You’re probably knee-deep in symposia, poster sessions, and coffee with colleagues, but if you stop for a breather, take note of the Moscone Center’s “green” efforts. Moscone aims to be a model for sustainable convention centers. Its ongoing goals are to significantly reduce event waste stream through the collection and sorting of recyclables, compostables, and donations.1 Check out some of the Moscone Center’s initiatives to reduce waste, build more planet-friendly exhibits, and improve water and energy management.
Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling
1. Compost, recycling, and trash collection areas for attendees. San Francisco requires all large venues to provide color-coded “zero waste” collection stations, with separate bins for different types of waste—black for trash (noncompostable materials), blue for recyclables (for example, glass bottles and aluminum cans), and green for compostables (products that disintegrate into nontoxic, natural elements, like compostable food packaging).2 Moscone Center provides conference goers with these waste stations near public restrooms and escalators and in corridors and lobbies, which help to divert almost 2 million pounds of waste annually.
2. Sorting for sustainability behind the scenes. Moscone’s loading dock staff capture recyclables generated from the exhibit floor and large catered functions.
3. Certified compostable cups and utensils only. Moscone follows San Francisco’s requirement that all providers of takeaway food use certified compostable serveware only. Items such as Styrofoam cups or single-use disposable plastic utensils are not permitted. Moscone’s catering service also strives to use fresh, local ingredients whenever possible.
4. Reducing plastic bottle use. The conference center now offers filtered water hydration stations, which are located throughout the convention center. Meeting attendees can refill their personal water bottles at these stations, helping to decrease single-use plastic water bottle and cup waste.
Erecting Earth-Friendly Exhibits
5. Foam bans. All polystyrene materials that come into the building are required to be taken out of the building. Since 2007, San Francisco’s ban on polystyrene foam/Styrofoam materials prohibits the disposal of these materials in the convention center. Moscone also encourages exhibitors to create environmentally friendly booths that use materials such as bamboo and wheatboard, so-called “rapid renewables,” which take less than 10 years to grow; to lay down flooring that is either reclaimed or repurposed; to print with soy and other vegetable-based inks that are nontoxic; and to avoid materials with polyvinyl chloride (more commonly known as PVCs), formaldehyde, and toxic paints, adhesives, and coatings.
6. Curbing single-use disposable plastic bags. San Francisco’s Checkout Bag Charge and Recyclable or Compostable Pre-Checkout Bag Ordinance prohibits the distribution of single-use plastic bags in order to reduce waste, litter, and contamination in recycling and composting programs. Adherence will help improve water quality in the San Francisco Bay and oceans by reducing plastics pollution.3
Conserving Water and Energy
7. Solar power efforts. Moscone boasts the largest rooftop solar installation by area in San Francisco. It consists of approximately 2,600 photovoltaic modules. The system capacity is 687 kw.
8. Greenhouse gas–free electricity. Moscone North, South, and West are supplied by 100% greenhouse gas–free electricity from San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission, managed by Hetch Hetchy hydroelectric plant located to the east of San Francisco in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
9. Innovative water technologies. Moscone North and South are now designed to collect and treat more than 15 million gallons of foundation water, rainwater, and condensate water which is reused in plumbing and landscape irrigation and for local street cleaning.4
Building a Better Planet Together
Be sure to join Moscone in its efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of large gatherings. And as you toss your compostable fork into the nearest green bin and your glass beverage bottle into the blue receptacle, enjoy the rest of the meeting.
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1 www.moscone.com/recycling. Accessed July 25, 2023.
2 www.recology.com/recology-san-francisco/whatgoes-where/. Accessed July 25, 2023.
3 https://sfenvironment.org/checkout-bag-ordinance. Accessed July 25, 2023.
4 www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Massive-SFrecycling-project-to-save-30-million-14114952.php. Accessed July 25, 2023.
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PLANET FRIENDLIER. Top to bottom: Moscone Center South; filtered water hydration stations are located throughout Moscone; compostable tableware; Moscone Center North and South boast the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest level of certification for environmental sustainability—LEED Platinum; solar panels on the roof of Moscone South.
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This content is excerpted from the Sunday/Monday edition of AAO 2023 News, the newspaper distributed at the convention center.
Read more news about Subspecialty Day and AAO 2023.