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Green at JavaOne
Oracle is working hard to host the most sustainable conference in the world. We are making progress and know we can continue to improve with your help. Highlights of our recent efforts can be found below, or read our Sustainable Event Report (PDF) for further information.
View our Sustainable Event Report (PDF)Oracle's Commitment
- Promote zero waste. Each Oracle OpenWorld participant produced 6.7 kilograms or 14.7 pounds of waste in 2015. 67 percent of that was recycled. In fact, 15.6 trucks of event discards were kept from landfill last year. We aim to pick up the pace of reduction and recycling to reach zero waste to landfill by 2018.
- Model carbon reduction and responsibility for corporate events. Oracle is half-way to its goal of reducing onsite emissions at OpenWorld by 50 percent by 2018. 100 percent of these emissions are offset by Oracle. Thank you to attendees who also choose to offset their travel footprint. In 2015 attendees offset more than 4,778 metric tons of carbon emissions.
- Catalyze legacies to benefit host destinations. 7,776 meals were donated by event caterers from Oracle OpenWorld 2015 and provided to charities including City Impact and Food Runners. In addition, 80 percent of food was prepared within 100 miles of the San Francisco Bay area, benefitting local businesses.
- Inspire attendees through engaging sustainability experiences. JavaOne4Kids tripled in size from 2014 to 2015, growing to 450 attendees, including 150 youth underrepresented in the computer science field.
- Recognizing good green work by customers. 10 Sustainability Innovation Awards were presented at Oracle OpenWorld 2015, celebrating companies and partners who have reduced their footprint and costs through green business practices and Oracle technology.
- Oracle Giving Is Helping to Plant a Billion Trees: Oracle is giving US$1 million to help The Nature Conservancy advance its Plant a Billion Trees campaign over the next four years. Through its contribution, Oracle is helping to plant trees and protect and restore forests in the US, Brazil, and China. But it's more than that. We're helping to clean the air, reduce the impacts of climate change, improve watersheds that provide drinking water for millions of people, protect thousands of species of native plants and animals, and expand job opportunities in local communities. You can help too. For about $1, you can fund the planting of a tree.
For more information on our progress toward these goals globally, view the Sustainable Event Report (PDF). You can also learn more about sustainability at Oracle through:
Drought Response
All event participants are reminded that California is in a severe drought, with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission encouraging a variety of measures to reduce water use.
During this time you can expect conference hotels, venues, and caterers to be sensitive to wasting water by not providing water at meals unless you ask, and not pressure-washing windows and sidewalks except for health and safety reasons.
Event participants can pitch in, too. In fact, if 10,000 event participants simply did the following each day while in San Francisco, it would save enough water to overflow 15 Olympic-size swimming pools.
- Hang up their towels in their hotel room for multiday use: 52,000 gallons saved
- Choose chicken instead of beef for lunch: 10 million gallons saved
- Reuse a water bottle: 3,170 gallons saved
- Cut back shower time by one minute per shower: 84,000 gallons saved
What You Can Do
See how Oracle is helping to plant trees and restore forests around the world. You can help by contributing on the donation website. Want to learn even more? Check out the Plant a Billion Trees website.
Use a waste station. Ask the Green Team for help. And please don't put your drink container in your compostable lunch box—recycle it.
Reuse your water bottle. It takes 1.39 liters of water to produce a one-liter sized disposable water bottle.
Take advantage of the mobile event application, which reduces the amount of materials you need to carry each day.
Walk and use mass transit. Each trip taken on BART trains avoids 10 kg of carbon dioxide emissions. Visit the travel information page to prepurchase your BART passes and find helpful transit information.
Choose a carbon-conscious lunch. We're proud to offer vegetarian and lower-impact protein choices like chicken each day, all featuring the best produce the Bay Area has to offer.
Offset your travel. Your contribution of $10 to our carbon offset program when you register supports renewable energy alternatives.
Don't want your attendee materials? Ask our registration staff to designate them for donation.
Get a taste of San Francisco's local shops and restaurants while you're in the city.
Participate. Opt into a green program at your hotel, try out the San Francisco bike share, attend a sustainability-oriented session, or ask an Eco-Enterprise Award winner about their accomplishments.
Complete your event evaluation, including feedback on sustainability efforts.
Share a moment. Take a photo of your random act of green and pass it on via social media (tweet to #OOW). You may find "green" is contagious.