Green Workplace: Getting a green team together
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
Greening the office can seem daunting when you feel like you're the only person who cares. But Ellen Kasemeier-Herbert, who works at a stock photo agency called Jupiter Images in South Pasadena, says getting a "Green Committee" together in her office wasn't hard at all. All it took was a few emails and some water cooler chatter about green issues.
"If one person's interested in an office, other people are interested," Ellen says. In fact, it seems eco-conscious people were brought together by their individual eco-related pet peeves! Ellen's own was the unnecessary plastic trash liners in paper recycling bins. Another person was peeved by all the junk mail that came in the office -- most of it addressed to people who didn't even work there anymore. Another person was bugged by styrofoam cups, another by the paper towels.
So the group got talking, and started talking to the operations manager, who got permission from the headquarters to create a Green Committee. An email went around asking for a representative from each department -- and people joined in. Now the team boasts about 15 members (out of 70 or so employees), its own logo, and a mission statement:
We are committed to a sustainable future and to improving the social, economic and environmental well being of the community. Through our actions, we hope to inspire others to adopt practices that reduce energy usage and waste in order to create a cleaner, safer place to live and work.
Many of the committee's actions are those any company could easily replicate: replace disposable cups with reusable ones, reduce junk mail, save energy by turning off computers and lights when not needed, switch to green products (energy-efficient bulbs, rechargeable batteries, eco-friendly bathroom supplies), and put that now-ubiquitous eco-signature -- "Please consider the environment before printing this email" -- at the bottom of company emails.
A more unique idea is the "red bin" policy that effectively resolved Ellen's trash liner pet peeve. Now, a few red bins with liners are placed around the office for non-paper trash; all other trash bins are used just for paper -- and no longer have trash liners.
Jupiter Images is, however, pursuing some green ideas that may be rather difficult -- and perhaps less necessary -- to implement at other workplaces. For example, the Green Committee plans to start a composting system because the office has a little yard-garden attached to it. Most workplaces don't have this luxury. Jupiter Images' office also has a washer and dryer -- making it easier to switch to reusable kitchen towels since they can easily be laundered.
Other greening projects -- like a recycling program for CDs -- may not be as important for workplaces that don't go through a lot of CDs. And some Green Committee projects -- like having people bring in wine corks to send in for recycling -- are not work related at all.
Still, most of these ideas can be adapted to any workplace. "We haven't done anything super special," Ellen says, emphasizing that the greening was a team effort, not just her own. "Just get people to be aware -- That's all we've done. It's easy to change a light bulb. And once you start thinking, it doesn't stop."
How can workplaces make green teams a success? Anything that saves the company money's an easy sell, Ellen says. Of course, changes will require adjustments. People were initially upset when the disposable cups disappeared, Ellen says. "But then people got used to it."
Most importantly, remain flexible and remember not to get too militant about the green mission. "You've got to be enthusiastic, but you've got to be respectful of people, and you've got to get buy-in from everybody," Ellen advises. "We don't want to make work for anyone, and we don't want to make anyone do our jobs."
Got a green team at your workplace? Share your group's tips in the comments.
Top photo by Eszter Hargittai via Flickr
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