Influential Conference Goes Green

June 20, 2006 – ideaCity 06 will be the first conference in the world to be ‘zero footprinted.’ This means that the environmental impact of the event will be nearly net-zero. Pollution created from activities related to the conference like air and car transportation, which bring participants to and from the event will be neutralized by the purchase of carbon offsets. And, the natural resources, like trees and water, used to make ideaCity’s paper products, will be restored to the local environment through community based organizations like Evergreen and Waterkeepers. Nearly all that is used from the environment to create the conference will be restored and offset through Zerofootprint (www.zerofootprint.net).

ideaCity is described as a ‘meeting of minds,’ where some of the most fascinating and influential personalities of our time come together for three days of thought-provoking ideas. Deborah Kaplan, Executive Director of Zerofootprint stated that ‘zero footprinting’ ideaCity “is exciting because it will do something good for the environment, importantly, as a hub for major thought leaders, ideaCity will also raise awareness amongst key influencers in our communities by taking on environmental challenges. This will inevitably trickle down and motivate individuals to offset their own activities, as people begin to realize that almost everything we do has an environmental cost associated with it.”

Approximately 427 people from the GTA will be attending ideaCity. Transportation emissions will be offset for each of the three days of the conference. Approximately 36 flights taken by ideaCity speakers from European and North American destinations to Toronto will be offset. Ground transport from the airport to the theatre is included in this offset.

1000 ideaCity programme books will be ‘zero footprinted.’ Approximately 100 trees will be planted to replace trees used; and 17,000 gallons of water will be protected or restored to compensate for water polluted during the printing of the books. In addition, the energy used for printing and transporting the books, will be offset by saving or absorbing one tonne of CO2 for every tonne created. The energy used during the conference to power the theatre will also be offset in the same way. Approximately 130 tonnes will be offset in total.

Zerofootprint was launched at last year’s ideaCity. Zerofootprint is an organization for people and organizations interested in reducing their environmental footprint. To learn more about Zerofootprint visit www.zerofootprint.net.