The Eco-Gift Expo is more than just another holiday trade show. Here you will find everything you need to make the holiday season an environmentally friendly one. But what really make this show unique are the many environmental efforts that will be going on behind the scenes. People often don't realize that the event and trade show industry is one of the most wasteful in the world. A single event can produce massive amounts of waste in just a few hours. In a few days events can produce several tons of waste, most of which will end up occupying precious little space in our landfills.

This event is different.

The Eco-Gift Expo will feature the best in environmentally friendly event management. The Eco-Gift Expo will employ among the most comprehensive resource recovery and landfill diversion programs in the nation. As part of this program, we can prevent excessive wasting even before the first booths are set. Whenever and wherever possible, waste has been eliminated through green product replacement, education to minimize excess packaging and encourage reuse, and by implementing one of the most thorough recycling and composting programs ever devised. All food concessionaires and samplers will be using 100% biodegradable service-ware products. Cups that are made from corn, flat-ware made from potatoes, and plates and bowls made from sugarcane fiber, all of which will be composted. Through these efforts we expect to divert better than 90% of the waste produced by this event from going to landfill and in the act reclaim precious resources so that they can be remade into new products or used as a nutrient rich soil amendment in local garden and farming projects.

Programs like this are becoming more common in the event industry but are still considered rare. However, every time a program this thorough is implemented, we have the opportunity to educate thousands of people about the importance and urgency of recycling and compost programs. Event greening programs like this are rare in the Los Angeles area. This show in particular will offer the people of Santa Monica an opportunity to see what a difference can be made in the environment through wise waste management.

The Eco Gift Expo Green Team is working with the Santa Monica Department of Sanitation, The Department of the Environment, and the Santa Monica City Government to make this program a success. The Department of Sanitation will be providing waste management services for recyclables, compost and organics, and landfill.

Volunteers can register to be a part of the Eco Gift Expo Green Team. This is a unique, exciting, and often misunderstood volunteer position. This is truly the most important job at the expo! This is the only position that will actually change the environmental impact of this show. There are 3 Basic positions on the Green Team Staff. 1- Resource Recovery Station Manager: Station managers serve the dual role of ensuring that attendees know what items are to be recycled and composted as well as serving to educate attendees as to some of the unique products and reasons for recycling and composting. 2- Collection Team: Collectors will work as a team to ensure that all resource recovery stations are clean and tidy, that recyclables and waste are removed when it is necessary to do so, that station managers are supplied with gloves and can liners and that all waste is brought to the Back of the House (BOH) sorting area. 3- Quality Control/BOH team: The Quality control team is placed in the BOH in order to ensure that there is no contamination of recyclable or compostable goods before they are stored for pick-up by the department of sanitation. Team members will check the contents of each bag before storing and make corrections where needed.

The purpose of the resource recovery station is to provide a "Point-Source" opportunity to collect resources before they are wasted and to educate attendees as to why this is necessary. Ideally, when things are done correctly and efficiently on the show floor, there is less to be done at the BOH. However, poor sorting on the floor could mean long hours of intense sorting in the BOH throughout the show and at closing time. It is important to stress this fact to station managers as a motivational tactic.

For the Eco-Gift Expo, Cory West will be the on-site greening manager. He will manage both front and back of the house greening operations.