The workplace generates a lot of waste. No matter whether you work in an office, warehouse, factory or outside, waste is a natural by-product of nearly every occupation.
A lot of what we throw away when we are at work, however, can be recycled and it is increasingly important that we think abut the environment when we are at work – especially considering the amount of time many of us spend there.
One of the biggest wastages in the workplace is the amount of paper we get through. Even though everything is computerised these days, we still are using just as much – if not more – paper than ever.
And not enough of us are recycling it either and this is a terrible waste as paper is one of the easiest of our resources to recycle. Recycling bins and paper recycling bins should be in the corner of nearly every office. So much paper gets thrown away that if all workplaces ensured it went in the recycling bin it would make a huge difference in the waste that ends up on landfill sites – and the number of trees cut down.
But its no just paper that is a nuisance to the environment. Many workplaces have vending machines and while these are very convenient for a quick cuppa the polystyrene and plastic cups that are used mainly end up on landfills – where they can longer for decades.
These can be recycled and many vending machine manufacturers are using more eco friendlier materials to make the little cups from. Placing cup collectors near the vending machines and canteen to catch the empties will ensure that these extremely numerous cups end up recycled not in the rubbish bin.
Cans from vending machines, too, can be recycled; can collectors will ensure the empties get taken away for recycling.
There are other ways of being a little more eco friendly at work too, such as making use of email and electric means rather than the printer and making sure you don’t waste paper unnecessarily. The culmination of this, and all other recycling tips is that less rubbish gets chucked away in the skip or external bin. plastic shredder machine