In 2020, the onset of the global pandemic turned the world of work on its head, as thousands of Aussies were forced to transition out of the traditional workplace and started working remotely from home. We traded in-person meetings for Zoom calls, and morning commutes for longer lie-ins.
For all the good that happened to the environment with less air travel and traffic congestion, there was also a huge spike in disposable items, such as face masks, plastic gloves, and single-use coffee cups.
Now as we launch into 2021, we can reflect on the year that’s been, and look ahead to fresh beginnings. While you are making the shift back into the office, or a halfway point between the two, here are a few ways you can start reducing the waste in your working environment!
- Get your team on board!
- Driving sustainable practices is a no-brainer – with research revealing that three out of four Australian businesses (76%) believe that good waste management improves the companies public perception. Not only does recycling help the planet, but it can also save resources and reduce costs. Setting up a recycling hub in the office is an amazing way to bring the whole team together. You can even start a healthy competition to see who can collect the most waste, which also accumulates TerraCycle points that can be redeemed and donated to a charitable cause!
- Understanding your waste!
- Whether you’re at home or in the office, you’ll need to do a full audit of your trash. A waste audit will help you break down all the different types of waste in your workplace to determine ways you can start reducing your impact and the cost involved in disposing of the materials – for a deeper dive into completing an audit, read more here! For instance, if you’re seeing a lot of paper waste, you may consider taking steps to become a paperless office – which not only saves money and supports the bottom line, but is great for the environment!
- Whether you’re at home or in the office, you’ll need to do a full audit of your trash. A waste audit will help you break down all the different types of waste in your workplace to determine ways you can start reducing your impact and the cost involved in disposing of the materials – for a deeper dive into completing an audit, read more here! For instance, if you’re seeing a lot of paper waste, you may consider taking steps to become a paperless office – which not only saves money and supports the bottom line, but is great for the environment!
- Support your team and the wider community by setting up a recycling hub.
- Once you’ve established your main recycling streams in your office, you can then sign up for one of our free recycling programs. You’ll need to provide different boxes or receptacles for the different waste streams including ones for kerbside recyclables and general waste. This will enable your colleagues to bring their recyclables to work where they can drop them all off in one place. For example, you can set one up a collection hub in your office kitchen to collect for any dishwashing and air care products and packaging through the Dish & Air Care Recycling Program. Once you’ve collected at least 2kg, you can download one of our free postage labels and send your waste to be recycled – simple, right?
Go a step further and eliminate waste with a Zero Waste Box
- If you want to recycle even more, check out our range of Zero Waste Box office solutions for practically everything. Zero Waste Boxes are paid solutions to almost every waste you can imagine. Our most popular boxes include the Safety Equipment and Protective Gear which accepts disposable face masks and gloves, the Break Room Separation, and the Office Separation. With billions of face masks and plastic gloves going to waste last year, you can make a real difference in 2021, that start from just a few small changes in your workplace!
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