Six Ways to Green Your Chapter
As president of the MPI Atlantic Canada Chapter, Alana Hirtle, CMP, has worked hard to expand her organization’s already extensive CSR program. Now she’s offering tips on how other chapters can become more environmentally sustainable.
1. Go Online. Don’t be afraid. Social media, webinars and teleconferences will never replace the value of meeting face-to-face. That doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable. In our chapter, we hold one meeting a year online instead of in person. This allows us to decrease our environmental footprint with the added benefit that some members who can’t travel to our live meetings can attend our virtual ones.
2. Start a Green Committee. This is something we discussed during a chapter exchange with the MPI WestField Chapter. They now have a green committee and send out an online newsletter on environmentally friendly trends, news and chapter programs. The committee also allows even more members to become involved in chapter leadership, and anything that encourages involvement is a good thing.
3. Easy Does It. So, you don’t know how to get started? Do the easy stuff first. Get rid of the packaged sugar and creamer and the paper coffee cups. Serve water in pitchers, and encourage attendees to bring their own water bottles—not bottled water! Keep handouts online, and encourage members not to print them by offering thumb drives with all the information saved on them.
4. Drop the Speaker Gifts. Instead of giving our speakers gifts, we offer to make a donation in their names to charities of their choice. Not only does this save on waste, it ensures that we give the speakers something that is valuable to them. It also helps a variety of charitable organizations that desperately need donations.
5. Make Charity Monthly. Rather than organizing one event a year for our charity of choice, Dress for Success, we encourage giving year-round at all of our chapter events. We bring a rolling clothes rack to each meeting and ask that attendees bring gently used clothing to donate. We also contacted a local dry cleaner who has agreed to launder the clothes at a reduced cost.
6. Localize Your Meals. We ask that our host venues serve local foods during our meetings—which can be challenging in the winter. We do organic local whenever possible. Buying local reduces our carbon footprint by cutting down on “food miles.” Plus, local foods are fresh and delicious!
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