Welp MagazineCreating an office culture of recycling isn’t something that one person can accomplish alone. Everyone must make an effort for real change to take place. This is where these tips on how to promote recycling in the workplace come in. Follow these steps to help change your office’s waste habits for the better.
Start With a Recycling Program
If your business doesn’t have one, you can start by implementing a recycling program. Or, if your workplace already has a plan, you can edit your existing one to be more effective. A recycling program can help your business not only be more ecologically friendly but more economical as well. For example, going paperless in a workplace saves trees. It also cuts out the cost of paper and ink for printing services. Such a program will be a win-win for your business.
Go Bigger With Recyclables
Most offices have a basic recycling practice in place, even if it’s simply recycling paper. However, there are many more options that you can offer to your workplace. You can expand recycling to include paper goods, metals and cans, glass, and even electronics. Office spaces constantly go through electronics, such as monitors and keyboards. Your business can take those to the proper facilities for recycling. And if your community has a service for it, your workplace could even start collecting compostable materials, such as food waste, dirtied paper products, and more. This will help cut down on waste from your office kitchen and employee lunches.
Track the Data
When you create an office recycling program, remember to record your metrics. Take notes on how much waste your business produces relative to recycling each week. Or keep track of how much more recycling you collected that week compared to previous weeks. This way, you can see improvements in your recycling efforts and create a report for the workplace.
Get Everyone Involved
Once you have the numbers, keep your workplace updated and involved. Celebrate when the recycling program succeeds and circle back when it comes up short. To increase interest, you could even create challenges out of the program. Have teams around the office see who can recycle the most for a bit of friendly competition and motivation. After all, the best way to create healthy habits is through repetition.
We hope these tips for how to promote recycling in the workplace have inspired you with ideas to try in your own office.
