BlogHer Conference is Setting a New Green Standard

July 8, 2008

Bloggers across the globe are preparing to converge on San Francisco at the end of next week to attend the fifth annual BlogHer conference. Conferences are wonderful, and there is no replacement to face-to-face time to meet others and share ideas. But conference travel, hotels and meeting places are notorious for producing landfills of waste and creating a huge carbon impact in their wake.

Thankfully, BlogHer is committed to green practicesin practical ways that are very exciting--and all too rare at conferences--to see. The Blogher organization is a notable Internet leader, and their actions set a terrific example. They e-published a conference guide that lists some of the conservation ideas that have been put into action in their conference planning:

• working with the hotel to reduce waste
• setting up a Recycle Room hosted by Zwaggle (a listing of free used items for children and parents) for undesired freebies
• teaching attendees how to use the local public transit system
• encouraging participants to bring reusable cups and utensils, and offering water in renewable sourced containers
• increasing prevalence of recycling bins at the venues
• GM shared a fleet of hybrid cars for Blogher coordinated carpooling
• using organic cotton totes (much better than plastic, but, shoot, too bad they aren't bamboo!)
• featuring the dynamic new Greenopolis.com to participants

Best of all, I was thrilled to see that conference sponsor Michelin donated to offset 200 tons of CO2 to help minimize the carbon footprint that will be created even with enhanced measures. Not only is this a tremendous best-practice for conference organizers and a responsible choice for a partner such as Michelin, but it also sets a standard for all IT and Internet conferences while educating all participants.

Unless we want to radically change our lives, we create carbon havoc. It is so easy to create a personal practice of purchasing offset credits from those who will replant and replenish the Earth to make up for the carbon footprint of our new shoe purchases, not to mention laptop sticker manufacturing, business card printing and cross-country travels.

I hope some of the blogging community who are attending BlogHer also make personal carbon offset donations, even small ones, to follow BlogHer's great lead. Our ECOHACKS donation program for bloggers makes it easy to donate by Paypal (in the column to the right) to the planting of super-renewable, mega-sequestering bamboo to bolster our offsetting project.

It's simple, bloggers keep blog, and we plant the bamboo on their behalf! With at least a five dollar donation, bloggers are listed on our ECOHEROES permanent blogroll to show their leadership and green commitment. We welcome Bloghers to our blogroll and look forward to meeting as many as we can next week!