Minimizing The Waste Made By Your Business
Waste is one of the biggest outputs of the working world;
around 2.12 billion tons of waste
are dumped worldwide each year, and cutting down on a number like this should be the number one priority of every company around the world. Even if you’re a small, startup operation, you can do your bit here!
So when it comes to minimizing waste within your operation, what should be your first steps ? Well, with the ideas below, we hope to steer you in the right direction. Keep them in mind if you’re noticing those waste paper baskets piling up recently.
Set Up a Composting Heap
A composting heap might sound like something that’s more suited to the home, and the garden you’ve got out the back, but it’s also a great idea for community businesses as well. Setting up a compost heap that all of your organic waste can go into, and then donating the materials to a community garden or selling to a garden center, is very sustainable and gives back to your local ecosystem.
Reduce the Use of Single-Use Materials
Single-use materials are incredibly bad for the environment and have a lot to answer for when it comes to landfill sites and plenty of other trash heaps that can be found in the city, countrysides, and oceans around the world. So when it comes to using such materials within your company, it’d be best to cut back as much as possible and invest in longevity instead.
Reusable water bottles in the break room, requiring employees to bring in their own coffee cups, and encouraging them to make and bring lunch from home can seriously slow your waste output. Even for just small scale events, such as conferences or trade shows you’re going to be visiting, using a reusable retractable badge holder rather than paper name tags is a great way to keep your carbon footprint down.
Don’t Forget About Electronic Waste
E-waste is something that every single business on the planet churns out. Broken computers, busted laptops, misfiring printers, etc., are all things you’re going to chuck out with a second look. And because of that, there’s a real build-up of electronic waste currently in rubbish dumps and landfills, and they’re extremely hard to get rid of.
E-waste needs to be disposed of very carefully . After all, even just those batteries that have the warning ‘do not throw away’ on the side of the case can have a rippling effect on the environment. So get a specialized bin, and find a specialized e-waste recycling center you can visit on a regular basis. Even encourage your employees to bring their own electronics in to throw away in a similar manner.
Minimizing your business waste is a very worthy pursuit, and should be one of the main sustainable goals of your organization. Keep your waste to a manageable size, recycle responsibly, and encourage each and every employee of yours to do the same.
