office sustainability

Bored? Hold an Office Community Kitchen Clean Out

color_pencilsMove the culture of your office towards waste reduction by gathering forces to get rid of the mess in the kitchen. (Including all the tiny over packaged bits of salt, sugar and sweet and low.) Chuck the plastic stirrers and spoons, take the paper cup holder off the water cooler or better yet set the water cooler in the hall.

Take this great opportunity for the office to create a more fun-ctional culture within the building. Ask team members to think of ways to replace throw away items. (seems backwards to throw out the plastic spoons unused? Better to cut the cord and chuck the "throw aways" once and change the protocol than to continually replenish your supply and chuck thousands a year.)
Ask team members to come into the kitchen open the cabinets and talk about what they use, need and what they are hoarding. What ancient dairy like product lurks in the back of the top cabinet in case Dunkin Doughnuts forgets to send the tiny creamers? How can they replace these items with something more beautiful that wastes less.
Have some members work on ordering real plates, others select silverware, glasses, fun sponges, decorations, make the office kitchen a place where team members are nourished in more than a physical way.
Ask members to try out different earth friendly cleaners and vote for their favorite to use at the office.
Have a funky mug contest, ask members to bring in their funkiest reusable mug give prizes to the funniest, funkiest, biggest, most beautiful, smallest and most functional.
Have another contest to see who bring in the smallest amount of throw away stuff in a week. Everyone uses only their own garbage can, suspend garbage pick up for the week and see who's can is emptiest on Friday.
Using a sugar shaker rather than a thousand small packets, replacing syrofoa cups with reusable mugs and washing plates instead of tossing them may seem like a small things, they are, small things build culture, like shaking hands, saying please and thank you and holding the doors for each other to enter. Once you start a ball like this rolling it will get a life of it's own, soon team members will be coming to you with their own ideas about how to save money, energy, and time.
 

Sustainability in The Office Setting

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Sustainability, the concept of using fewer resources and polluting less to be productive while saving our natural resources, is thought to apply only to “those big polluting manufacturers.” Well, that’s not really true. While we poke fun at offices thanks to the brilliant TV comedy of the same name, any office or store, big or small, can make sustainability gains to save resources and also save money and expenses and motivate personnel.


 

Here is a list of common environmental concerns in an office setting:


  • Printing of needless documents or excess copies, resulting in increased waste
  • Leaving lights on
  • Not recycling excess paper or other waste
  • Inappropriate climate control or setting of thermostats
  • Excessive use of paper products, like cups, plates, etc.
  • Coworkers not printing double-sided when they can
  • Having to store paper copies of documents when they already exist electronically
  • Not powering down computers when going home


These are legitimate concerns and all can be addressed in an office. Many of these concerns can be effectively addressed with conservation. You and your co-workers need to ask yourselves of whether the light bulb, computer, or other device really needs to be on all the time or at the end of the day or during lunch. You can begin an office culture that it’s important to turn off unnecessary devices. This can provide your company with best savings, going from on to completely off. While lights are obvious to turn off, appliances, computers and other equipment use power even in “sleep” mode. Therefore, if feasible, develop procedures to turn them off, too.
 

Another approach can be use of simple software or technology. Yes, it means an initial investment to purchase and train on the software, but will pay you back if used properly. For example, there are software products with print management capabilities. Such software can manipulate printer commands to significantly lessen ink jet or toner usage. While printers are fairly inexpensive, businesses are learning that the costs of replacing toner and ink jet cartridges are more significant. Printers can also be set to automatically perform double-side copying. Not only will this reduce paper use and cost, but this will also reduce shipping costs and the recipients of your reports will probably be happier to lug around lighter documents and reduce the necessary storage.
 

Forming an office “team” can effectively reduce expenses and, at the same time, engender company spirit and loyalty and a sense of accomplishment.

 
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