Are you a "Zero Waste" business?

Does your office have a recycle bin for used fax cover sheets and other paper products that you might otherwise throw away in the trash? Do you have a compost bin set up for employees to discard their food scraps? Even better...would you consider giving your customers the option of returning the packaging to you so it can be recycled???

The Grassroots Recycling Network http://www.grrn.org/ came up with 10 principles for businesses to follow that want to commit to becoming a "Zero Waste" business.

I've got a few simple principles to pass along that I follow but I'd encourage you to click the link above and see how your company measures up to the Zero Waste Business Principles.

1. Get rid of the trash barrel under your desk. If all you are throwing away is paper then why don't you replace the trash barrel with a recyling bin and keep a small trash barrel somewhere that everyone has access to it so if you have the occasional candy bar wrapper to throw away bring it to the common trash barrel or even the dumpster. That will give you the opportunity to get up from your desk and stretch and go for a walk. You'll be surprised how conscious you are about not producing waste when you don't have a convenient place to throw it.
2. Buy recycled paper. It may cost a bit more but if you start buying it in bulk, you will see a volume discount and you will be reducing the amount of packaging as well. The boxes that the reams of paper come in make great recycle bins so everyone within your organization can have one.
3. Instead of sending a fax, send an email whenever possible. Work with your clients and customers to gather email addresses and suggest they send you emails rather than faxes. You can even look into online fax services which are inexpensive and more convenient since you can send faxes right from your computer in the event you have no other option but to send a fax.
4. Recycle the printer cartridges you used to throw away and buy refilled cartridges. If you compare the recycled cartridges to the brand name cartridges you will actually see that typically there is more ink in the refilled cartridge than the brand name.
5. Start a co-op for purchasing office supplies with other companies in your building. If you get together with a couple of other businesses and pool your resources you can not only get a better price on supplies since you are buying in bulk but you reduce the number of trips the delivery truck has to make to your building and you reduce the amount of packaging since products shipped in bulk typically use less packaging than those products packaged for individual use.

Again...these are just a few simple steps you can take to reduce the waste your office produces. You can designate one person each week or month to bring the recycle bin to the transfer station in your town depending on how much paper you go through and as an incentive buy that person lunch. After you see how much paper you are going through challenge your office staff to come up with ways to reduce the usage and come up with some sort of incentive to get everyone involved and interested.