At GreenBiz, we strive to mitigate our environmental impact and have made our annual forum a Zero Waste Event for the past three years. Now, that challenge is being extended to VERGE to divert from landfill as much waste generated by the conference as possible. We are working with Waste Management, in collaboration with the Oakland Convention Center and the VERGE 18 exhibitors, to minimize waste generation and optimize waste diversion.

In recent years, these efforts have resulted in 97.3% diversion from landfill at GreenBiz 17 and 99.3% diversion from landfill at GreenBiz 18. Watch this video to learn how you can help make VERGE 18 just as successful by adhering to the Zero Waste Guidelines, observing posted recycling and composting signage, leaving outside food or beverage containers outside the event, and reducing food waste buy only taking what you will eat at meals.

In the place of printed programs, the AttendeeHub app offers the best option for accessing the program on-site, connecting with fellow attendees and keeping up with all that VERGE 18 has to offer. Be sure to download the app or access it on your desktop to view the most up-to-date event program. By using the conference app, you are helping to reduce paper use at VERGE 18. Thank you! You'll find instructions for logging in here.

We are offsetting 110% of VERGE 18’s carbon emissions, by supporting verified carbon offset projects that impact multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Guatemala Water Filtration and Improved Cookstoves, Kenya Improved Cookstoves, Seneca Meadows Landfill Gas and Mongolia Improved Insulation and Fuel-efficient Stoves. Three of our selected projects feature improved cookstoves, which enable women to spend less time and resources cooking, and more time with their families or enterprise activities and education. Additionally, the health of families improves thanks to reduced indoor air pollution. Attendee travel, energy consumption, waste emissions and other carbon impacts associated with VERGE 18 will be offset with the help of Natural Capital Partners.

Last year at VERGE 17, we achieved certification as a Carbon Neutral event and we hope to do the same this year at VERGE 18!

We'll balance VERGE 18'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 across North America. 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're partnering with Copia to redistribute all of our surplus food to nonprofits in the Oakland 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.

Last year at VERGE 17, we redistributed 137 pounds of food, provided 114 meals to local non-profits and saved 49,965 gallons of water through our partnership with Copia. View a full report from VERGE 17's results here.

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.

At GreenBiz 18, TerraCycle helped us to recycle an additional 4.7% of our waste, beyond what a traditional recycling facility would be able to handle. This included thin film plastic, disposable coffee cups (brought in from outside the conference walls), candy wrappers, and other miscellaneous items. We look forward to continuing this partnership and recycling even more challenging items at VERGE 18!

We strive to use sustainable materials in all aspects of our conference production. Aosa Print & Display provides beautiful, durable, recycled and recyclable signage, designed to look great and stay out of the landfill. We create our banners and backdrops 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.