Recycling by Business

I looked around the office and discovered apart from paper, we are not recycling enough. Yes all our printer cartridges are recycled along with the paper but then I thought about the other sort of things an office throws away.

We take in a lot of deliveries which means we have a lot of cardboard so why is this not recycled? We have a kitchen and I watch the bin getting emptied everyday of cans and bottles, plastic and it goes into general waste rather than in for reuse. I really am starting to despair at the general attitude of “Yeah but I am too busy” or “Can’t be bothered”.

We are currently having the driest time for 74 years and after the harshness of the Winter which also turned into the coldest for many years, how can you say that Global warming is a myth? I want a planet worth leaving for the next generation not a burnt out old star we humans destroyed because we were ignorant and lazy. So I might be just one woman but I truly believe I can make a difference albeit a small one. I am stating now that I WILL MAKE OUR OFFICE RECYCLE MORE, it our duty to our children to show that we can change, we can make things better and no matter how small the action, you will see an improvement not only in the environment but in us as well. Recently I was reminded how as a child I used to picking fruit from the hedgerow and plums from someone’s garden but then again, my best friend and I, were only nine! I never used to recycling things but now I take pride in teaching youngsters why I live the way I do and why it is so important.

*Angie gets off soap box, takes a deep breath, smiles and calms down*

Depending on the size of your office why not recycle the cans and tins that are aluminium as they can bring in cash. Even in a small office they add up so imagine if you kept them then just before Christmas then see how much you can get. I am sure you will be surprised as I know small offices who use this method to pay for the Christmas Party their rather tight, mean Boss can never afford. I know you can get extra points on supermarket reward cards for old printer cartridges so you could save on your shopping or perhaps you have a couple of old mobile phones knocking about the house in a box in the attic that can be sold to one of the internet companies who can recycle them for you. Some of these, by the way have free postage too so saving a stamp! Ah stamps, that reminds me, with these wonderful little things that we all get, can be sent to RNIB which raises money for them but there are several other charities that can choose from. When your office machines finally pack up, again, there are several places that will take them off your hands and put them to use or use the parts elsewhere. In our office there are several of us who are bookworms so we take it in turns to buy books and we share them around and when we are all done, its off the charity shop. What else does an office throw away? Furniture. There are several options here from local refuge centres to local housing associations or if in need of repair, is there a local school or college that would use it?
In my past one of my (many) jobs was working at B & Q who have a wonderful policy of recycling. We used to get all the broken tiles in a box and ask local colleges and schools if the art department wanted them for mosaics or perhaps the local school wants our old rolls of wallpaper that has been damaged but ok for kids to draw on. These items would have been recycled but they are happy to give the stuff away if it means it would get used. I don’t know if any other companies have the same policy but it is certainly worth an ask. Currently I am looking for clear plastic sheets (to replace glass in greenhouse) and a sofa bed and I am sure in a few weeks I will be blogging how I found these items.

At the end of the day if it is no good to you then there is no point keeping the item but remember, someone out there will need what your throwing away so take a couple of minutes to think about how to find them. So this weeks challenge is this:

You tell me what you have to get rid of and I will tell you how to either recycle it or how to pass it on to someone who needs it.

Take Care People

Angie

Click the book to join us

About Special Guest
Birds on the Blog welcomes Guest Bloggers of all abilities, if you have something to say and you wish to share it with us - get in touch
View all posts by Special Guest →