Our annual Sustainability Symposium is an exciting, full-day conference to learn about the many ways our region is advancing sustainability in the built environment. After two years of hosting the event online, we’re thrilled to be at the Navy Yard once again with our incredible community.

In-person events do have their additional challenges and that includes reducing our own environmental and social impact from hosting. From nametags to food options to zero waste, there are parts of a live event that can be decided upon with sustainability in mind.

With the Sustainability Symposium coming up on Friday, May 6th, we thought we would tell you a little bit about our efforts and what you can do to help us achieve zero waste, reduce your carbon footprint, and make this a truly sustainable event.

 

What we’re up to

Aiming for Zero waste – At the Symposium, we promise to only give out materials that can be composted, recycled, or reused. We reuse our nametags for each event, reduce paper use where possible, and provide compostable plates cups, and utensils. This year, we’re working with Bennett Compost and Bottle Underground!

Providing sustainable food options – We provide mostly vegetarian and vegan options. Choosing meat-free and dairy-free foods drastically reduces our negative impact on carbon emissions, deforestation, habitat loss, and more.

Choosing a venue – The Penn State at the Navy Yard is a low-energy intensive Living Laboratory featuring all-electric buildings with sustainability features such as green roofs, building automation systems, geothermal heat pumps, solar PVs, and more! We also prioritize venues with various low-carbon modes of transportation.

Offseting our emissions – When you’ve registered for our events, have you noticed we ask how you plan to travel? We have partnered with WGL Energy who uses this and other information to offset the emissions from our events!

 

What you can do

  • Bring a reusable water bottle
  • Use low-carbon transportation
    • Ride your own bike and use the on-site bike racks (and showers!)
    • Use RideIndego and park at one of two stations in the Navy Yard
    • Or ride the Navy Yard Shuttle from Jefferson Station
    • Or ride SEPTA’s Broad Street Line to the NRG Station and transfer to the Navy Yard Shuttle
  • Properly dispose of waste
    • Compost all organic and compostable material (food, plates, cups, utensils)
    • Recycle all paper, cardboard, metal, and plastic in the marked receptacles
    • Recycle all glass bottles in marked receptacles labeled BottleUnderground for special collection
  • Access the Symposium Program and additional information at the event via QR codes.

 

Looking forward to seeing you there!