As an organization that cares about the environment and protecting the habitats that support wildlife, we are concerned about the impact we make in the course of providing this festival. We also are struggling with the growing problem of our economic times and being able to provide the best experience we can while keeping costs low so that participants can continue to enjoy and afford the events. In living up to our principles and our name (Verde meaning green in Spanish), we want to explain what we are doing, and what we are working towards, to meet this challenge. We all realize we can’t do everything we would like to do to minimize our impact, but we do the best we can, whenever we can.

Shade Grown Coffee
We have always provided shade grown or bird friendly coffee at all our venues thanks to the support of community business like New Frontier’s Natural Foods.

Organic Foods?
We do try to provide nourishing snacks and lunches. Health department rules mandate that we offer pre-packaged foods at the hospitality booth (The Aviary). We ask our providers to use organic products whenever possible and we look for organic snacks. But again, we try to keep your cost down so we often have to compromise. Beware that the desserts at the Keynote Reception are decadent and no holds are barred when it comes to calories, but we deserve it.

Transportation
By providing transportation to the sites in vans we lessen the impact on the sites by have only one or two vehicles instead of individuals driving and parking their own vehicles. Gee, I wish they ran on hydrogen, but that day is not here yet.

Recycling
We provide recycling bins at the event site and separate bags for trash and recyclables on the field trips. It’s up to the participants to use the receptacles appropriately. We personally take the plastic bottles into the recyclers. We also recycle all outdated printed material.

Water bottles
We have been asked why we provide water in plastic bottles. It is strictly a health issue. We want to be sure everyone has adequate water when on a field trip. Some visitors are not prepared for our Arizona dryness and heat. We could simply provide a large water jug at The Aviary that everyone could use to fill his or her own personal water bottle. We don’t feel that it would be as sanitary or convenient although it would be cheaper for us and more Earth-friendly.
What do you think?

Welcome Packets
We used to give Welcome Packets filled with information. Now we ask the participants to select the handouts they are interested in. This has made a large impact on the amount of paper used.

Registering on-line:
Registering on-line is the fastest, easiest, safest way to get those trips you want. The trip openings are in real time and you can see immediately if there is room for you and other members of your party. The registration information goes directly to a private server just like with a secure site. We personally check for accuracy before any transaction is made, then your CC number is deleted.

Printing
Here in lies a problem that we are currently trying to solve. We use recycled paper whenever possible when we print, but it’s not always available. It is especially difficult when it comes to our booklet. We are very proud of the contents and look of the booklet and have received many compliments on it. It is expensive to produce and to mail. We have not been able to have it printed on recycled paper.

The best-case scenario would be not to have a printed booklet at all. We have a web site that is improving every year. As more people become computer literate, we hope that more people will choose it as their preferred method of finding information about the festival and for registering for their favorite events. But not everyone has access to the web. People also like to have a booklet that they can share and carry with them.

Right now we keep participant information for three years. The booklet is mailed to everyone on that list plus those who have requested information. We also have all the information that’s in the booklet on the web site. Once the booklet is printed, we cannot make any changes or additions. The web site can be kept up to date with any additions, cancellations or corrections. The booklet costs about $4 to produce plus mailing costs. Think of all the resources it uses!

We would love to eliminate the booklet altogether. We are looking at ways to solve this dilemma. We have developed a short survey for you to help us make decisions. Please take a little time to help us out and tell us how you feel. We value your input.