We're trying to get our arms around lots of different Green options, but we're having trouble focusing our efforts. Is there one, primary goal we should prioritize over others?

Yes. It's an idea that I discovered by experimenting. Later, when I talked to energy experts, I discovered why it works so well. It's so helpful, in fact, that it became a central theme in The Green Edge.

Dripping Wet
Here's the essential fact: Our businesses are dripping with waste.

Have you ever stepped out of the shower and discovered that the bath mat was saturated? Think of that water as waste: wasted energy, raw materials, and dollars.

It's true everywhere. The building you work in probably isn't very energy efficient because it was cheaper to build it this way. An efficient building would have cost more in a competitive market. Since energy is relatively cheap, nobody complains. We just shoulder the costs; it's business as usual.

You see it at shows too. On-time performance is always a top priority. Nobody keeps their jobs if booths aren't ready on time. So the industry is organized around on-time performance.

We use high quality, virgin material to reduce shop hours; and we replace things before wearing them out. We pack exhibits loosely into crates to minimize damage, which puts more trucks on the road. We pay airfreight to meet deadlines. And we over- rather than under-staff events.

Just Wring Out the Waste
It's a reliable scheme, but it's expensive. Waste costs money. As some exhibitors are learning, it's money they don't need to spend.

One company started reusing properties at twice the average rate, and they slashed their show budgets almost in half. Reconfiguring and refinishing exhibits costs them a lot less than new construction.

Are you still distributing literature at shows? Since the vast majority of it goes into the trash before anybody heads home, think about what each piece really costs.

Do you build fixtures that leave odd-sized scraps behind? You pay for them, but they usually get thrown away. It's cheaper to design around the dimensions of raw materials.

Are you caught in a last minute scramble to get graphics and properties to shows? Try adding up the costs of overtime, airfreight, and drayage at premium rates.

Do you participate in shows that don't attract your key audiences? Going too big, or going to the wrong events, is wasteful.

How well does your booth present your brand? Does it attract customers? Can you work the show efficiently? Or does it just sit there? Lackluster design is terribly inefficient.

Are you shipping exhibits back and forth from shop to show? Could you route some of them from one show to another directly? Extra miles are costly and wasteful.

The unfortunate thing about waste is that we take it for granted and pay for it everywhere. The silver lining is that you can find opportunities to save money in just as many places.

Imagine that your dripping bathmat is the exhibit program. Going Green can be as simple as giving it a twist and wringing out the waste. It's a simple idea. You'll find that your program, like your bathmat, works much better for you when you do. E