And we’re back…with office recycling!

Monday, 14 June 2010

You may have noticed that My Green Journey has not progressed in a while. This is due to a takeover process in which the Tuminator waved farewell and handed the project over to me, an eco ninja known only as the Manic Organic. You can read more about that in the update at the end of the About the Journey page, but right let’s get down to the business of going green.

Millions are being spent on large scale green industry developments as the environmental movement continues to gain momentum across the world. While these expensive projects are indeed progressive and necessary, it’s important that we all take responsibility for the planet and do what we can in our own daily spaces and places.

Most of us spend between 6 to 8 hours every day at work or school – institutions which require the use of resources like paper and plastic to run efficiently. We also tend to consume a lot of food and drink products during this time of the day, which can lead to a substantial accumulation of rubbish.

Waste not, want not

Although separating waste may seem like an obvious procedure, many businesses don’t realise the difference they can make by implementing a simple office recycling program. I noticed that the bin in our office kitchen is always full of cooldrink cans and glass bottles and plastic containers, not to mention the reams of paper which end up next to the printer.

A friend recommended the Oasis Association, a super cool organisation which offers free collection of recyclable material to over 200 businesses in Cape Town, and processes over 250 tonnes of rubbish a month. Just imagine the amount of landfill space saved over time! As well as making a valuable contribution to the environment the Oasis Association is also impacting society by providing jobs for numerous intellectually disabled people.

I contacted the friendly people at Oasis and signed up for their business collection program, no problem. I then set up three bins in our company’s kitchen for glass, paper and plastic, plus a large bin in the office for paper waste.

Oasis comes to collect the recyclable material on a regular basis and our small company is that much greener. I had no idea office recycling was so easy! Contact the Oasis Association if you work in Cape Town and would like to start a recycling scheme in your office. A simple Google search brings up loads of similar organisations all over South Africa, so you can get involved no matter where you are.

Leave a comment and tell us about your office recycling scheme or let us know about any other great recycling programs worth supporting!