More and more people are looking at ways to reduce their ecological footprint. Most people are driving less, doing at least some basic recycling, and trying to conserve on their electricity use. As individuals, we are increasingly aware of the impact we have on the planet and our fellow humans. The next step is to bring people together in their communities and neighborhoods to build on this fundamental ideas of conservation. By building community involvement in "green" projects we can all become empowered to help save our planet! We can green not only our own lifestyles, but our streets, neighborhoods, towns, cities and, ultimately, our societies.
Here are a few ideas on how to roll up your sleeves and help your community go green:
- Reconnect with your community: in order to help it, you need to know more about it so get involved
- Buy and eat local to reduce food miles and keep resources in the community
- Spread the word by organizing evening educational meetings, joining already-established organizations in your community, and getting politically active
- Participate in local Earth Day programs; better yet, make every day Earth Day
- Check out web sites like www.gogreeninitiative.org to find out what kinds of green activities are occurring in your community
If your company is only a light shade of green at this point, there are small steps you and your co-workers can take darken that shade:
Discourage printing out copies unless absolutely necessary and go electronic in billing, banking and more
Ask your company to explore telecommuting (to save on gas and other expenses)
Conserve energy with appliances and equipment that don't guzzle power (including light bulbs)
Fully participate in any recycling programs your company has in place, or start one
Recycle old computer equipment and peripherals
Quit using Styrofoam coffee cups
Paper is often a major problem in the office. By reducing your paper and reusing half-used sheets...and buying recycled content, you'll make a big difference that hardly breaks a sweat!
Put out some paper collection boxes -- they can be as simple as the corrugated boxes that come with the reams you buy.
Make a few phone calls to your city/county and find out who collects scrap paper for LOCAL recycling. Do a little research here to make a really green selection of a vendor. Some companies send your used paper to China for recycling! That's not very green. Our American paper companies also need good office papers to use in their recycling operations. Call a local printing paper distributor and see if they can connect you with paper mills who need recycled paper.
Pull together a few facts about recycling paper, make a creative, fun poster for your bulletin boards and for your company website...and you can then recruit more people to contribute to the boxes!
Monitor the collection vendor...make sure the paper is emptied and shipped out regularly so that overflow doesn't annoy anyone!
Measure the pounds of paper your team actually recycles. Visit with your vendor to get details about what happens to your paper.
Ask your purchasing agent to start buying paper with some RECYCLED content. When you create the resource...someone has to buy it!
See if there are ways to chop one-sided sheets into notepads...or convert copiers to automatically print of TWO-SIDES of paper. Make conservation a status thing...those who participate are noticed and appreciated!
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