Choosing to recycle in the workplace as a business is a great idea, not only is it good for your company and the environment, but it is also great for your bank balance!
While you may have decided to actively recycle more waste, you will also have to encourage your staff to do the same, and unfortunately, it’s very common for many of us to be less diligent at work when it comes to separating and sorting our waste. So how do you encourage your staff to recycle?
Here are some tips to support and increase your office recycling:
Start small
When going green, you have many impressive ideas in your mind on how to reduce waste and cut back on expenses while improving the environment. But, even with the financial muscle to actualise your dream, you should start small.
It’s going to be a new culture for the office and the employees and you need to give everyone time to catch up with the new requirements and sustain it.
By starting small, you reduce the pressure on your employees and give them a chance to embrace the idea. Start with no brainers like duplex printing. This will not only halve paper consumption but it doesn’t need any additional resources to carry out.
You can also initiate pull printing at the office to reduce printing volumes and make sure any work sent to the printer is collected and useful.
Cut back on the take out coffee cups
It’s impossible to get employees to give up their morning coffee, but you can do something about the take out coffee cups. Think of the number of cups that are tossed in the waste bin daily.
Replace the takeout coffee cups with reusable mugs and water bottles. This little change will drastically reduce the number of cups and plastic bottles filling up the system. Therefore, this will also help to cut back on expenses around the office.
Post reminders about Recycling in the Office
With so much going around the office, it’s easy for a few notes to slip through the fingers around the office. Make sure you have plenty of reminders to keep everyone on their toes about the new changes.
Have stickers close to the switches to remind people to switch off the lights and electronics once they finish using them and at key points and send out email blasts to remind the employees of the recycling goals and the different methods you’re using to help increase recycling around the office.
Reduce the waste coming into the office
One of the key parts of recycling is reduction. You can reduce a lot of things around the office. From the consumption of power by switching off electronics and lights that are not in use to making sure the taps are not dripping.
You can also make your vendors aware of your recycling program and encourage them to only bring recyclable or compostable items to the office. If you can control consumption and what is coming into the facility, you can greatly reduce what goes into a landfill because your waste is recyclable.
Have centralised recycling bins
To get the best effects, take away individual bins and have centralised recycling bins. By having bins in convenient locations, the employees have to sort out their trash. In the process, they become more away from what they are throwing away as opposed to just chucking it into a bin at the end of the desk.
This method also allows the employees to learn to sort out the waste properly and understand what goes where to prevent stream contamination.
