Greener Events. Greener Illinois.
Get Certified
1. Select a Green Team Leader
It helps to have one person take the lead. Identify someone from your event team who can communicate with iSEE to develop a plan for greening your event.
2. Read the Green Event Guide
The Certified Green Event Program Action Guide contains resources, examples, and guidelines to help you select elective sustainability actions best suited to your event. Even remote events can qualify as “green”!
3. Submit Your Plan Beforehand
Once you’ve identified the steps you plan to take and a method for implementation, complete the online Certified Green Event Registration Form, and we’ll get you certified! Be sure to submit this prior to the event.
4. Submit Your Post-Event Form
Submit photos, comments, and other information using the Certified Green Event Post-Event Form. Aim to submit this within two weeks after your event.
Congratulations! Your event is now Certified Green! We will work with you to showcase your certification with pride.
Here to Help: Tutorials, Hints & Tips
Handy Links
- iSEE’s Guide to Sustainability Success
- Access free resources about zero-waste event planning through the university’s Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) membership
- iSEE’s Suggestions for Recycling Options
- Campus Waste Management and Recycling
- Sustainable transportation around campus
- CUMTD Trip Planner
Getting Started
- Certified Green Event Program Action Guide — Select sustainability elective actions for your event.
- Certified Green Event Registration Form — Fill out prior to your event.
- Certified Green Event Post-Event Form — Fill out within the two weeks following your event.
Questions? Email iseegreenoffice@gmail.com.
You could be our first Certified Green Event!
Certified Green Event Elective Actions
You have the power to reduce the environmental impact of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
While our other Certified Greener Campus Programs offer various degrees of certification (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), green certification for an event requires adopting any five elective actions in the following categories.
If you have additional questions about how best to complete an action, feel free to contact iSEE at any time at iseegreenoffice@gmail.com. Happy greening!
Transportation Elective Actions
- Elective Action #1: Encourage carpooling for out-of-town attendees, and provide information about lower-carbon ways to travel (e.g. rail instead of flying)
- Elective Action #2: Offer teleconference opportunities for attendees to participate remotely.
- Elective Action #3: Hold the event at a location convenient for public transportation, biking, or walking.
Energy Use Reduction Elective Actions
- Elective Action #4: Regulate room temperatures and reduce HVAC strain.
- Elective Action #5: Choose locations with natural lighting whenever possible to minimize lighting needs.
Waste Reduction Elective Actions
- Elective Action #6: Go paperless and offer the event program online.
- Elective Action #7: Use paper with recycled content for any printed materials.
- Elective Action #8: Ensure recycling bins are available at the event location.
- Elective Action #9: Encourage people to bring their own reusable mugs and/or offer them to attendees as a promotional item.
Food & Dining Elective Actions
- Elective Action #10: Offer at least one vegetarian or vegan option at all event meals.
- Elective Action #11: Serve local food, and advertise where it’s from.
- Elective Action #12: Offer food/beverages in reusable tableware (no single-use plastics or disposables).
Innovation Elective Actions
- Elective Action #13: Communicate the ways the event is sustainable and a Green Event via signage, shout-out, or other means.
- Elective Action #14: Communicate at the event itself that sustainability is a priority and identify in what ways.
- Elective Action #15: Provide functionable giveaway items.
- Elective Action #16: Recruit another event/host to join the program.
- Elective Action #17: Provide information on other sustainability events or opportunities.
- Elective Action #18: Record the event (if hosting online) and make it publicly available afterward.
- Elective Action #19: Come up with your own strategy to make your event more sustainable — and tell us about it!
Elective Actions for Certifying a Virtual Event
The following Elective Actions from the above categories are compatible with events hosted remotely. Please consider applying them to make your virtual conferences, webinars, and gatherings as sustainable as possible — many of these might be steps you are already taking!
Transportation Elective Actions
- Elective Action #2: Offer teleconference opportunities for attendees to participate remotely
Waste Reduction Elective Actions
- Elective Action #6: Go paperless and offer the event program online
Innovative Elective Actions
- Elective Action #13: Communicate the ways the event is sustainable and a Green Event via signage, shout-out, or other means
- Elective Action #14: Communicate at the event itself that sustainability is a priority and identify in what ways
- Elective Action #16: Recruit another event/host to join the program
- Elective Action #17: Provide information on other sustainability events or opportunities
- Elective Action #18: Record the event (if hosting online) and make it publicly available afterward
- Elective Action #19: Come up with your own strategy to make your event more sustainable — and tell us about it!