Running an Environmentally Friendly Event means...
We are constantly learning, developing and creating more ways to become a "planet-forward" trade show. Our main focuses are waste diversion, energy/carbon offsets, water, procurement/materials and travel. Click the + signs below to learn more.
What's New in 2022!
2022 is a BIG year as we pursue CarbonNeutral® Event Certification for the first time at Natural Products Expo East in Philadelphia. Going carbon neutral means that we continue reducing our greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible, and compensate for the remaining carbon emissions our show emits (from travel, hotel stays, energy-use, waste, etc.) through the purchase of high-quality ICROA-approved carbon offsets.
What is a CarbonNeutral® Event Certification? A designation that demonstrates our event has achieved carbon neutrality in line with the CarbonNeutral Protocol. This certification is administered by Climate Impact Partners, and is a global standard managed for over 20 years to deliver clean, conclusive, and transparent carbon neutral programs. The carbon footprint of our events are verified by a third-party company, Bureau Veritas.
"It is with great excitement and pride that we introduce this latest element of our comprehensive sustainability program. Through various other initiatives, we have worked towards carbon neutrality for many years and this certification further solidifies our commitment to ensuring the environmental impacts of our trade shows are exponentially reduced and unavoidable emissions completely offset." - Lacey Gautier, Vice President, Events
This initiative is part of the FasterForward - Faster to Zero commitment to becoming completely carbon neutral as a business by 2025 by our parent company, Informa.
What our show is doing...
- Back of house waste sort during the show to maximize waste diverted from the landfill and ensure materials are sent to the correct stream.
- Clearly labeled 3-bin front of house systems (recycle, compost, landfill) placed throughout the PCC.
- Designated cardboard drop-off areas throughout the exhibit hall to maximize the cardboard effectively collected and recycled.
- Zero Waste boxes placed at all dishwashing stations to collect PPE that is not typically accepted in a single stream recycling stream. This includes gloves, hair nets, and masks.
- Collection of clings in zero waste pallets post show for recycling.
- GES offers in booth recycling and compost porter service for exhibitors through ESK.
- Eliminated foamcore signage and prohibit styrofoam from the show.
- Staff meals are served on reusable serviceware.
- Identified water refill stations throughout the convention center to allow for easy water bottle refill.
- We are aiming to eliminate single-use plastics in the coming years!
What the show is doing...
- Tracking of energy consumption at the convention center and hotels to offset the carbon impact through our partnership with GreenPrint and Natural Capital Partners.
- No HVAC is used during move in/move out.
- Lighting levels are set to 50% during move in/move out.
- Energy and water consumption at the convention center and host hotels is tracked and offset by partnership with Climate Impact Partners.
- Encourage shipping/freight through SmartWay freight partners.
- Enforcement of City of Philadelphia non-idling ordinance of 5 minutes or less for suppliers and exhibitors.
What our sponsors are doing...
- Thanks to the support of our sponsor, we are able to offset 100% of the electricity used during Natural Products Expo East at the PCC and host hotels.
What the show is doing...
- Attendees are encouraged to participate in the hotels' linen reuse program.
- Providing water refilling stations to influence attendees to bring their own refillable water bottles. During past shows, these water refilling stations helped avoid over 6,000 plastic bottles from being used.
What our sponsors are doing...
Pennsylvania Convention Center and Host Hotels Sponsor
- Thanks to the support of our sponsor, we are able to offset 100% of the water used during Natural Products Expo East at the PCC and three host hotels.
Ocean Sustainability Sponsor
- Thanks to our Ocean Sustainability Sponsor, and in an effort to raise awareness about single use plastic, New Hope Network will be making make a donation to The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit working to extract plastic pollution from the oceans and intercept it in rivers before it can reach the ocean, on behalf of Kvaroy and Natural Products Expo East.
What the show is doing...
- Eliminated carpet in the exhibit hall. This removes this over 300,000 sq ft of carpet and padding from our waste stream.
- Styrofoam and foamcore have been banned and eliminated from Exhibitor Service Kit (ESK).
- Continued partnership with GES to procure more sustainable products including reusable and recyclable signage.
- The Show Bags are created by a company that is carbon neutral, 1% for the planet and b-corp.
- The Show Directory Map is printed on FSC certified paper, which ensures products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits.
- Show Mobile App will provide all attendees with all pertinent show information.
What our sponsors are doing...
Lanyard Sponsor
- The fabric of the lanyard is made of a post-consumer polyester waste called Repreve Polyester Fiber.This fiber is made of 100% recycled plastic water bottles.
Show Bag Sponsor
- Each show bag is made of 2 recycled plastic 16.9oz water bottles. Therefore creating 10,000 show bags saves 20,000 plastic water bottles from a landfill! The show bags can also be recycled at the end of their life, similar to a #1 plastic bottle.
What the show is doing...
- We are pursing a Carbon Neutrality Certification for the 2022 event. We are now automatically offsetting travel for all attendees, including our event team and contractors.
- To compensate for emissions we can't yet avoid, we've partnered with Natural Capital Partners, who provide essential finance to emissions reduction projects. All the projects supported are independently verifed to assure emission reductions are occuring.
- Green Travel Raffle is a program where attendees and exhibitors get a chance to win big for partaking in sustainable travel to our shows. By sending their train or bus receipt(s) to [email protected], they’re entered into a drawing for a $100 gift card! (10 winners in total)
Sustainable Event Standards
Natural Products Expo East 2019 was the first trade show to achieve Platinum Certification to the Event Industry Council’s Sustainable Event Standards. These standards provide event planners and suppliers with prescriptive actions for producing and delivering sustainable events. Suppliers are assessed on organizational management, air quality, community, climate action, water, energy, waste management and more.
