Planners seeking to keep their meetings
sustainable are finding a growing number of options on the
table - including the tables themselves. A number of suppliers
are offering tables that are made from recycled or ecologically
acquired materials, as well as those manufactured in
environmentally responsible ways.
For hotels and meeting venues, there has been growing interest
in purchasing tables and furnishings made of materials that can
be used without linens, saving the cost and energy of
tablecloth washing.
"Planners want tables that will look nice, but can still take
the wear and tear," says Amy Spatrisano, principal of
sustainable meeting management company MeetGreen. "It's a more
sustainable option but, in the long run, it can be a financial
gain as well."
For example, Southern Aluminum's Swirl Tables are hand-etched
with wave patterns, and the decorative aluminum material allows
users to skip the linens. The company website includes a
calculator to determine how much can be saved by switching to
their "linenless" approach. Not only that, the tables can be
recycled after they are worn out.
Another sustainable manufacturer serving the meetings industry
is Baltix Sustainable Furniture. The company's Green Table
collection incorporates a range of earth-friendly materials
such as nuxite, made from crushed walnut shells retrieved from
annual food harvests. Another material of growing popularity is
the formaldehyde-based laminating material BioSurf.
"You have the ability to print any kind of graphics on there,
whether it's branding, logos, custom patterns, or whatever,"
says Erik Knutson, co-owner of Baltix. "Unlike a lot of
commercial detailing, this won't wear off."
Also popular with hospitality clients are the tables and other
products made from a lightweight honeycomb core, derived from
recycled paper. It weighs about half as much as a traditional
table, but offers the same durability, according to Knutson.
Meeting planners can seek out these types of furnishings when
aiming for a more sustainable meeting. The same is true for
tradeshow booth design.
Portable display company Boothster offers a wide range of
flexible booth-building products made from recycled materials.
These include the 10-foot-by-30-foot booth made of tubes
derived from materials used in dog food packaging, and wood
shipping cases that can double as storage counters.
"From the tradeshow point of view, what I'm seeing at IMEX and
other shows is more in terms of developing the overall
sustainable design and furniture component as a key part," says
Tamara Kennedy-Hill, executive director of the Green Meetings
Industry Council, an organization dedicated to encouraging
sustainability in meetings and events. "People are looking for
it as part of their overall checklist - it's probably not the
number-one thing that comes to mind, but it's a part of the
procurement process."
If planning a tradeshow, Spatrisano recommends that planners
work with the service contractor if they rent furniture to make
sure that the product is made with all sustainable materials
and is created through an eco-friendly process.
"Anything from the paint you are using to the glues to put the
things together and where the materials come from," says
Spatrisano. "We often think about sustainability later in the
planning process, but if you think about it as part of the
design process, and how it's going to be integrated into every
aspect, that's where you are likely to see more cost savings."