Everyone should recycle—not just at home, but at work as well. Unfortunately, some companies still have not established recycling programs that make it easy for their employees to dispose of waste in a responsible manner. If your office doesn’t have a recycling plan in place, follow these tips to launch one:
Get Others Involved
Before talking to your employer, ask your co-workers if they would be interested in starting a recycling program in the office with you. Create an outline of the basics of a recycling program and gather everyone’s signatures on this document. This is the best way to drum up excitement about the potential of a recycling program amongst your co-workers.
Talk to Management
Talk to your manager or a representative in Human Resources about your idea. Be sure to bring the document with everyone’s signatures with you so they see how many employees are eager to get involved. Your pitch may be convincing on its own, but nothing will motivate your employer to take action more than seeing how many employees are excited about an initiative.
Estimate the Amount of Recyclables
If management approves, start putting together a recycling plan for your office. Begin by learning about the amount and types of waste produced in your office. Are most of the recyclables paper or plastic? Does your office dispose of electronic devices on a regular basis? The details of the recycling plan will vary based on the answers to these questions, which is why it’s important to conduct this research before putting a plan in place.
Figure Out the Details
Work with management and your co-workers to figure out the details of the office’s new recycling plan. First, call the city to see if the sanitation department has a recycling pick-up program that your office can participate in. If this isn’t an option, analyze the data collected from your research in the previous step to determine if you will need a professional hauler. If you’re in a small office, it will probably be more cost efficient to gather all of the office’s recyclable materials and drive them to a recycling center every other week instead of hiring a professional.
Tell Others
The recycling program won’t be effective if no one knows about it, so be sure to tell everyone as soon as the plan has been approved. Ask your employer if you can hang up informative flyers in the break room or send out an email that explains how co-workers can recycle their goods. If you have frequent team meetings, be sure to bring up the recycling program in the next meeting so you can announce it to everyone at once.
Remain Open to Improvements
Pat yourself on the back once the recycling program is officially up and running—but, remain open to improvements. If someone suggests an improvement or points out an issue with the current program, make necessary adjustments to the plan as soon as possible. If the program is inconvenient or expensive, it won’t last very long, which is why you should always be willing to make improvements when needed.
Launching a recycling program in the office may seem like a huge commitment, but when it’s broken down into these small steps, it doesn’t seem so intimidating. The sooner you start, the sooner you can do your part to reduce your office’s impact on the environment!