If you are recycling items in your household, then you are probably aware of how important it is. We, as a nation, have an enormous problem with waste and a lot of it is disposed of in landfills, streets and other inappropriate places. You probably want to do more. Have you ever considered starting a recycling program in your office? If you are tired of seeing your colleagues throwing all kinds of trash together in one bin, there are ways to change that. Maybe you are bothered by the idea that the cans and plastic cups go together in the trash bin with fruit waste, knowing cans or cups can be recycled. Whichever the reason, if you have an opportunity to make a change and influence others to make right decisions and save our environment, then do it.
You can encourage your boss and your co-workers to embrace the recycling program by pointing out important facts about waste removal, our Mother Nature and our survival generally. Following are few tips that will help you turn your ideas into some real action. It is essential that you work as a team and understand that these changes have so many benefits. They will learn to accept the changes in time.
List the benefits for the company
The most important step in implementing recycling program in your office is convincing the management of the company. Without their support, there isn’t much you can do, except focusing on your own trash and its disposal. The smartest way to convince them is to list all the benefits recycling offers, not only for general well-being but also for the company itself. You can show them the advantages and benefits for the company. You can point out on some crucial benefits such as:
- protecting environment
If you decide to recycle, you will decrease ten types of air pollutants and eight types of water pollutants. Not to mention reducing the disposal of toxic office equipment in the landfills
- enhanced company image
Customers love to do business with companies that show responsibility. Recycling efforts may increase customer loyalty and also boost employee morale. Some of them will make more effort when recycling is concerned at their homes.
- saving money
Less waste means that the company will spend less money. Recycling means less trash bills.
Maybe someone of your colleagues would like to lead the recycling program if you are not interested or enough enthusiastic about being in charge. Discuss this matter and decide who the right choice is.
How much waste does your company produce?
Before you start, you need to make sure you know how much waste your company produces. Also, you need to know what type of waste is dominant. All you need to do is to walk through the offices, kitchen, cantina, etc., and determine what sort of waste you are producing and what kind of material is in the growing presence. After this step is completed, you need to figure out how to dispose of the waste properly. You need to contact rubbish removal companies or just check whether the current one provides recycling services. If not, there are a lot of professional companies that collect waste meant for recycling. Do a little research, compare prices, read testimonials and hire the one you consider will meet your company’ needs and requirements.
Where to start?
Once you start the recycling program, you might not know what to do first and what to focus on for starters. First of all, you need to know what items can be recycled in the office:
- paper and cardboard boxes
- packaging
- plastic cups
- IT equipment
- printer cartridges
- computers, etc.
Now, it would be smart to start with a paper waste. This is probably the waste your company generates in bulk. Paper and cardboard boxes are easy to recycle so start with it. Then, you can continue with glass, or plastic, until you eventually complete all the recyclables from the list. Taking one type of waste to recycle instead of focusing on multiple will enable you to deal with the issues that might occur during the process. You will learn by time how to handle issues that might come up and you can start multitasking if that becomes more convenient for you.
Inform and educate your co-workers
In order to successfully implement recycling program in your office, it is necessary that each and every employee knows about the program and other information related to proper waste management. They need to know how important recycling is, how a proper rubbish removal concern us all, how our future generation depend on our behaviour, and other issues. You can arrange monthly meetings to educate your co-workers, where you can discuss recycling, waste, pollution, etc. In addition, you can print some layouts and newsletters to share information but sending emails or posting content on the company’s site is perhaps the best solution, mainly because of preventing more paper waste. Also, recycle bins should be distributed throughout the building. All should be labelled and placed in the places that are most convenient for people, for example, next to trash cans. Don’t forget to label them so that everyone can identify what each bin is for. Find out more about recycling:
Recycling in the office is a unique opportunity for companies to show that they are able to think green and that they are environmentally aware. Recycling is easy and doesn’t take much time or effort but the results are so important that their value cannot be measured. Humans must take action and think green in order to save natural resources, ensure proper rubbish removal and ensure the healthy surroundings for the future generations. We spend at least eight hours at work. What we do in those offices concerns our environment. So do your part there too. Introducing recycling you are helping environment, creating a nicer community and creating an image that ensures happy customers.
