Are You Building a Wall of Waste? Seventeen Ways to Be Environmentally Friendly, Now!
Have you given any thought to that piece of paper that got jammed in your printer this morning, and all crinkled up? Or what about the letter you re-typed because there was a comma in the wrong place? Chances are you haven’t, and you are not alone. But here’s a little statistic that might make you give it another thought. According to the website earth911.org, Americans toss out enough paper in a single year to build a wall, 12′ high, all the way from New York to Los Angeles. That is a lot of wasted trees.
There is no doubt to anyone that recycling is necessary. Even though we don’t like to think about it, we should all acknowledge that we have a landfill problem in this country. And it’s really not just paper. Think about it – glass, plastic, steel, broken computers, whatever. Where’s it going to end up?
But where can you possibly start? Fortunately, there are many earth conscious organizations that are anxious to share their information with you and your business. They will be able to tell you the numerous ways to help our environment through recycling. Among them, you will find these seventeen basic ideas that you can use immediately to be environmentally friendly.
1. Be a part of the solution. Build on the idea that recycling is beneficial to you, your employees, and your business.
2. Share your positive thoughts with co-workers, and encourage them to ‘get on board’.
3. Appoint a “go-to” person. Pick someone who shares your attitude about recycling and designate that person as the recycling coordinator.
4. Look around for a business of your size that is successful at recycling. Ask how they implement their program. They will probably be excited to share their information.
5. Set realistic objectives for your program and encourage goal setting among your staff.
6. Be informed and inform others. List the items that can be recycled and post the list in several places throughout the office.
7. Educate your staff on the importance of recycling and make it the rule.
8. Have a collection plan and guidelines. Designate specific areas for placement of recyclables.
9. Make it easy. Recycle bins should be more available than garbage cans.
10. Make plans for removal. If your garbage company doesn’t have this information, you can find it in your City offices.
11. Arrange a kick-off day. Maybe even have a party. If you are enthusiastic, you will gain more support from others.
12. Continuously encourage implementation of the plan. Eventually, it will “just be the way we do things”.
13. Set up incentives for employees. Your business will save money if people are more cautious with resources. Share the wealth!
14. As with anything else, the program must be monitored to ensure continued success.
15. Set high goals. If you began with just paper, add bins for plastic and cans.
16. Make it public knowledge. Your employees should know that their efforts are successful. Talk to your local Chamber of Commerce to see if they acknowledge recycling companies in their newsletters.
17. Perpetuate the Solution. Be a green consumer. BUY only recycled products.
It is always a good time to start a good habit. If you show two people and they show another two people, in no time everybody will be recycling. Act now.
