Project Green Prom


		EVENT PLANNER Before you do a single thing, determine your budget and whether or not your school has the resources to bring an event planner onboard. A planner will help you manage all of the moving parts of your prom, including logistics and design. Because hosting a green prom may be a new undertaking for your school, someone with experience in this arena will serve as an indispensible source of insight, options and resources. If it's not in the cards, no worries! With a commitment from you and your classmates, the experience of the faculty at your school, and the help of this toolkit, you should be good to go. NYC dvgreen.com promoceans.com LA pinkcloudevents.com greencarpetevent.com SF twirlmanagement.com VENUE After determining whether or not you will be bringing an event planner onboard, your next mission will likely be to choose a venue. For many of you, the prom will be held at your school, but for others you will have the option to vote on a location. When choosing your venue, consider the following: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Choose a spot that is located as close to as many of your classmates as possible. Minimizing the distance that guests need to drive, or eliminating car travel completely, will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted on the transportation end of your event. LEAD WITH LEED If there are hotels or event halls in your area that are LEED Certified check them out first! The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System ensures you that the venue is a high performance green building, and increases the chances that the management will be onboard with your mission of creating a greener prom. usgbc.org greenhotels.com YOUR PARTNERS Find out if the venue has exclusive relationships with any vendors. It is essential before committing to a location that you know who you will be working with so that you can confirm that they will be committed to helping you green your prom. Relevant vendors include caterers, designers and waste management ("carting") companies. PRE-/AFTER-PARTIES Choose locations close to your prom for your pre- and after-parties. Less travel = less waste. NY AFTER-PARTY IDEA Brooklyn Bowl ( brooklynbowl.com ), first LEED Certified bowling alley. Also a concert venue and restaurant. INVITATION Your invitation is the first thing that your classmates will see and this will set the tone for your prom. Whether "green" is going to be an all-out theme for you or just a behind the scenes mission, the invitation is your first opportunity to convey this message to all of your guests. Maybe this bit of sage advice courtesy of Head & Shoulders shampoo predates your tv-watching days, but "You never get a second chance to make a first impression". GET ONLINE The greenest way to invite everyone to the prom is to create an online only invitation. These can still be chic and impactful (get a great designer!), while basically removing all of the environmental implications of printed invites. Create a prom website where people can rsvp and purchase their tickets. And why not have the prom committee blog on this site, keeping everyone abreast of the latest green additions to the prom!? pingg.com STUCK ON SNAIL MAIL If the online invite is just not going to fly with your crowd, then it's important to green your printed invitations as much as possible. Work with a printer who offers recycled content or tree-free paper and who prints with soy- or veggie-based inks. Keep the invites standard size and weight to save on postage, and provide a website where guests can logon to rsvp and find out all of the prom deets. DESIGNERS littlewhitebird.net bellafigura.com smockpaper.com oblationpapers.com joybymellim.com PRINTERS gregbarber.com rollingpress.com greenerprinter.com EVENT MESSAGING Try to reduce event signage as much as possible, and where it's necessary utilize eco-friendly printers. Some great reasons for messaging include telling people to reduce water usage at the bathroom sinks, asking people to reuse their glass when they go to get a refill at the bar, and just generally publicizing any of the steps you've taken to green the prom. thesustainableparty.com PRE-/AFTER-PARTIES If you're hosting a pre- or post- party in a family home, make sure to label the garbage bins for recyclables, compostables and landfill waste (see Waste Not section for more info on this).