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Ceres, in collaboration with the World Business Council, Ibaris, and the IRRC Institute, developed the Ceres Aqua Gauge: A Framework for the 21st Century.  The tool allows investors and companies alike to assess a company's water risk management.  112

As The SRI Conference organizers, we have been strongly motivated to reduce the overall footprint of the conference and increase its sustainability for many years. And, each year, we take another step in the right direction.

Venue Selection

“When it comes to green meetings, George Gay wrote the book”, so said Alison Hall in Financial & Insurance Meetings magazine. The SRI in the Rockies venue proposal guidelines include an extensive set of questions used to evaluate the venue’s commitment and actions in the area of Green Building and Sustainable Operations. Some of the questions on which properties are evaluated include:

• Green Hotel Initiative: Is the facility compliant with the Green Hotel Initiative?
• Carbon Footprint: Has the property evaluated its carbon footprint, and, if so, what are the results?
• LEED certified: Is the property LEED certified and/or have any other Green Building standards been implemented?
• Local, Organic Food: Does the venue use locally grown and/or organic food products? If so, what is the approximate ratio of such food to the total amount of food served?
• Food Donation: Consistent with local health regulations, is the facility willing to donate all unused, but paid for, food to a local homeless shelter or other such facility?
• Public Transportation: Is there access to public transportation from the hotel?

Carbon Offsets

The SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing began purchasing carbon offsets in 2003.

Our 2011 carbon offsets, purchased through NativeEnergy, supported the Wewoka Biogas Project in Wewoka, Oklahoma. This innovative project will trap and destroy polluting methane gas that otherwise would be emitted from the Wewoka town landfill, and produce renewable fuel for the kilns at the nearby Commercial Brick Corporation. To capture the methane, vertical gas wells installed in the landfill will be connected to a central blower. The blower will then push the methane through a half-mile pipeline to the brick kilns, which are being retrofitted to burn landfill gas just like regular natural gas. If the kilns malfunction, a flare will burn the excess gas at the landfill. The project will avoid approximately 25,000-30,000 tonnes per year of CO2 equivalent.

 

Sponsorships

Our Appreciation Gift Sponsorship supports us in providing sustainable gifts to our speakers, the Agenda Committee, and staff members of the First Affirmative Financial Network. Some of the criteria we consider during the selection process include whether the product is fair trade, organic, made from recycled materials, and locally produced.