Greening the Company

[the.fee.fairy]

Right guys...tall order here.

I work for a non-green rather planet damaging company, It is one that is an airline and an exporter.

Anyway. I have been given the task, along with a senior manager to make the bit that i work at more green!

At the moment, we have paper recycling, and they're in talks with a firm who will be handling the stuff for recycling (i'm going to look them up in a minute and see what they offer).

The company is global, and in the Indianapolis hub, they are self sufficient energy-wise. I'd like to do the same for the hub that i work at eventually.

Like all big companies, they do have spending issues...and as we're located on an airport, its more difficult than normal to get planning permission etc. There's no chance of a wind turbine!! We do, however own the building.

So...has anyone else 'Greened' their companies? And how did you go about starting? I have the full support of a senior manager and can therefore pretty much put any suggestion forward.

[hamster]

Oof, what a task! Go you!

I'm no expert on microgeneration, but would solar panels be a possibility for hot water or power?

Also, boring stuff like buy recycled paper as well as recycling your own, cycle parking and showers to encourage people to cycle to work, maybe a cycle to work scheme, I think some companies have ones where they loan you a bike or the money to buy one or something..... As airports tend to be located away from where people live you might have this already, but a shuttle bus from the nearest station/town could stop people needing to drive? I worked at a business park that did that.

Stick signs everywhere telling people to turn their computers and other equipment off at night. I was in an office the other day where you got a monkey sticker stuck on your monitor if you forgot to turn it off (which sounds mean when you put it like that, but I think it was quite light-hearted). Or a sin-bin where people pledged to remember to turn things off at night and if they forgot they put 20p or something in a tin and at the end of the week they bought cake with it or something. I met a very geeky bloke once who was energy monitor at his company and he said that it was easy to know what to do, but harder to do it and get other people to do it, so he checked regularly how much energy they were using and made it a sort of competition to see if different teams/buildings etc could get their usage down.

Is working from home an option for any/more people? Is there a canteen and what do they serve? Is it cooked there or trucked in? I'd imagine turning it over to home-cooked, local, organic, seasonal food would be a bit of a tall order, but if there is someone who could do that it would be great. In a previous incarnation I spoke to hospitals that had done that and they'd all actually saved money over using contract caterers.

All I can think of atm, but will keep pondering...

[marshlander]

When I worked in an ofice, we got rid of the drinks vending machine and plastic throwaway cups and went back to kettle and mugs. The cleaner was willing to wash up and tidy the kitchen for a bit extra.

You could consider telephone conferencing.

If the suits have company cars I doubt they'll give them up but you could encourage them to have the least polluting model when next replaced.

Do they use bottled water?

If you have paper towels or old hot air dryers they can be replaced with energy efficient models.

How about a suggestion box at work too?

[MKG]

Dig up the runways.

[Clara]

Dig up the runways.

Bring it on

[mrsflibble]

I gave up trying to green my ex employer. he didn't want to know.

[Wombat]

Hey Fee!

How about installing sensalights so that when people weren't in an office the lights would shut down?

Nev

[Ellendra]

Hey Fee!

How about installing sensalights so that when people weren't in an office the lights would shut down?

Nev

Just make sure that the sensors in the restrooms are low enough to be triggered by people's feet under the stall door. Some things can't be done as easily in the dark.

[ina]

Hey Fee!

How about installing sensalights so that when people weren't in an office the lights would shut down?

Nev

Just make sure that the sensors in the restrooms are low enough to be triggered by people's feet under the stall door. Some things can't be done as easily in the dark.

I think it was the Scottish Parliament where they got rid of the sensors, as the lights kept turning themselves off - in the offices...


Anyway: definitely start with saving energy rather than building wind generators etc. Suggest they buy their energy from a "green" supplier.

Is there an environment committee? You shouldn't do this on your own - it's much better to have a few like minded people behind you. (I'm on our committee at work - for the first time next week...)

[the.fee.fairy]

We have sensor lights in the offies and the canteens, and they've finally started getting people to turn their computers off at night.

We've also go paper recycling.

I've got the support of a senior manager, and from there, all the senior managers, and they will find out information, compare prices, speak to the higher echelons etc on my behalf.

I actually have them thinking over solar panels at the moment!! I'm quite surprised. I did a rough calculation and worked out that if they spent £1m of the profits they made on solar panels, they'd get it back within about 4-5 years (this was a rough estimate!!).

We're also looking into replacing the van and truck fleet with hybrids, but there could be cost issues with that.

All the 'inside' vehicles, like forklifts and the vehicles that go to the planes are all run on LPG.

I'd love the dig up the runways, but there are some valid reasons for an air freight company to exist. I never though i'd say it, but there are some things that need to be exported overnight, and air is the only way to do it. The company i work for export human tissues, bloods and organs a lot. Without the overnight air freight, these items would be no good for testing/use.

I know...i know...it sounds like a cop out!! The Millions of documents could go by post, but there are some things that have to go overnight!

[ina]

We've also go paper recycling.

Make sure they USE recycled paper as well as recycling their own... When I asked how much recycled paper we were using, after our management had been going on about how good they were in recycling 80% or whatever of all their paper, I was given funny looks! What's the good in recycling it when nobody wants to use the end product of the process?!

(Sorry to roll out Germany again - but all official paperwork, i.e. anything from tax forms to normal letters, was on 100% recycled paper ages ago, when recycled still meant grey. So what? Can't we read it just the same if it's on grey paper rather than white?)

[Thomzo]

Our office has lots of separate bins for rubbish. We don't have bins by our desks so it encourages you to split out plastic bottles, paper, cups etc.

In my last place we also had a large box for things that could go to the scrap store. Things like unusual packaging, old files, spare stationery, promotional items all went in the box and went off to the scrap store every so often.

You can also collect cans and sell them for scrap metal.

Zoe

[Annpan]

You could look into the 'bike to work' doo dah wotsit - all to do with getting bikes for the employees and getting tax breaks for company and employee.

I like Ina's idea of getting recycled products - you can get lots of recycled promotional stuff too, and all stationary stuff should defo. be the recycled stuff - prices are probably not that different.

Make sure that any tea/ coffee / etc provided in machines or in the tea room is fair trade organic.

If stuff is getting recycled make sure it actually is getting reccycled - I worked for a swedish company who were very much into their eco-credentials, so all our waste was sent off for recycling - till one day I was working loading the lorry that took the recycling to the depot (along with other stuff), and the driver asked why we don't just bin it, he said that was all they did at the depot anyway - just dump it in the big skip this was a few years ago now though, and (I think) more folks take it seriously now

[ina]

Here at HQ we have quite a few problems with the separate bins - staff just won't use them properly, and the Environment Committee member that had been sorting through the bins is fed up with the job... It's amazing how many people can't understand the words "drinks cans only" - and they are all highly educated, too!

[Annpan]

I've seen bins with cardboard lids with a single can sized circle in it - if it doesn't stop people pushing crisp packets in, at least it makes them think/makes it difficult for them.

You could try that - using the lid of a document box or something similar. Same for paper one, just have a slit that paper will fit through but not plastic bottles or drinks cans.