2008 JavaOne Conference: Making JavaOne More Environmentally Responsible

Every year the JavaOne conference program team strives to make the event "greener" than the year before, and this year's Conference is no exception. By collaborating with attendees and the Moscone Center in San Francisco, we've been able to make the JavaOne conference our most environmentally friendly event to date.

In addition to our ongoing efforts to reduce waste at the Conference, we've taken several steps to encourage our customers and partners to become more environmentally responsible. For example, this year, the common areas within the JavaOne conference will feature Interface carpet. The Interface carpet company is well-known for its recycling efforts. The company uses recycled paper for its carpet backing and eliminates many of the common chemicals used to produce its carpeting.

Last year, we gave our partners the opportunity to bring their own booth, encouraging the reuse of their existing booth properties. Seven vendors took advantage of this opportunity and reused their booth properties. We made the same offer to our 2008 vendors and have had over 45 partners return to the 2008 event, some with the same booth properties they used in 2007, eliminating a tremendous amount of waste while saving money.

Paper waste can be a huge concern at every conference, which typically features direct-mail campaigns advertising the conferences, as well as guides and promotional materials at the conference itself.

This year, the JavaOne conference eliminated all print advertising materials, replacing these with email invitations and online content. What's more, Sun is reducing the amount of printed materials in its booth and ensuring that the official Conference guide and other necessary printed items are produced on recycled paper with soy-based inks and are recycled or reused whenever possible.

Reducing paper waste may seem like a logical and small action, but consider the environmental savings of eliminating just one traditionally printed direct-mail piece.We estimated the following environmental impact, using the Environmental Defense Fund paper calculator. Assume that one piece of direct mail is equivalent to 2.5 pages of 0% recycled-content copy paper.

• Total paper saved = 4.63 tons
  
  
• Greenhouse gases reduced (CO₂ equivalents) = 13 tons (26,297 lbs.)
  
  
• Reduction in wood use = 13 tons
  
  
• Number of trees saved (assuming one tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets) = 111
  
  
• Reduction in wastewater and associated water pollution = 78,616 gallons (equivalent to 838K cans of soda)
  
  
• Reduction in solid waste sent to landfill = 5.1 tons
  
  

Sun is continuing the Bike to JavaOne program that it successfully launched in 2006 and has expanded the program hours and biking options for attendees. Bike to JavaOne promotes eco responsibility outside the Conference walls by encouraging employees, customers, and partners to bike to the event.

This year, Sun has again partnered with the San Francisco Bike Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation, to offer a free bike-valet service in front of the Moscone Center South Hall, available Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. In addition to keeping bikes safe while you enjoy the JavaOne conference, Bike Coalition staffers will give riders free advice on how to keep their cycles in top shape and ride the streets of San Francisco safely.

One of the biggest pollution problems for large conferences like JavaOne is energy use at the venue itself. With Sun's help, the Moscone Center will be implementing several programs to reduce waste and increase energy efficiency at the event. For example, to reduce food waste, the Conference will be composting, providing biodegradable food-services packaging, and donating unused food to local charities.

A leader in energy efficiency, the Moscone Center has a roof that houses one of the nation's largest municipally owned solar-generation installations. Mechanical air-control systems at the Conference will enable energy-efficient heating and cooling, and the facility is committed to using energy-efficient lights.

Learn more about Sun's environmental efforts beyond the JavaOne conference on the Sun Eco Responsibility site.