Now that you’ve made it to work fashionably green, though you may still be half asleep, there are a few more helpful tips on how to get your green on at the office. These next three are probably the easiest and require no pull around the work place. The only requirement is to actually do it.
Trash the Styrofoam: Well, don’t really trash it. In fact, avoid using it at all. If your office is anything like mine, we are provided with water coolers rather than tasty vending machines (which carry a threat to the green initiative in their own right). Next to the water coolers, and I know you’ve all seen them, is a tower of Styrofoam cups. While able to carry water from the cooler to the palate, they lack in being able to provide proper amounts of hydration, so I notice a lot of people will fill up, drink up, and then trash it only to repeat the process the next time they are thirsty. Instead, purchase yourself a reusable water bottle. I carry a personal one liter bottle made by Camelback, but there are plenty of options out there. If you are too cheap to spring for your own bottle, use the same cup all day. Either way, you will reduce the amount of waste created.
Burp it, that’s how you know it’s fresh: When you bring your lunch, use Tupperware containers to transport your homemade goods. There are a variety of sizes and prices for all sorts of quality Tupperware sets. If you don’t have Tupperware on hand and are forced to use Ziplocs, reuse them. Do you really need to throw out a Ziploc you carried your kettle chips to work in, only to use another one for the same chips the next day? No, no you do not. Now I know what you’re thinking, what about for when you bring peanut butter or tuna salad sandwiches? Just because you shouldn’t throw a Ziploc in the dishwasher, doesn’t mean you can’t wipe it out. Check out store’s like Meijer’s for all your lunch transporting needs.
Well Fork me!: Another culprit of office waste is silverware and dishware. A way to avoid creating a plastic mountain of utensils at your office is to bring your own silverware and dishware, wash them after using them, and just keep them in your desk. If you are worried about your belongings getting ganked, then when you do use the plastic goods at your office, wash them and keep them for next time. Just don’t put them back in the general population. I mean come on, that’s nasty.
There you have it; another three ways to sustain the green at the office. By now you should be starting to catch on to the idea that going green really isn’t that difficult. It just takes a little want and know-how. For the next installment in this series, I will explain three easy ways to keep your office green when you are on your way out the door. Stay tuned!
