Coconut palm, MANTS show floor
[For my coverage of MANTS 2014, see
"The Masterpiece of Trade Shows™"]
[
Update: In response to my comment about an apparent lack of recycling bins, I received
this comment from Kelly Finney, Event Manager for MANTS: "The Baltimore
Convention Center has a single stream trash program, so
they have a combination of containers for mixed use and also for
separating. At the end of the show on Friday, I actually met a couple
of the guys who sort the trash... talk about a thankless job. The
convention center has compactor, baler, compost program, pallet
recycling and the disposable utensils are primarily corn plastic. Here
is more from their website about their green initiatives:
Green Matters" Many thanks to Kelly for the additional information!]
"Overwhelming" was the word I found myself using more than once to describe
MANTS, the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show held last week in Baltimore, Maryland. Now in its 45th year, MANTS occupies the Baltimore Convention Center for 3 days every January. Drawing nearly 1,000 exhibitors and
more than 10,000 attendees, and filling the entire convention center floor, this is one of the biggest trade shows of its kind, attended by a
huge cross-section of the horticulture industry, and a major event on the horticultural calendar. I spent all day Thursday at MANTS and was only able to scratch the surface. By the end of the day I was exhausted, but in the best possible way. This was exactly what I needed in mid-winter: coming just when my gardening spirits are at their lowest, the event was like a euphoric and exhilarating drug that really helped pull me out of the
winter blahs!
