4 steps toward reducing office waste

On average, humans produce 4.3 pounds of waste a day, Greenbiz.com reports. Cutting down on the amount of waste your office produces is a positive step toward a sustainable building and an example of corporate leadership. It can reduce hazardous materials, cut down on costs and streamline business process automation. Listed below are ways in which you and your coworkers can curtail the daily waste stream.

Measure your waste
Having your hauler measure your waste is the first step toward eliminating the bulk of it. If you're aware of how much you and your coworkers produce every day, it will be much easier to track progress and produce initiatives for the reduction of wasteful materials. Also, you can use the Environmental Protection Agency's "WARM" calculator. This allows you to see your impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Cut down on packaging
Any sort of packaging, from water bottles to cardboard boxes, can be switched out for a less wasteful alternative. When it comes to water, use glasses, filters or reusable, sustainably manufactured water bottles instead. Bottled water costs 2,000 times more than tap water. As for other sorts of packaging, consider that when Pepsi-Cola switched from corrugated cardboard to reusable plastic shipping containers, the company saved $44 million.

Recycle the waste you can't eliminate
If you can't make a switch like Pepsi made, recycling is always another option. Make recycling containers more convenient for employees to access. If you increase your recycling rate, according to Greenbiz.com, it is also possible to lessen the frequency of trash pick-ups. Even wasted food can be recycled. Depending on your location, some farms will offer food waste programs that will collect the edibles for pigs. This can save up to 50 percent over landfill based hauling methods.

Go paperless
Los Angeles-based CBRE recently went paperless, and this in addition to other strategies has saved the company money. Approximately 30 percent over a 10-year period reports Greenbiz.com. This opened up space needed for storage in addition to lowering printing costs. According to Outright.com, paperless operations also offer further benefits. Increased productivity due to sped-up operations and a thorough document management software platform will inevitably lead to better customer service. Additionally, content management services provide much better security than paper-based transactions. Records can be saved and backed up on multiple platforms, and employees can be given password-required access to sensitive documents.

Brought to you by Image One Corporation providing complete information governance since 1994.