More than 800 opinionleaders from around the world attended the TED Global Conference. Sustainable issues are an intergral part of the lecture program. But how ,green‘ is the TED event itself?

A positive feature is that a large part of the catering and many of the snacks offered during the conference are based on organic ingredients by now. Of course, waste separation is mandatory here. The TEDsters are requested not to use cups for drinking water, but to reuse their TED bottles. This year, apart from some technical stuff, the very popular "goodie bag" that each participant gets, contained a high-quality sports polo from Icebreaker that was made of pure merino wool. It carries conviction, not only as a very potent natural product, but also through its highly sustainable manufacturing process. The sewn-in "Baa code" allows the user to trace back a T-shirt to the respective merino farm from whence it came.

What comes as a negative surprise regarding an event as innovative and awareness-raising as this one, is that there is no option for the participants to carbon-neutralize the journey and attendance. Also, the choice of sponsors is to be considered as quite hearty: A company such as Shell as the main sponsor does not quite set a sustainable example. Plastic-laminated passes for participants, the ubiquitous Coca Cola products and tons of conventionally printed papers still show a significant lack of sustainable consistence. There‘s more to it than that, TEDsters!