Thank you for joining us for the 7th post in our series on reducing plastic waste in our daily lives.
In today’s world, when everyone is aware of the harmful impact of plastic on our environment, and health, we are trying to reduce plastic waste in our daily lives. Let’s deep dive into tips on how to reduce plastic waste in your office.
Sustainability has become more important than ever as the earth might completely change for the worse if don’t change now. When I started noticing the plastic waste, I found that offices are a major source of plastic waste in life. I stepped up and thought, discussed with various people, and at last I can say that plastic waste from my office is down to less than 60%.
If you’re looking to reduce plastic waste in your office, countless small changes can add up to big results. Don’t worry about getting support from colleagues, or management, start the discussion, and slowly everyone will come on board.
Irrespective you are just starting or doing it alone or if you have support from your company, this guide will show you how to make your workplace greener and more eco-friendly.
From simple habits to big initiatives, I will give you simple actionable steps to reduce plastic waste in your office and help create a healthier planet.
How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Office: Going Green at Work
Almost all offices produce a large amount of plastic waste every day. Plastic waste ranges from plastic cups, cutlery, and bottles to single-use packaging, offices are often full of plastic products that are used once and then thrown away.
I think we are already quite ahead in this direction, almost all offices I am aware of are participating actively in reducing plastic waste. We just need to ensure that these changes don’t remain in the meeting rooms or on the presentation slides but get implemented.
With just a few changes, we can make our office a perfect example of sustainability and help reduce plastic waste in your office.
| Series 6 – How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Wardrobe: Sustainable Fashion Choices | Series 1 – Simple Steps to Reduce Plastic Waste in Everyday Life |
Here are some practical steps you can take today to make your workplace greener:
How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Office: Encourage Reusable Water Bottles and Mugs
One of the easiest ways to reduce plastic waste in your office is by eliminating disposable water bottles, disposable cups, and cutlery.
Encourage employees to bring reusable water bottles and mugs to work. You can even make it more fun by offering a small incentive, like a discount at the office café for employees who use reusable items.
Generally, people feel awkward bringing their cups to the coffee machine or cutlery to the cafeteria. So, if some seniors start doing that, it sets the right example.
Most of the offices have dispensing machines that dispense coffee and all kinds of drinks in disposable cups which generate a huge amount of waste. You can work with the respective department and get these machines replaced by a machine where a person needs to place the cup to collect the beverage. This is a very successful, tried, and tested method to reduce the disposable cup waste.
Meeting rooms must have a poster advising people to bring their reusable water bottles instead of expecting that plastic water bottles will be provided.
The cafeteria can offer a 10% or so discount if you bring your cutlery, this 10% amount can easily be compensated by the cost of cutlery.
Tissue paper is another source of huge waste, we can’t use cloth towels in the office due to hygiene purposes but we can request the respective department to source these materials from a company that supports sustainability.
You can suggest using tissues made of bamboo as bamboo grows like crazy, up to 91 cm per day — that’s super-speedy! Also, it requires less water and pesticides compared to traditional trees used for paper production.
How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Office: Switch to Eco-Friendly Office Supplies
Offices need a regular supply of pens, folders, and binders and due to various constraints cost and durability being the most used reason, we use all plastic supplies.
Some issues raised by the people were like folders, and binders made from cardboard have shorter life spans and are prone to insects, etc. These are valid concerns and we did raise them to various companies but after spending months in the research, we were able to find a vendor, who confirmed and showed the proof that his cardboard products need some maintenance but can be kept free from insects, etc.
There are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives available. We can work with management or respective departments to switch quite a few products. Plastic pens are sourced from a vendor who makes them using recycled plastic or bamboo, and use cardboard or metal binders instead of plastic ones. This change was done without impacting the cost of the department so senior management was also happy 😊
Another great suggestion and very valid in today’s fast-moving world is to move to online systems instead of paper-based systems. This will result in a huge amount of reduction in plastic waste in your office. Several plastic containers or printer ink, folders, and the best part is the space can be saved. This will also result in saving maintenance costs of these buildings.
Additionally, look for paper products that are made from recycled materials to help reduce plastic waste in your office.
How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Office: Implement a Recycling Program
Almost all offices nowadays have some form of recycling bin available to all the employees but because of the lack of explanation, and knowledge, most of the time these bins are being used as rubbish bins.
However, placing a recycle bin can be one of the simplest yet most effective ways to reduce plastic waste in your office by setting up a robust recycling program.
Make sure there are clearly labeled bins for plastics, paper, and other recyclable materials in common areas like kitchens, break rooms, and near desks.
Educate employees on what can and can’t be recycled, and ensure that the program is easy to use and accessible to everyone. Make it a fun activity for employees to participate. You can even put some competitions like whichever department will recycle the most and correctly will get some award. These small things excite people and make them want to be a part of the initiative.
Some ideas to label the bins:
- Disposable cutlery
- Disposable plastic bottles
- Metal cans
- All other recyclable waste
- Not sure
You can put interesting titles on the pins, some examples can be:
- Don’t Trash It – Recycle It!
- Think Before You Toss – Recycle Right!
- Make Your Waste Worth It – Recycle!
- This Bin is for Green Team Members Only!
- Recycling: Because the Planet is NOT Disposable!
How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Office: Partner with Sustainable Vendors and Suppliers
All companies buy products from vendors, it can be Amazon or any other vendor. If as a company we decide to support vendors who offer sustainable, plastic-free packaging and products.
For example, if you order office snacks or supplies, look for brands that use minimal or biodegradable packaging. Supporting businesses that prioritize sustainability can help you reduce your office’s plastic footprint.
Another example can be paper supplies, which ensure that paper is made from sustainable sources following eco-friendly practices. Nowadays there are several certifications that ensure that the product you are getting is made using sustainable practices.
Every single step makes a difference.
How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Office: Host Green Initiatives and Office-Wide Challenges
It’s human nature to resist change but if it’s done in a fun way, most people will support it.
In my office when we replaced the drinks vending machine with dispensers, management did their research and found 3 machines that matched the sustainability needs, budget, etc, and will remove the disposable cups entirely. But instead of just going ahead and replacing it, they conducted a poll and the machine that got the most votes was put up.
Sometimes, motivating employees to reduce plastic waste in your office requires a little friendly competition. Host an office-wide challenge to see who can bring in the most reusable items, or set a goal to reduce the office’s plastic consumption by a certain amount over the next month. Recognizing the efforts of employees who make eco-friendly changes can also inspire others to follow suit.
How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Office: My Conclusion
Small changes can make a huge difference when it comes to reducing plastic waste in your office. No step is small done individually or as a team.
Above is just the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more we can do. You can implement all or some of the tips I have mentioned above as is or you can modify them as per your need. The objective is to reduce plastic waste in your office. Set a target and timeline and start working towards it. Joining CRS or the sustainability department as a volunteer can be the first step towards learning the existing practices your company is already following.
We all can help make our workplaces more eco-friendly, save money, and inspire our colleagues to get on board with sustainability. Going green at work doesn’t have to be difficult—it just takes a little effort and the right mindset.
I would like to emphasize the consistency of doing things. I have seen several family and friends start with a bang but give up soon just due to a lack of consistency. In the end, consistency is always a winner.
Start today, and together, you can help reduce plastic waste and create a cleaner, greener office for everyone.
You can check out my other posts here.
The upcoming post in this series will be exciting as we’ll be focusing on our little ones and the place they spend a lot of their time – school. Be sure to check it out!
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