Top of mind for most meeting planners is drawingbig crowds. But ASAE's Convene Green Alliance says events should also be green. So the group treated 20 meeting planners last week to a tour of the Renaissance Arlington Capital View, one of three LEED-Gold(that means pretty darn green)hotels in Virginia. Donning badge holders and lanyards made from elephant dung and post-consumer waste, they learned how the hotel has gone green: restaurant ingredients come from within 200 miles; low-E coating and shading coefficient glass regulated internal temps; 88 tons of food was composted last year; fryer oil is recycled into biofuel; and fresh air gets pumped into meeting spaces based on carbon dioxide levels. Wait, can we talk about the elephant in the room?

Has your organization been green at events? If so, tell Bisnow's Tania Anderson.