Every year, the bright minds of Pizza Hut converge from all over the country to discuss where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. Historically, we’ve handed out piles of paper and stuffed lanyards til attendees have visible lines digging into their skin. It’s enough to make the forests weep. According to ecology.com, in the last 40 years, world consumption of paper has increased 400%.

So, this year, we switched it up. We went all digital. Though our internal conference has rocked a digital app since 2013, paper has always infiltrated conference proceedings in the form of PowerPoint printouts, lessons learned worksheets, and meeting schedules. Instead of using excess paper this year, Pizza Hut drastically minimized the amount of paper by driving app downloads. The digital app included all information you could possibly need: the daily agenda, networking, maps, speaker information, everything readily accessible on attendees’ phones. Converting to a near paperless event was a mind shift for some attendees, but surprisingly, our post conference survey showed that over three quarters of attendees were happy with the shift.

Driving digital at our conference is about more than being a dynamic and engaging brand, it’s about being a responsible, environmentally friendly brand. It’s just one step in my goal to become a greener, more sustainable company. I’ll be continuing to lead that effort with the Green Team, a group of like-minded, environmentally conscious individuals here at our headquarters in Plano. The Green Team’s mission is to integrate sustainability into everyday life by educating and driving environmentally friendly actions at the CORE and in our community. For now, I’m proud to have led the app integration and simultaneously saved a few trees.