You can get lots of ideas for reducing your environmental footprint at work from the SheridanCares blog home page… use the categories drop-down menu to filter blog posts or check out the resource links at the right hand side of the page.
Here are some of the things we’re doing in the Career Centre:
The Career Centre's waste disposal station... the smallest bin is the garbage!
If you’re part of SheridanCares, some sort of obvious recycling station is a must. We got these blue bins from facilities and then added a large green bin ourselves for compostable paper products (like Tims cups) plus a smaller kitchen catcher for organics like apple cores, etc. You only need 2 blue bins as recycling at Sheridan is collected as plastics/metal/glass and paper/boxboard/cardboard. The green bin and kitchen catcher are not emptied by the cleaners; we take turns taking them home to our municipal green bin. Actually, the cleaners seem not to empty our blue bins either… but that’s okay because it allows us to check for contamination (e.g., plastic in the paper bin) and then we put it out in the hall for pickup. Eventually, the do take it away to the recycling dumpsters that Sheridan’s contractor hauls away.
Signs on each monitor suggest ways to reduce or eliminate paper printing.
We have posted signs on each of our open-access workstations with ideas for reducing or eliminating printing. We also keep an ear open for the sound of the printer churning out large quantities and attempt to have constuctive (and instructive!) conversations with users. We also have a designated person who ensures computers and monitors are fully OFF at the end of each day.
Our water dispenser has in-line cooling and heat-on-demand to save electricity.
With over 70 million bottles ending up in North American landfills every year, bottled water is pricey for you and the environment (for more, see the June 11, 2008 blog entry) but many people don’t like the taste of tap water. We purchased this Energy Star certified cooler from Canadian Tire. We get pure (reverse osmosis process, like Dasani) water from a local water shop at just $2.50 for a 5 gallon jug refill and use our own cups. We bring in the jugs ourselves, rather than have them delivered, to limit our carbon footprint.
That’s a few of our initiatives in the Career Centre… why not post ideas for what you do in your department?!
When I ws covering Earth Hour in Toronto, one of the restaurants was using dry erase boards instead of paper in order to reduce their overall paper consumption. I was thinking that this might be a good idea for this initiative.
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