Expect to see more green in San Francisco...
Posted December 3, 2008

Materials scientists, engineers, educational professionals, and others attending the TMS 2009 Annual Meeting can expect to see green in San Francisco. As TMS continues to make strides to eliminate waste, recycle, and conserve energy, additional initiatives have been planned to ensure TMS 2009 continues to grow greener. Among those initiatives are:

• Advanced registration is completely electronic. No printed forms were mailed to members.
• The final technical program will be available as a PDF download on the TMS 2009 Annual Meeting homepage and electronically through the TMS Personal Conference Scheduler. A printed final program will be available at the conference.
• Collected proceedings will be on a CD-ROM.
• TMS has replaced plastic bags received at registration with reusable canvas bags for full-conference attendees.
• Recycling containers will be placed throughout the convention center for bottles, cans, and paper.
• The on-site Today newsletter will be available electronically only.
• Recycling containers will be available at the close of the meeting for attendees to recycle their badge holders and final programs.
• Shuttles have been eliminated because of all hotels being within walking distance to the convention center.
• The Hands On Bay Area community service project on February 14, 2009, will bring volunteers together to plant an organic garden for less fortunate Bay Area families.
• The Materials and Society technical symposia addresses energy, environmental, and sustainable issues.

In addition to the efforts TMS is taking to ensure a green conference, the facilities and professional businesses that TMS has chosen to work with also are taking steps to ensure the Annual Meeting is green. The Moscone West Convention Center has been recycling for 10 years and targets many materials, including foam signage, vinyl banners, cardboard, broken wooden pallets, and scrap metal.

The TMS headquarters hotel, the San Francisco Marriott, donates more than 30,000 pounds of food leftovers annually to local nonprofit organizations. In addition, Freeman, the TMS exhibition management firm, uses table-top plastic that contains 20-to-40 percent recycled content.

For more information on the green initiatives that TMS plans to take at the Annual Meeting, visit Go Green!

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