Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo Have you ever been involved in planning an event? Make that a large event and on campus. The amount of effort that goes into it is amazing, especially if the planners are trying to be “green”. Early this year, I attended the Sustainable Business Conference and although I was not around for the planning of the event, I was able to see the results of what I imagine to be many sleepless nights- all sacrificed in the name of being “green”. From the choice of food served at events to the selection of speakers, every decision made while planning an event has some sort of environmental consequence. It may be the decision to order from local caterers that are committed to local and organic produce or to hold teleconferences rather than have speakers travel far distances. Planning an event is stressful enough without contemplating the environmental consequences of every little decision, so I’m working on a “Green Guide” that will hopefully make this easier for pla...

Most people think that incorporating sustainability into everyday lives and massive government undertakings, like sporting events, is a development of recent years. When I say recent, let me make it clear that this means in the ballpark of 5 years. What they’d be surprised to find out is that they’re entirely wrong. The best example of a sustainable initiative that was largely unadvertised is the Sydney Olympic Park in Australia. Sydney hosted the Olympic Games in 2000, winning the bid well before the “green boom,” and everyone’s sudden interest in saving our planet. When they won the bid, most of their money went into remediating land that was swallowed by landfills, and turning it into beautiful, safe parks and recreational areas. Instead of using the Olympics as an excuse to excavate the life out of their city and build exquisitely complex buildings instead of keeping biodiversity, a large portion of the money they spent went into preserving ecosystems and restoring previously distu...