Need a fix on how to recycle at the office? Check out Ideal Bite’s 3-part Guide to Recycling at the Office to get the skinny on recycling paper products, electronics, and furniture.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Copy/printer paper
- If your office doesn’t already have a paper recycling program, talk to your boss about starting one.
- If your computer’s capable, set up your print options to print on both sides of the page (or kindly ask your IT person to help you out) – same goes for copiers. Use double-sided settings for everyday printing, and change it for a one-off job if you’re printing something that needs to be more formal. Some computer-printers combos may not support it automatically, but that link above also has instructions on doing it manually (i.e., flipping the pages over yourself and printing on the other side).
- Instead of reaching for a Post-it or a notebook to jot things down, keep any single-sided copies to use as scratch paper on their blank sides.
Envelopes
- You can toss envelopes in with paper recycling – even the ones with the little plastic windows.
- Before tossing them in the recycling bin, reuse envelopes for holding expense receipts or as interoffice envelopes, or use the backs of ‘em as scratch paper.
Boxes and Packaging
- Set up a spot in the supply room for used boxes and Styrofoam packing peanuts that coworkers can reuse in outgoing packages.
- Call the Peanut Hotline (800-828-2214) – no crank calls asking for Mr. Peanut, please – or visit the Plastic Loose Fill Council’s website to find a drop location for packing peanuts.
- List unwanted cardboard boxes (or if you’re in need, search for free, used ones) on FreeCardboardBoxes.com.
- Use old plastic shopping bags or shredded newspaper to pack around breakables.
- Once you’ve reused boxes to the point that they can no longer perform their box duties, check with your local recycling program to see if it accepts corrugated cardboard, and then break them down flat before putting them in the bin.
Make sure your e-waste doesn’t get, er, wasted by choosing a reputable recycler for your old computer equipment. If you trash them, the chemical cocktails (like lead and mercury) inside can leach through landfill liners into groundwater. And some recyclers melt components down over a hot plate (spitting other unhealthy chems into the air) or ship them off to a third world country where environmental laws aren’t so stringent. So ask questions of your recycler: What does it do with the equipment? Does it export the labor? Where does it send reusable components? A responsible biz will know – if yours can’t tell you the answers, then don’t let ‘em be your last call – take your stuff elsewhere.
Read the full guide here.
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