by Larry Cerri More than 35 years ago, Barry Commoner, the award-winning US eco-socialist and biologist, argued in his book, The Closing Circle, that technologies were chiefly responsible for environmental degradation. Population growth was not a contributing factor. Other eco-biologists argued that population growth was the main culprit. We submit that the truth lies somewhere in between. Population growth creates more demands for existing and new support technologies which create more pressures on the ecological system which succumbs to the pressures of population growth which then requires more technologies, and so on. Then toss into this mix, economic globalization and the emergence of Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs), and the use of resources increases dramatically. For example, China’s use of fossil fuel has increased more than one-third over the past decade, ranking it second in the world behind the United States. NIC Turkey’s use of CO2 emissions has jumped 2.5 times since 1980.	How GREEN is Your Business Meeting?   The U in Team   From Athens to Zhengzhou … and places in between   Interview with one of UNISON’S Lead Software Developers   UNISON “Goes to the Moon”   Meet Carl Wooten
	More and more companies are establishing presences in NICs. With this comes the need to gather, communicate, network, collaborate, and cross pollinate corporate culture with local business and social cultures. Business meetings are one of the ways companies accomplish these goals. Let’s admit it, planning and staging business meetings consumes huge amounts of energy and natural resources. Take paper, for instance.  Reams of paper are used for production schedules, agendas, copies of PowerPoint® presentations, name badges and welcome packages, to name a few.  We calculated that 66 reams of paper (a very conservative estimate) are used for name tags alone, based upon the Fortune 1000 holding one meeting per year for 200 participants each. Extrapolate that number to the actual number of meetings, conferences and conventions that occur worldwide annually, the ream count is astronomical. One alternative to paper usage is to use an electronic Swipe card system to replace nametags and allow attendees to access meeting information instead of using print outs. Meetings are UNISON’s bread and butter. So, we’re not suggesting that the number of meetings be reduced.  We’re suggesting, rather, that there are ways that we can alter how and with what we stage and deliver meetings.  UNISON by default is an eco-friendly delivery system providing data electronically, and using LCD low energy screens. Let’s look at paper use again. Participants’ names can be printed on recyclable or biodegradable paper. Furthermore, meeting notes, agendas, speeches, and PowerPoint® presentations can be delivered on flash drives, or via companies’ intranets and E-mail. Admittedly, a lot of trees could be saved. Preserving those trees helps to absorb greenhouse gases, CO2 among them, which fossil fuel power plants emit. How about stage lighting? Switching to LED lights reduces waste and consumes less energy. Though LEDs cost more, they last 50 times longer than incandescent lights, their output is two to six times more than incandescent lights and they are more durable. Moreover, switching to a biofuel generators to drive the stage lighting system reduces the amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. Transportation to and from the meeting can be reduced too. Create a “ride with a buddy” system to promote networking and at the same time save on fuel consumption. Why not introduce a carbon offsetting program with each large business meeting. Carbon offsetting is the act of planting trees and investing in technological projects intended to reduce emissions, such as renewable energy. In other words, for every carbon footprint that is expended by a participant, your company will plant a tree or give money to one of the technological projects. See www.carbonneutal.com for how you can “neutralize” your meetings.
	Large business meetings are not exactly eco-friendly; but they can be designed to reduce energy consumption, waste, and transportation. The Live Earth concert had an “environment engineer” who designed and/or approved all lighting, sound and generator equipment so that the meeting organizers met the eco-friendly goals of the concert. At UNISON, we’re committed to going green and to helping our clients “tint” their business meetings the color of green.