People interested in environmental issues may want to start or encourage a recycling program in their office. Just think of all the soda and water bottles that get thrown out at lunch time. Even worse is all the paper that gets tossed every day. Over a whole year, it can add up to literal tons of post-consumer waste. Thus, recycling is a great idea.
Starting a recycling program might be simple. You place some labeled bins and send out a message that cans, bottles and paper should be put in the convenient single stream containers. Some people will be more excited about it than others. Many will start out with full compliance but get lazy. Others simply won’t care at all.
How can you get more employees at your office to recycle everything all the time?
3 Great Methods to Encourage Going Green With Recycling in the Workplace
If the people in your office need more outside help to stick with the new earth-friendly program, these three ideas can help.
#1 – Make it Simple and Convenient
People are busy and lazy. This combination means they are less likely to do anything that makes them walk out of their way or do extra work that doesn’t benefit them directly.
We recommend putting recycling bins in several convenient locations throughout the workplace. These should be places people will walk by every day. Hang a sign to remind people to recycle everything. Use a single stream professional trash and valet service in College Station, TX to make it even easier.
#2 – Offer Actual Rewards
Keep an eye on which employees always recycle and which do not. In a large office, this can be done by department as well. We want to stress that the idea is not to spy on people’s environmental interest but instead to find a way to compliment those who do a great job.
Have recycling contests each month to see who does the best. If a department does everything the right way for a month, give them all a gift card or treat them to a catered lunch or pizza party.
#3 – Make a Group Effort Necessary
The above method concerning rewarding departments for their overall recycling efforts uses a very effective method to get compliance. If your boss is going to order a dozen pizzas when you put bottles and papers in the right bin, everyone will make sure the people sitting at the next desk are doing it right.
A group effort should be encouraged as well because individuals will stop if they feel as if they’re the only one making an effort. One person should not be responsible for emptying the bins unless it’s their specific job to do so. If necessary, assign different people recycling tasks such as calling the maintenance department, checking for scrap paper on desks or rounding up empty bottles at the end of the day.
We know recycling involves a lot of determination. However, by making everything fair, fun and earth-friendly, your workplace recycling program will succeed and make a great impact on the environment.
