A Greener Conference

There are several steps planned to help CEF participants and the conference itself collectively reduce its "carbon footprint."

• We will shortly be moving this website to a new web host that is 100% carbon neutral.
• Our registration is being handled online for the first time in our history. This allows us to avoid the printing and transportation costs associated with mailing thousands of pages of paper. While there will be a printed conference brochure, we will not produce a printed brochure with the workshops. (You will have the option of downloading and printing the catalog yourself...on recycled paper, of course!)
• A CEF member, Don Thrasher, is going to be producing a 40-day devotional that you'll be able to read online or on your computer. It is intended for you to use during the 40 days prior to the start of the conference, and it will include a number of suggestions for reducing your own environmental impact in Albuquerque and at home.

We will continue to periodically add suggestions and links in this section to help you reflect on how you can prepare for the conference by living green.

In Albuquerque, living "green" is more than a nice thing to do: it's a major commitment on the part of businesses, government, and individuals. That's why Albuquerque has been named "The Greenest City in America" by the US Conference of Mayors last year.

According to the www.albuquerquegreen.com website, Mayor Chávez' multifaceted action oriented approach to the reduction of green house gas emissions and climate change makes Albuquerque the greenest city in the nation. Mayor Chávez and the citizens of Albuquerque have reduced green house gas emissions by 58% since 2000. The reduction is ten times the required amount by the Kyoto Protocol.

The Hyatt Regency Hotel and Albuqerque Convention Center, our two primary conference locations, both have major initiatives in place to reduce water usage, recycle materials, utilize local foods, and use biodegradable materials. Learn more about the steps Albuquerque is taking to stay green at www.albuquerquegreen.com.

• One of the places you'll have an opportunity to visit is a wonderful botanical garden, should you choose to do so. It's a great place to wander and visit with a friend, while taking in the beauty of the setting.
• In lieu of providing a printed conference bag, we are encouraging everyone to BYOB–Bring Your Own Bag. Since it's our 40th Anniversary, it will be fun to see examples of the bags used in past years, or from other events you have attended!
• We have begun work on a DVD that will be made available to conference participants with copies of workshop handouts on it, in an effort to reduce the number of pages leaders need to print.
• At any meals we provide during the conference, a vegetarian option will always be available. We'll also note the many restaurants in the area that are vegetarian-friendly, so that you can eat as low on the food chain as possible while you're in Albuquerque.

Conferences by their nature require travel, and flying in particular has enormous environmental costs. We definitely hope you'll join us for the conference, of course, but we encourage you to consider some possible ways to reduce the amount of carbon emissions you will produce through your travels. Here are some suggestions:

• Organize a van or bus to pick up everyone from your conference, and drive together. At the very least, carpool to the airport.
• Consider alternate forms of transportation you could use to get to Albuquerque, such as Greyhound or Amtrak. You'll have an interesting trip, probably spend less money, and be somewhat more eco-friendly.
• Consider purchasing "carbon offsets" if you are going to fly. By purchasing carbon offsets, you become part of the solution to global climate change by supporting the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions equal to your those caused through your travel. You can learn more through a site like Carbonfund, or just search for "carbon offset" in your favorite search engine.

If you are not familiar yet with Bill McKibben, one of our keynote speakers, we hope you'll begin to watch for his name in the articles you read. McKibben is one of the best-known environmental writers in the U.S., with a dozen books to his credit and hundreds of published articles. He has a unique ability to look at diverse topics with an environmentalist's eye--adoption, the nature of community, food, genetic testing, extreme sports, the media, and much more have been featured topics of his writings. He spearheaded the largest environmental action in the nation since Earth Day (Step It Up 2007), and he is a gifted teacher of environmental studies at Middlebury College in Vermont. And, we're proud to say, he's a United Methodist Sunday school teacher!

We don't yet know precisely what Bill's topic for his presentation will be, but it will have a strong focus on environmental stewardship and the role of the church in helping people to care for creation. You can learn more about him at www.billmckibben.com.