Zero Waste Week

zerowaste20Zero Waste Week takes place from the 1st - 7th September 2014 in the UK and here are founder Rachelle Strauss' top 20 tips to help businesses reduce their waste20 tips to reduce waste in your business

  • Appoint a waste prevention team to brainstorm ideas, raise awareness and motivate staff
  • Take a waste audit - supply clear bin bags for waste for a week and see what people are throwing away. Keep it light-hearted - no blaming!
  • Start small - after you've done your waste audit, choose one more waste stream you could recycle
  • Choose recycled products - such as paper - to close the loop and increase demand for recycled items
  • Ask suppliers to take back bulk packaging for re-use
  • Provide reusable cups and glasses for staff rather than disposable ones
  • Reuse incoming packaging such as boxes for outgoing orders and envelopes for sending internal mail
  • Use concentrated cleaning products
  • Challenge staff to pack a zero waste lunch rather than going to a supermarket and buying packaged foods
  • Or, organise a pot luck lunch
  • Set all printers to print double sided and switch to draft quality where possible
  • Get your business off mailing lists to avoid junk mail
  • Use refillable printer cartridges and rechargeable batteries
  • Set up a Terracycle brigade for disposable biros and other 'non-recyclable' products
  • Start a community garden and compost heap for your tea bags, coffee grounds and fruit cores
  • Donate old furniture to organisations such as Green Furniture http://www.greenfurniture.org.uk/
  • Hold a stationery amnesty - a 'no questions asked' drop off point for staff to return excess stationery
  • Recycle mobile phones, toner and printer cartridges and light bulbs for a charity
  • Put recycling bins next to printers and photocopiers to serve as a friendly reminder
  • Set up a carrier bag sharing point - it saves staff each coming back to the office with a new disposable bag!

http://www.zerowasteweek.co.uk/

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