GreenBiz strives to mitigate its environmental impact. GreenBiz and Waste Management, in collaboration with the Marriott and our Circularity 19 exhibitors, are working together to minimize waste generation and optimize waste diversion. 

Our partnership with TerraCycle will allow us to divert more waste by repurposing non-recyclable and non-compostable material. TerraCycle is a highly-awarded and globally recognized recycling company that develops recycling solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste streams, repurposing the collected materials into affordable, innovative products. TerraCycle is widely considered the world's leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable and post-consumer waste.

We're partnering with Copia to redistribute all of our surplus food to nonprofits in the Minneapolis community. Today in America, 40% of the food we produce goes wasted, while 1 in 6 people are food insecure. What this means: hunger in our country is not a scarcity problem, it's a logistics problem. Copia is the first technology-enabled food recovery solution. They've built industry-leading logistics to solve hunger and food waste at scale, and GreenBiz is proud to be part of the solution.

We'll balance Circularity 19's water footprint with the help of Bonneville Environmental Foundation and Change the Course, restoring approximately 820,000 gallons of freshwater to critically depleted ecosystems. The Change the Course campaign is a national water initiative founded by BEF, National Geographic, and Participant Media. The initiative engages the public and the business community in reducing water footprints and returning water to nature. For every personal pledge to conserve, Change the Course returns 1,000 gallons to rivers and wetlands in need. Change the Course partners with on-the-ground conservation groups to fund innovative restoration projects that restore water and enhance water security.

We'll offset Circularity 19's carbon impact with the help of Natural Capital Partners. Attendee travel, energy consumption, waste emissions and other carbon impacts associated with Circularity 19 will be offset in verified carbon reduction projects, reducing the emissions to net zero. We will be delivering essential finance to the following projects: Rimba Raya Forest Conservation in Indonesia; Guatemala Water Filtration and Cookstoves; Minnesota Improved Forest Management and Conservation; Water Access in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

We’re partnering with UL to evaluate the circularity of our event. Through UL’s Circularity Facts Program, which helps companies demonstrate their circular economy efforts, they will evaluate our efforts to recycle, divert waste and reuse material, and certify those efforts to the UL 3600 standard. UL is also validating Circularity 19’s waste diversion efforts to the first zero-waste standard, UL 2799. Through an onsite audit and post-event evaluation, UL will track that recycling, composting, and reuse efforts to calculate the waste diversion rates.

We work closely with the Minneapolis Marriott City Center throughout our event planning process to make sure Circularity 19 is produced as sustainably as possible, from menu selection to our zero waste program. We carefully choose our menu items together, along with Waste Management, to minimize packaging and waste. The Marriott kitchen also plays a key role in implementing our zero waste practices, training and educating staff to properly dispose of waste. We’ve also chosen a beef-free menu this year to reduce our environmental impact, and Marriott chefs partner with local artisans, organic farmers, and sustainable fisheries to deliver food aligned with our focus on sustainability and wellness.

We strive to use sustainable materials in all aspects of our conference production. Our partner Aosa provides beautiful, durable, recycled and recyclable signage, designed to look great and stay out of the landfill.

We create our banners from fabric made of 100% recycled PET printed with no VOC water-based inks. Signage boards are 100% recyclable and made from 30% PCW, and wooden boards are made from FSC certified Baltic birch. Metal signs are 100% recyclable and made from 100% domestic metal.

Lastly, our backdrop for the event is 100% digital in an effort to use fewer materials.