{"id":3430,"date":"2023-12-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siteglobal.com\/one-step-at-a-time-on-our-sustainability-journey\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T14:17:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:17:08","slug":"one-step-time-our-sustainability-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siteglobal.com\/blog\/one-step-time-our-sustainability-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"One Step at a Time on our Sustainability Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

My initial foray into sustainability related to the MICE industry occurred in 2017.\u00a0 We received an RFP for a four-day program in New Orleans. After reviewing and researching the client company, it became clear that the potential client was the forerunner of certifying businesses with regard to both Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability.\u00a0 At that time, New Orleans was not on the level of many other cities with public implementation regarding such concerns.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been recycling Christmas trees to help restore our Coastal communities since 1989, but available resources to help implement Sustainability Principles were at the grassroots level only and not widely known.<\/p>

For the proposal, one of the goals was to be insightful about every aspect of their meeting where we could offer Corporate Social Responsibility.\u00a0 We were well versed in that arena as we had much practice following Hurricane Katrina.\u00a0 I cannot even count the number of home building projects we executed or mobile medical units we organized! This type of outreach resulted in a bourgeoning comeback for residents of New Orleans, and the entire city is ever thankful for the outpouring of global support!<\/p>

Next for the proposal, the Sustainability offerings. Where were we to begin?\u00a0 To whom do we reach out to? What are our local resources?\u00a0 Sure, there were recycling bins labelled \u201cplastic\u201d, \u201cpaper\u201d, \u201cglass\u201d, and \u201ccompost\u201d, but there were no available facilities to actually process these items. The optics looked good at events, but ultimately, these items were dumped in landfills. \u00a0We just did not have the infrastructure in place.\u00a0 Clearly with this client we had to address and execute this correctly with pristine vision.\u00a0<\/p>

How do we accomplish this task of creating a sustainable event when we basically know nothing? \u00a0Plow forward into research!\u00a0 An associate, Caroline Crother Stoops, CMP, BBC Events Director of Operations today, jumped into this task with full force.\u00a0 She found a Chamber of Commerce meeting addressing the topic.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go and see what we learn.\u201d \u00a0What we learned in that meeting was the epiphany of our mission today.\u00a0 It was led by Liz Shephard of Life City<\/a> here in New Orleans. Liz is a passionate ambassador on a mission to educate citizens and implement services and processes to create change that\u00a0 builds stronger, better businesses \u00a0and stronger, better communities.\u00a0 (Most recently, \u00a0Life City was the main consultant in assisting the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with LEED Gold Certification). \u00a0<\/p>

We immediately set up a meeting to see how Life City could help us with this client and also gain a better understanding of our mission.\u00a0 \u201cBaby steps\u201d, said Liz. \u00a0She was excited about exploring a new industry sector to which she could offer her expertise! \u00a0\u00a0At the outset, we eliminated straws, recommended bike sharing rather than traditional transportation, employed community water stations, compost discarded and\/or unused food and the list of initiatives grew.\u00a0 Light bulb moment!\u00a0 Many of these elements may be implemented at no cost to the client.\u00a0 Additionally, we knew at that moment that we would begin including these \u201cbaby steps\u201d into proposals for all of our potential clients to champion the movement.\u00a0<\/p>

Furthermore, we learned that Life City could be hired to measure the carbon footprint of the entire event.\u00a0 Through our partnership with Life City, this particular event eliminated straw usage for 1,100 people partying for four days, 371 pounds of recycled glass, 1,450 pounds of compost vs. 135 pounds of trash, and 584 pounds of mixed recycling.\u00a0 The vendors hired were 46% Woman Owned, 85% Independently Owned and 31% Minority Owned.\u00a0 We have continued our quest over the years to explore and research local companies to help us and our clients with education.<\/p>

\u00a0At BBC Events, we focus on eliminating plastic, especially with regards to Second Line Parade items. (we produce hundreds annually!). \u00a0As an alternative to plastic Mardi Gras beads, we offer sustainable paper beads made by women in Uganda.\u00a0 The women are paid a fair wage above what they \u00a0normally make.\u00a0 The beads carry a QR code\u00a0which recipients can scan to learn\u00a0about the bead\u2019s origins and how the revenue of these beads benefits the artisans, their families and their communities.\u00a0 An impactful and better alternative than contributing to the hundreds of thousands of pounds of plastic items utilized in parades, which ultimately obstruct our waterways.\u00a0 (Credit here to Grounds Krewe of New Orleans<\/a>)<\/p>

BBC Events is currently collaborating with Grounds Krewe to produce locally sourced boas (a pre-eminent feature of our Second Line Parades). The boas are made from leftover film production T shirts which are often left behind following the end of the project.<\/p>

\u00a0Grounds Krewe has created a boa prototype from the donated T shirts and we are partnering with St. Michael Special School<\/a> for the construction of the boas. This project will provide local sourcing, student education regarding the Sustainability Movement and raise funds for the school which is a pioneer for children and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.<\/p>

We are thrilled to report that New Orleans has made incredible advances since 2017, but we have more to learn, implement and champion!\u00a0 We continue our education through research and collaboration. \u00a0<\/p>

It is the small steps that count.<\/p>

Your team and collaborators count.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Content provided by our sustainability community<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_views_all":71,"_views_30d":18,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-3430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-ideas"],"custom_author":{"byline":"Beth Mabey","byline_avatar":"https:\/\/siteglobal.com\/themes\/custom\/site_global\/build\/images\/logos\/SITE90x90.png","byline_email":"brett.madsen@1hotels.com","author_id":"1452"},"yoast_head":"\nOne Step at a Time on our Sustainability Journey - SITE Global<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Content provided by our sustainability community\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siteglobal.com\/blog\/one-step-time-our-sustainability-journey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One Step at a Time on our Sustainability Journey - 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