Arlington, VA - Beginning January 2008 Main Event Caterers completely revamped their business practices and have invested a premium on already expensive utilities as well as alternative materials to support the environment. MEC has been awarded the 2008 Save Arlington's Valuable Resources (SAVR) Award, the 2008 Arlington Best Green Business Award, and is a 2008 Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE) Business Champion.

According to the EPA's Green Power Partnership, Main Event Caterers was the first caterer in the DC Metro area to go Green. Their purchase of wind energy credits offsets about 358,400 lbs. of the chief greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2). This is equal to planting 24,380 trees or taking 24 cars off the road. In addition, they have purchased carbon credits to offset the pollution from their delivery vehicles as well as their employees' personal vehicles for their daily commute.

In addition to the initiatives listed below, MEC is the first caterer in the metro D.C. area to begin development of a geo-thermal system to heat and cool their potable water. And, they have chosen a website host that runs on solar energy and uses Opteron powered IBM servers that use 60% less energy & generate 50% less heat.

• Purchased 256,000 kilowatt-hours (KWh's) of Green-E certified national wind energy credits to cover 100% of their annual electricity usage
• Purchased 45 metric tons of carbon credits to offset 100% of carbon emissions from their fleet of delivery vehicles & employee commuter vehicle miles
• Installed rooftop sunlight concentrators to channel light into offices and warehouse thus reducing their electricity usage
• Replaced all non-compostable disposables (plastics) with alternative disposables made from Corn, Palm, Balsa and Bagasse. These revolutionary compostable products will biodegrade within several months
• Implemented a thorough recycling program including plastics, glass, metals, cardboard, & office paper - this includes all offsite events as well as in-house production
• The majority of MEC's organic waste from food preparation is composted locally
• Above efforts have reduced landfill contribution by an estimated 70%
• MEC is enrolled in the EPA's Green Power Partnership
• Works with clients to plan and execute a green event - from the way guests are invited, to transportation, to eco-friendly sites, to natural, sustainable foods as well as 100% raw menus requiring no energy to create.
• Partners with natural producers to directly obtain an amazing selection of heritage breeds and sustainable seafood and makes these cuts available to customers for a naturally connected experience.

"The hospitality industry consumes an incredible amount of energy and creates an amazing amount of waste. This reality forced Main Event Caterers (MEC) to investigate ways to mitigate the effect on the world. MEC hopes other businesses in the hospitality industry will take their lead and begin instituting some of the same practices. In an industry with a notoriously low profit margin and an average work week of 70 hours, it takes a huge commitment to do so." Nancy Goodman, Executive Vice President and Co-Owner.