And let's be honest: A lot of shows are pretty quiet when it comes to going Green. Put yourself in a show organizer's seat for a moment and you'll see why. You, the organizer, have to compete with other shows to attract exhibitors and attendees. Some organizers express concern that adding Green requirements might turn potential exhibitors away.

Would you opt out of a good show because of its Green guidelines? I doubt it. In fact, one pioneering show, the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, has proven that exhibitors will get in line to opt in, even when Green guidelines become mandatory requirements.

But "compliance" is now the name of the game. Those helpful guidelines became the Greenbuild Mandatory Exhibitor Green Guidelines (GMEGG). Notice the word "mandatory." Show management audits about 10 percent of exhibitors on the show floor to ensure compliance.

The rules are not especially difficult for exhibitors to follow. More importantly, Greenbuild's organizers took a savvy, stepwise approached to building support. The lesson seems to be that if you have a show that exhibitors want to attend, adopting Green exhibiting standards should not be a problem.

Based on the GMEGG, the APEX/ASTM and other reputable sources, the guidelines seem to emphasize five things:

• 1. Upgrade lighting, electronics, and electrical equipment to EPA Energy Star options.
• 2. Reuse exhibit properties, flooring, and graphics – no one-time-use exhibits are allowed.
• 3. Ship via EPA SmartWay shippers whenever possible.
• 4. Minimize packing materials, printed collateral, and other on-site waste products.
• 5. Eliminate glues and paints that emit toxic "volatile organic compounds."

One is the use of Greener materials for booth construction, such as certified-sustainable lumber, recycled metals and plastics, and so forth. These would be excellent additions, but they are difficult to capture in just a few words.

In addition, the environmental impact of your materials choices only occurs once – when you build a new booth – whereas each of the other guidelines comes into play each and every time you attend a show. It makes sense that guidelines target recurring impacts event after event.

The other missing piece involves air travel. From a pollution and resource conservation perspective, air travel is the single largest piece of an exhibitor's environmental footprint. Unfortunately, limiting the number of people who travel to shows can be difficult.

The APEX/ASTM Sustainable Meeting Standards offer a pathway for show organizers who want to have their events certified by a third party. These standards are still fairly new, but you might hear more about them as they gain traction.

The bottom line is that you – an exhibitor – are asking for exactly what the industry needs. A uniform set of guiding principles would simplify everyone's lives. The industry isn't there yet, of course. But Greenbuild proves that exhibitors will not turn away from quality shows that introduce and enforce Green standards.