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Most of us are recycling at home and are quite conscious of all the green living initiatives out there.  But what about the place where we spend 40-50 hours per week – our workplaces?   Many offices or other places of business have not adopted earth-friendly practices, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do your part to reduce, reuse and recycle while you’re at work.

One of the most common areas where we overuse resources at work is during mealtimes.  Plastic utensils and disposable dishes are ubiquitous, and most people don’t give them a second thought.  But if everyone in your office uses a plastic fork, a Styrofoam plate and a bottle of water or soda each day at lunch, think about how much landfill is generated in a month just from one person.  Multiply that by the number of people at your workplace, the number of businesses in your town, city or state and you’ll see how quickly it adds up.  It may take some extra planning and effort, but there are lots of ways to reduce the amount of trash we generate while eating meals at work:

• Bring reusable utensils with you in your lunch bag.  If you don’t want to bring your silverware from home, disposable flatware can be used over and over again!  I keep a stash at work, bring the used ones home each day and throw them in the dishwasher, and when they are clean they go into a bin in the kitchen.  When my work stash gets low, I just bring a handful with me in my lunch bag to restock.
• Bring your own reusable coffee mug and water bottle to work instead of using paper or Styrofoam cups.
• 100-calorie packs have become the latest convenience food craze, but the amount of packaging that goes into these snacks is overwhelming (not to mention that most of the foods are highly processed – but that’s another post entirely).  It’s so easy (and much cheaper) to make your own snack packs – when you buy a large bag of snacks, just divide them up into reusable containers and store them in the fridge or pantry.  You can grab some when you’re packing your lunch in the morning and bring the empties home to wash.  Just remember not to package them in throwaway plastic baggies!  And for those of you that don’t want to invest in lots of reusable containers, just look to your fridge – wash out those empty plastic takeout containers and tubs of cream cheese instead of recycling them and voila!  Free reusable containers in all shapes and sizes.
• Keep a reusable plate and bowl at work instead of using paper/Styrofoam – rinse them off after you eat and stash them in your desk drawer for next time.
• Bring home orange peels, banana peels or other compostable waste in your empty containers for your compost pile at home.

There are lots of ways to conserve resources at your desk:

• Rather than making copies, use the scanner and store documents electronically whenever possible.  Not only does this save paper, it keeps your desk more organized and reduces the need to archive documents.
• Print on double sided paper
• If a piece of paper is no longer needed, keep it and use the blank side as scrap
• Use shredded paper as packing material for shipping
• Keep a recycling bin under your desk for paper, plastic and metal
• Consider biodegradable writing utensils instead of the traditional plastic disposable pens: Grassroots pens are biodegradable and compostable, and Earthwrite pencils are made from recycled paper and reclaimed wood.
• Order your office supplies from green suppliers:  green earth office supply

And for those of you that love gadgets, laptop bags are now available with solar cells that can store enough charge to power a laptop: www.voltaicsystems.com

The most important thing to remember is that although recycling is great, it is much better to aim for reducing or reusing first.  In other words, just because you can recycle something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to maximize its useful life first.

You can effect change by modeling the behaviors you’d like to see – by following earth-friendly practices and answering questions when others ask you why you’re doing something, you can be the example that others want to follow.  And if you see environmentally unfriendly practices, or if you have ideas on how to improve, write to your CEO and make your ideas heard!