Greening the Conference

This year CRRA has taken great strides along with many partners to make the conference a Zero Waste Event. Here is a sample of the greening activities.

Room-Share & Ride Share

Interested in sharing a room at the conference? Planning to drive and have a spare seat, or maybe looking to catch a ride with someone else? Use the "free" CRRA Room and Ride-Share posting board to offer or look for ways to coordinate with others.

Post a room/ride available or needed

View current postings

Rancho Las Palmas Greening Initiatives

Rancho Las Palmas are making efforts to reduce energy and water use, prevent pollution and minimize solid waste. Some initiatives include placing recycling bins in all common areas, initiating food scrap composting for kitchen waste. During the conference, guests can also recycle paper, cardboard, bottles and cans as well as organics at bins located throughout the hotel and in meeting rooms. Rancho Las Palmas will also be reducing waste at mealtime through various activities which include using reusable dishware, glassware, and silverware and providing cloth rather than paper napkins.

Special thanks to the Jim Alderden of Resourceful Bag and Tag for providing the Clear Stream recycling bins. Cardboard can also be flattened and placed next to these recycling bins for collection. In order to make recycling a success, please properly dispose your recyclables in the designated recycling bins.

Special thanks to Burrtec for collecting and California BioMass for processing all organics.

Carbon Emission Offset Option

Conference registration includes a fee to offset attendees portion of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions being generated from travel to/from the conference and the electricity used for conference activities. Registrants also have the option to donate additional funds to purchase carbon credits.

Closing the Loop

We've made sure to close the recycling loop by purchasing recycled-content products - from our conference publications to the conference giveaways, plaques and awards.

Reducing our Printed Materials

CRRA has continued to work to reduce the use of printed materials. This year's conference has been actively promoted through electronic media. CRRA has reduced its printed media by approximately 87% or 240,000 pages by eliminating paper registration brochures and saving almost 3 trees in the process. CRRA continues to process registrations completely on-line, nearly eliminating all need to use paper for management and tracking. Surveys for sessions and speakers are also all available on-line at computers located at the registration/information desk or in the privacy of your own office following the conference.

Encouraging Eco-travel Options

We've tried to keep car usage to a minimum by choosing walkable conference activities/locations such as the Welcome Reception at the pool area at the hotel and the onsite Awards Reception. We've also promoted traveling together, room sharing, taking public transportation, hybrid car rentals and bike transit.

Together we can make a difference. For More information on how you can green your travel, visit Eco-Friendly Travel Tips. For a list of CRRA's extensive zero waste planning activities, click to view Conference Zero Waste Planning Guidelines.

Prepare for the Heat

Things will heat up in Rancho Mirage, August 2-5,2009. LITERALLY. Attendees should be prepared for heat well in to the 100's. There are things you can do to make sure you are best prepared for the heat.

Tips