Is Your Business Seeing Green?

What is the “hottest” trend of the 21st century? Nope, it’s not adopting children from foreign lands, or a new line of over-sized purses with a four digit price tag, and it’s not going to rehab for some R&R. Those trends are long out, and pushing its way into our lives is... drum roll please... being green! Global warming is burning a hole in workplace wallets - but it doesn't have to.

Have you found yourself doing a little switch up when it comes to using plastic bags? Opting for the ‘no thanks, I have a cloth bag...which, by the way, is environmentally friendly’? Are you turning off the lights in your house when you’re not using them, or upgrading those incandescent bulbs to the more environmentally-friendly fluorescent ones? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to at least one of these questions you may just be on a path to a greener tomorrow. However, can you say the same about your workplace?

Several companies are changing their ways to better suit the needs of the environment. Yet, according to a recent green company study, many employees are not going the distance. 62% of workers say they recycled at home, but only 49% separate paper from plastic at work.

Whether it be the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the recycling box, or the fact that many believe they can’t make a difference, the survey states that employees are not doing all they can. If your workplace hasn't made eco-friendly changes, here are a few tips on what you can do to encourage the movement:

• Suggest more recycling bins – it may be common sense, but studies show that the more recycling bins around ones workplace, the more likely one garbage-producing employee is to recycle.
• Provide an incentive – if the company as a whole can reduce the total percentage of waste then everybody’s rewarded, for example more ‘casual dress’ days.
• Encourage the use of fluorescent light bulbs – or even sensor bulbs. The bulb’s magical sensors include an automatic “off” function when nobody’s around. Pretending to be a mannequin to trick the light bulb may also be a fun work diversion. How much will your company save? Since the average life span of these bulbs is 10 times longer than a regular incandescent bulb, you’ll get 10,000 hours of extra “bright ideas” out of each one! They also use up to 60 % less energy than other bulbs – saving you 30 bucks a bulb. Unless you work in a cave, we're bettin' your biz uses more than 1 bulb. Cha-Ching!
• Be your office’s recycling nerd and spread the werd – let others know of the damages we are doing to our earth, and encourage your corporate chums to employ simple procedures to cut back on waste. Hold a "green party" for the next department b-day, and play green games, such as pin the hugger on the tree.
• Car pool – offer to pick up coworkers, or simply drive with them. You cut back on greenhouse gas emissions by saving gas, and your new carpool buddy will reduce the chance of mental breakdown on super commutes. Divide your gas costs and watch the dolla billz flow in.

*Remember* by reducing, reusing and recycling we're not only cutting back on the total waste and helpin' out the environment, but saving money too! They don’t call ‘em “Greenbacks” for nothing.