Metro Toronto Convention Centre Announces suite of Sustainable Meeting
Solutions

TORONTO , Oct. 21 /CNW/ - Today, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) announced a suite of sustainable meeting solutions available to event organizers. Green electricity, waste diversion, locally sourced menus, carbon offsetting, community donations and paper-less options help clients to reduce the environmental impact of their events.

By offering a roster of six sustainable meeting solutions, the MTCC is providing event planners simple options to reduce the environmental footprint of their event:

    
    -  Green Electricity: organizers can power their events with renewable
       energy. Low-impact renewable energy is injected into the electricity
       grid to match the equivalent power used by the event.

    -  Waste Diversion: organizers can divert waste generated by their events
       from landfill, ensuring leftover material is reused, donated or
       recycled.

    -  Locally Sourced Menu: complete your Zero Waste Event by choosing to
       offer locally sourced food and beverages. Let our experienced catering
       team arrange a customized menu for your event, using fresh local
       ingredients the season has to offer!

    -  Carbon Offsetting: MTCC provides organizers with the tools to
       calculate the carbon footprint of an event and connect them with third
       parties to offset it.

    -  Community Outreach: MTCC will help facilitate partnerships with local
       organizations that welcome donations of materials such as food,
       linens, carpet or building materials.

    -  Paper-less: delegates and exhibitors can now access important
       conference materials and programs onsite wirelessly, through their
       PDAs or laptop computers.
    

In addition to making green options available to event planners, the MTCC has long been committed to sustainability. For example, administrative offices and electronic signage are powered with green electricity, and the MTCC diverts 78% of all waste generated from landfill. The Centre's South Building is home to an enormous 300,000-sq.-ft. green roof. In addition, the MTCC's total energy consumption has been reduced by 20% over the past 8 years through measures such as, retrofitting older lighting, using motion detectors in meeting rooms, and replacing and modernizing old natural gas boilers. More information about the MTCC's sustainable meeting solutions is available at www.mtccc.com/green

"Sustainability is part of our culture - it's built into our policies and our operations. We have repeatedly been recognized for our leadership in making green meetings possible," said Barry Smith , President & CEO of the MTCC. "We were the first convention centre in Canada to offer green electricity to power meetings and the first to offer large-scale zero-waste events. We are pleased to provide opportunities for our clients to do the same."

About the MTCC

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is Canada's No.1 convention and trade show facility. Since its opening in 1984, the MTCC has hosted approximately 15,000 events and entertained over 40 million guests. For further information, please visit www.mtccc.com.

For further information: Tonya Lagrasta, Sustainability Coordinator, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, [phone], [email protected]; Christine Tse, Marketing Manager, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, [phone], [email protected]