Kate McDermott 2023-12-11 13:35:53
Make sustainability a priority when planning your next meeting or event. These Chicago hotels, venues, and caterers are low waste and high style. HOTELS At Green Seal Silver-certified Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, rooms are stocked with vegan and cruelty-free amenities and offer in-room recycling. An electronic newspaper app keeps guests informed without paper waste. Behind the scenes, high-efficiency water pumps and laundry minimize energy and water use. And complimentary bicycles let guests tour the city the green way. A 1928 bank building found new life as LEED Gold-certified Virgin Hotels Chicago. Smart thermostats and occupancy sensors conserve energy in empty rooms. Choose to Green Your Stay when booking and commit $1 per night to carbon credits from the Katingan Mentaya Project. Reserve Cerise Rooftop on the 26th floor for cocktails on the wraparound deck with spectacular city views. Winner of the prestigious Governor’s Sustainability Award, Hilton Chicago turned a 1927 property into a state-of-the-art green hotel. Hotel-wide recycling, food composting, and low-water fixtures reduce waste. A rooftop container garden grows fresh veggies and herbs for on-site restaurants, with supplemental produce sourced from local farmers. VENUES The largest convention center in North America may also be the greenest. McCormick Place holds all the top sustainability certifications, thanks to its comprehensive waste diversion and water conservation practices. Additionally, the Midwest’s largest rooftop garden sits atop the McCormick Place West Building and embodies its commitment to sustainable operations. Home to nearly 100 different varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, edible flowers, perennials, native prairie flowers, a small orchard, 20,000 honeybees, butterflies, and worms, the garden yields 8,000+ pounds of seasonal, farm-fresh produce every year. This bounty is used in McCormick Place food and beverage operations and is shared with their neighbors. Smaller groups can enjoy a private dinner at Big Delicious Planet Urban Farm. A profusion of colorful produce springs from 77 raised garden beds, from purple carrots to a rainbow of tomatoes. Enjoy a seasonal, farm-to-table menu from their 4-Star Certified Green Restaurant. Schedule a beekeeping or floral arranging workshop for creative team building. Get inspired at Greenhouse Loft. Designed with reclaimed materials, this urban space mixes old and new. Walls of energy-efficient windows let natural light stream in while regulating temperatures. Located inside the LEED Platinum-certified Green Exchange building, this space is eco-friendly without sacrificing style. CATERERS Considered the first green caterer in Chicago, woman-founded Limelight Catering has been a sustainability pioneer since 1990. An ecofriendly dishwashing system helps to keep energy use low. And the food is fantastic, with farm-fresh ingredients and inventive plating techniques for memorable photos. Green Seal-certified Food for Thought Catering Group participates in an impressive array of sustainability initiatives. Their menus offer vegetable-forward dishes, as well as proteins like cage-free eggs and ethically sourced seafood. They compost, recycle, and upcycle their cooking oil into biodiesel. Venue Mae District is under the same ownership, with beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces in historic Motor Row. Blue Plate Catering was the first Certified Green Caterer designated by the Green Restaurant Association. Local produce and dairy are a major focus, with 60% sourced from vendors within 100 miles during peak growing season. The company minimizes disposable products, but what paper they do use is Green Seal-certified. This ethos extends to their venue Larkin Hall, with temperature-controlled kitchens and on-site composting. The Paramount Group offers event and catering services with a focus on sustainability and is certified by the Green Restaurant Association. Its campus in the Avondale neighborhood includes Eden restaurant, which serves seasonal dishes made with vegetables and herbs grown in its own greenhouse and features an outdoor patio.
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