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.