What Can You Recycle in the Office?
If you're looking to become more eco-friendly in your daily life, a great place to start is the spot where you'll spend a big chunk of that life - the office. There is a wide array of opportunity to get greener when it comes to your office environment.
Looking to start becoming greener during your 9-5 existence? Here are some tips to help out if you're wondering, "What can I recycle in the office?"
- Recycle your paper - and cut down on its usage. Encourage the recycling of paper at the office alongside means to cut down on its usage. This is one of the single biggest things an office can do to reduce their use of natural resources. Set up your printers to automatically have double-sided printing, and be sure to set up recyclable bins around every printer. Give every employee a recycling bin for paper if they don't have one already. Along with this, be sure to encourage the use of email at every turn, and put signs up around your office printers that reinforce this idea. Remind your office about these efforts regularly. Work on digitizing archives, contracts, and other paper-heavy resources in the office, and set up systems to use digital copies going forward (rather than printed copies). Instituting these elements in the office will help your company save paper, save money, and save the environment.
- Recycle glass and bottles. Make sure common areas, break rooms, and lunch areas have resources for employees to effectively recycle their glasses and bottles after eating.
- Recycle miscellaneous office supplies. You never know what one employee might want to use! Instead of tossing out all of those old office supplies - from folders to pencil holders and binders - encourage employees to put them in a special section in the supply closet or a common area. Other employees in the office may find some use for them for their everyday activities. Along with that, they might find some use for them at home - old office supplies make for excellent new supplies for a kids' school year, for example.
- Recycle batteries - Lots of machines around the office require batteries for their power. Employees may tend to toss old batteries away rather than recycling them. Set up special bins to collect old batteries, and put these bins in and around the areas where you may store fresh batteries. Remind employees of the battery-recycling efforts regularly.
- Computers, computer accessories, and electronics - These bulky electronics can pile up in an office, especially when you do a technology upgrade. Schedule a quarterly or monthly "electronic recycling day" for removing and recycling.
An office cleaning company or office cleaning service like Stratus can provide the green cleaning services - like recycling paper, glass, bottles, office supplies, batteries, and electronics - that your company needs to be as eco-friendly as it can be. Interested in seeing what we can do? Give us a call or drop us a line!
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Michael N is a freelance writer who writes about lifestyle and travel.