention to the value of our local industry and to learn about social media from one of Canada's foremost experts. Social media expert Amber MacArthur will be delivering a keynote presentation that discusses social media trends.
To register, please visit www.nmid-edmonton.ca.
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EEDC Annual Luncheon: Register now for the EEDC’s annual luncheon on April 19 at the Shaw Conference Centre, starting at 11 a.m. Join us for a look back at 2009 and a focus on 2010. Tickets are $50 each or $500 for a table of 10. Highlights include keynote speaker Dr. Indira Samarasekera, University of Alberta President, and the annual EEDC achievement awards.
Click here to book your seat today.
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We always appreciate your feedback on our initiatives. If you have any comments please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at rmcvicker@edmonton.com or 780-917-7651.
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Our Featured Partner...
HorseSense is a workshop where we step out of our "highly evolved" world and step into the world of nature... read more
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FRESH
Welcome to Fresh!
This new program led by Edmonton’s hospitality industry encourages meeting planners to make their next event green, making a big difference in our city and inspiring our conference guests to do the same in their communities. Check out our Eco Report Card, Green Meetings Guide, Green Itineraries, Green Ideas and more - visit www.edmonton.com/fresh.
This new program has been nominated for an Alberta Emerald Award for 2010! http://www.emeraldfoundation.ca/emerald_awards
The smallest act of green can make a difference for the planet. As an industry partner of the FRESH Initiative, you can include information on your industry partner page on what environmental practices your organization is doing. Check out what a few of our partners are doing:
Avatar Brand Management Inc.
- Our Frog Friendy™ Consulting division, which launched in 2008, is dedicated to communicating our client's green brands credibly, and is leading the nation with 2 consecutive national awards for the results we've created in green marketing for Alberta clients.
- Before you start planning your next trade show, event, or marketing campaign, give us a call. We can help you with as small a leap as providing more sustainable promotional materials, to as great a leap as creating an entire campaign with a comprehensive set of sustainable tools.
- If you have a green message we will provide the tools to deliver it credibly. If you have a green objective, we will help you achieve it measurably.
www.FrogFriendly.ca
Earth Friendly Distributors Ltd. (EFD) was founded in 2005. We are an Edmonton based company and are proud to distribute non-toxic, biodegradable products. We are a family company that believes earth friendly products are the best choice for our bodies and our planet.
What We Do:
- We distribute non-toxic cleaning products to the grocery sector, recycled paper products (i.e. bathroom tissue) to the RV industry, and compostable containers and cutlery to the foodservice industry.
- We believe that there are viable and exciting alternatives to toxic cleaning chemicals. We also believe that by using environmentally friendly foodservice disposables there is an opportunity for diversion from landfills.
- We strive our very best to provide excellent customer service and we are proud to support local businesses.
If you haven’t sent us information on what you’re doing please let us know – email Laurie Middaugh, lmiddaugh@edmonton.com, your top three environmental practices and we will include them on our website.
Plus, here’s a couple of Eco Tips:
In Canada, 20% of household energy bills are spent on keeping the light bulbs around your house lit. And, the regular incandescent light bulbs that are found around many homes, use only 5 - 10% of the electricity they consume to produce light, the rest is all wasted on heat! Now, imagine all of the money and energy you are wasting by using these bulbs!
Although CFL's are more costly up front (averaging $1.50 - $3.00 a bulb), they last about 10 times longer than incandescent (up to five years!) and use approximately 75% less energy! The initial investment in the bulb will pay for itself 20 times over in its life! For a single light bulb, you will save $50 in energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions by 30 kilograms! If you are to replace just ten bulbs in your household with CFL's, you would save $100 a year.
The only drawback to CFL's is that they contain a small amount of mercury which can contaminate water and land, so do not throw them in the garbage when they burn out! There are many companies that offer CFL-recycling programs in Canada - Home Depot, Rona and IKEA all offer this free service, so when your bulbs run out, just bring them to your local store.
Action Steps
- As your existing bulbs burn out, replace them with CFL's.
Use Recycled Disposable Paper Products
Every day, Canadians use massive amounts of disposable paper products such as toilet paper, Kleenex, napkins and paper towels. In fact, in a year, the average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper (about 5 km worth!). And unfortunately, most of these products are made from virgin tree fibres because of its softness. However to get these tree fibres, old growth forests (such as Canada's boreal forest) are often clear-cut and destroyed, which also destroys the habitats for many different species of animals. These trees also help to keep our soil and waterways clean and healthy and they also take in CO2, which reduces the amount in the atmosphere that can contribute to global warming.
If every household in Canada, was to replace just one roll of virgin fibre toilet paper with a 100% recycled roll, we could save:
- 47,692 trees
- 3,204 cubic meters of landfill space (equal to 181 full garbage trucks)
- 65.5 million litres of water (a year's supply for 135 families of four)
- 4,567 kg of pollution from manufacturing
And that is just for one roll - imagine if households were to replace all of their toilet paper! This does not even include replacing Kleenex, napkins and paper towels with recycled products!
Action Steps
- Switch paper products to recycled products. Even better - look for recycled products that are do not use chemical bleaches, such as chlorine, in the whitening process. Look for products labeled
totally chlorine-free (TCF) or processed chlorine-free (PCF).
- Eliminate the use of paper towels and napkins altogether by using tea towels, microfibre cloths and cloth napkins!
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