New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) The sheer greenness of the event was almost startling. Whether it was the decor or the attire that both men and women wore, green was definitely the colour of the day when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to the ITC Green Centre Sunday.
Even the refreshments served were as eco-friendly as possible!

Dressed in a turquoise blue suit and wearing a simple gold and platinum chain around her neck which had a small blue pendant, Clinton came straight to the ITC Green Centre after she flew down from Mumbai post a 36-hour stay in the financial capital.

As she stepped out of her car, Clinton was welcomed by girls dressed in traditional Indian attire even as a the music of the shehnai played in the backdrop. She was then garlanded by women dressed in green saris who escorted her into the entrance of the building.

After she had a look of the building and its many green features and then met Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh in a closed door meeting, Clinton, accompanied by Ramesh and the special envoy on climate change, Todd Stern, took the stage to talk on climate change.

Sitting on chairs with green covers, most of the audience listening to Clinton were dressed in green. From saris and salwar suits to even neck ties, everyone sported the colour in some way or the other.

What more, all the refreshments served - cookies, sandwiches, chocolate mousse and tulsi iced tea - had ingredients that were produced within 100 km radius of Delhi, “thereby minimalising transportation, encouraging local produce, motivating farmers and retaining freshness of the ingredients,” according to an ITC official.

“This initiative thus ensures that we neutralised our carbon footprint,” an ITC official said.

All praises for the greenness of the ITC Green Centre, Clinton said: “If all new buildings were designed in the same standards as the ITC Green Centre is, we could eventually cut global energy use and green house pollution by more than 20 percent and save money at the same time”.