Greener Events. Greener Illinois.
How to Green-Certify Your Event
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 for one year. We will work with you to showcase your certification with pride.
Here to Help: Tutorials, Hints, and 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.
Contact the iSEE Certified Greener Campus Team
Click here to email our team at iseegreenoffice@gmail.com
Thank you to our Certified Green Events
2021 Certified Green Events
- SECS iCAP Teach-In — Certified April 2021
- SECS Trivia and Happy Hour — Certified April 2021
- SECS Plant Parenthood Fundraiser — Certified April 2021
- SECS Roundtable with La Colectiva — Certified April 2021
- SECS Earth Day Climate Strike — Certified April 2021
- SECS Stargazing — Certified April 2021
- SECS Teach-In — Certified April 2021
- SECS Ecosociology Lecture & Discussion — Certified April 2021
- SECS Virtual Sustainable Cooking — Certified April 2021
- SECS Volunteering with Red Bison — Certified April 2021
- SECS “Plogging” 5k Fun Run — Certified April 2021
- SECS Painting Climate Strike Signs — Certified April 2021
- Illinois Solar Decathlon ADAPTHAUS Inauguration Event — Certified April 2021
- Campus Recreation Food Assistance & Well-Being Program Digital Food Drive — Certified April 2021
- iSEE Congress 2021: The Future of Water — Certified March 2021
- Champaign Park District/UIUC Bunny Brunch — Certified March 2021
- iSEE TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series — Certified March 2021
- Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) Environmental Policy Workshop — Certified March 2021
- ELP Corporate Sustainability Workshop — Certified March 2021
- SSC Coffee Hours — Certified March 2021
- RST/Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club Young Olympians Program — Certified March 2021
- One Winter Night Anniversary Plaza Donation Drive — Certified March 2021
- One Winter Night — Certified February 2021
- Parkland College Trivia Night, 3/24/2021 — Certified February 2021
- Illinois Extension Everyday Environment Webinar Series — Certified February 2021
- American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) general meeting series — Certified February 2021
2020 Certified Green Events
- Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Sustainability Seminar Series — Certified December 2020
- ECEC21 (Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference 2021) — Certified December 2020
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!