Here are tips and resources to help your workplace prevent
pollution, conserve resources, make your work environment healthier, and save
money!
Reduce Ad Mail
Places receive a great deal of unsolicited mail for
products and services. Even when these materials are wanted, there can be a
tremendous amount of waste, like mail for previous staff. Multiple mailings
or poorly targeted mailings, like E-commerce seminars for your building maintenance
staff, add to waste.
This creates a lot of paper waste to be sorted for disposal or recycling.
A significant amount of staff time is invested in handling and sorting. A six-week
study showed that the mailroom staff was spending 25% of its time sorting Standard
Class advertising mail. What can you do about this?
- Assign
someone to call or email businesses that send you advertising you do not
want. Ask them to remove you from their list. - Be
careful how you share your business information.
Purchasing & Shipping Reuse
- Purchase
products in concentrated form or in bulk. - Negotiate
with suppliers to provide merchandise in returnable or reusable packaging
or in packaging that you can recycle through your recycling program. - Instead
of cardboard boxes, use durable containers for shipping to your branch offices,
stores, or warehouses. - Set
up a system for returning cardboard boxes and packaging materials to distributors
for reuse. - Reuse
packaging materials, such as boxes, newspaper, tissue, polystyrene “peanuts,†and
foam pads from incoming shipments, as alternatives to buying new packing
material. - Return,
reuse and repair wooden pallets and crates. - When
billing customers, use “two-way†envelopes, which can be folded inside out
and returned to you with payment.
Buy Green for Your Office
Create a green purchasing guide for company purchasing.
- Refurbish
and buy refurbished office equipment. - Reuse
and refill toner cartridges and ribbons. - Purchase
non-toxic and biodegradable cleaners. - Buy
products that are reusable, returnable, or refillable. - Buy
recycled office products that contain post-consumer recycled material. - Choose
durable materials and furnishings to reduce replacement cost and waste.
Sustainable Office Space Design
Consider the following ideas when building, renovating,
or designing office space.
- Recyclable
carpeting. - Improve
air quality (HVAC system). - Recycle
bins & services, including paper bins. - Place
hot water sources close to kitchens, labs, and showers to conserve energy. - Purchase
locally produced building supplies. - Purchase
certified wood products. - Low
energy or heat mirror windows. - Use
low or no toxic materials. - Use
Light Shelves to provide natural light throughout the building. - Use
flexible interiors, like moveable walls, to reduce renovation waste. - Use
reusable dishware in your coffee or cafeteria area. - Use
cloth towel roll dispensers in bathrooms and cloth towels in kitchens. - Have
your building’s organic waste sent to a composting facility.
Reduce Paper Waste
Reducing or preventing paper waste is more cost effective
than recycling. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the average
office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year! Consider buying the
most environmentally friendly paper (100% post consumer recycled and chlorine
free) to stock in your printers, copiers and fax machines. Ideas for reducing
office paper:
- Double-sided
copying and printing. - Reusing
paper. Keep a collection box by the copy machine for bad copies. - Make
use of electronic communication. - Eliminate
or use smaller cover sheets. - Reuse
items from old packaging. - Reuse
materials through clients, customers, and consumers.
Start a Recycling Program
Recycling will affect every employee in your company
and require changing several procedures. Consider starting up a recycling program
in your office. At least offer a proposal, on how and why to start a recycling
program, to your management. Here are the basic steps to begin and maintain
a successful recycling program in your office. Please refer to resource box
to view or download detailed steps.
- Enlist
the Support of Top Management - Identify
a Recycling Coordinator - Understand
Your Recycling Options - Select
a Recycling Company - Designate
Collection and Storage Areas - Promote
the Program - Sustain
the Program - Monitor
the Program
Use a Great, Green Printer
For outsourced printing jobs, consider using a Great
Printer. Meet with them before your item is designed to get design tips for
printing efficiency (page size, layout, page count) to avoid paper and ink
waste.
The Great Printer Environmental Initiative is a program of the Printing Industry
of Minnesota (PIM) aimed at increasing environmental, health and safety compliance,
and pollution prevention within the printing industry. They pledge to minimize,
reuse, and recycle wastes while maximizing energy efficiencies. Visit the link
in the resource box to learn more and find a printer.
Green Your Commute
American workers spend an average of 147 hours per
year commuting through rush hour traffic according to the 2010 Annual Urban
Mobility Report. This adds up to 3.7 billion hours and 23 billion gallons of
gas each year! We can ease some of this strain by carpooling, taking public
transit, biking, walking, or a creative combination of them. For transportation
options such as Vanpool, Hourcar and Nice Ride, see Metro Transit Options and
Beyond Metro Transit articles in the Transportation section.
200 Oak Street SE
Minneapolis, MN
800-247-0015
mntap.umn.edu/assistance.htm