Have you ever sat down to think about how much waste you produce as an organization? Well, you should. Despite having only 4% of the global population, the U.S. produces 30% of the world’s waste. And this waste comes from both homes and businesses.
Every American produces an average of 1,704 pounds of waste. Multiply that by the number of people working in your organization to get a rough idea of how much waste your organization is responsible for generating.
You, however, can encourage your employees to embrace recycling. That will reduce the amount of waste you generate that usually ends up in landfills where it produces greenhouse emissions to destroy the environment. Here are some strategies you can use to get started:
1. Install centralized office recycling bins
Think about installing transparent office recycling bins for all departments of your organization. Instead of buying the smaller waste bins, buy large labeled bins. Then install these in centralized locations. The goal is to force your employees to sort out their own trash before throwing it in the right bin.
When they do this, they will be forced to think about just how much waste they are generating. This will make them rethink some of their purchases in the future.
2. Buy office coffee makers and reusable coffee mugs
Most Americans are addicted to coffee, without which they may not be able to function well. But have you thought about the impact of the single-use cups many of your employees like to buy? Then you should.
Studies show that the average American worker uses 500 coffee cups. Most of these end up in the landfills. If you want to make reusing and recycling part of your corporate social responsibility agenda, then think about gifting all your coffee addict employees with reusable coffee cups or mugs.
And buy one or more coffee makers while you are at it. That makes people more likely to quit buying coffee that is usually in disposable cups since they can make it as strong as they like right in the office. And you would have helped reduce the amount of plastic or paper waste that you generate.
3. Install company sinks
If you spend time telling people to use reusable dishes and cups to eat and drink their coffee, then you need to make it convenient for them to do so. Installing company sinks and including dish soap is a good step. It enables those who like to keep things clean to wash their mugs and food dishes after they are done drinking or eating. Then they don’t have to deal with the smell of food all day.
There is more to recycling than just talking about it. To get people interested in reusing and recycling the things that they use, you must make it easy for them to do so. And that means installing many office recycling bins, buying coffee makers, gifting people with reusable coffee cups, as well as installing company sinks as a start.
You can also implement any other useful strategy that you can think of to get your employees on board with your recycling agenda. Only then will your organization reduce the amount of waste you generate to acceptable levels.
