Hi all -

I've been banging my head against a wall trying to come up with ways to encourage my employees to use less paper in our office. We have an active recycling program, but getting staff members to actually cut down on what they print has become a real challenge. I go to the printer, and the documents that are printed around here often seem totally unnecessary.

Does anyone have any helpful hints or experience with this issue? I was thinking about an incentive program, or a training session. I appreciate any feedback you can provide!

Joe

I have the same problem in my office - there seems to be a lot of paper waste these days, especially as we have been trying to move to a paperless, computer-based model.

I've been thinking about how to address the situation, and what I am going to do here in the office (with cooperation hopefully) is treat it like any other training issue. I don't know if I should expect my employees to reduce their paper use unless I provide strategies for them to do so. So...I am currently constructing a training program for new and existing employees (I assume it will be a mandatory 1/2 session or something) that will teach some tricks (like how to print out doubled sided, or shrink font so more can fit on a page) and guidelines on what information should be read on screen and what should be printed out in hard copy. For fun, I thought I would also throw in some facts about how many trees we would each year with paper use reduction, and perhaps (I am getting ahead of myself) do some tree planting in our office park to showcase the company committment.

These are just thoughts - I haven't tried the training yet - but I thought I share my idea and see if anyone has tried a kind of formal training for the paper use problem. I figure we train for diversity, emergencies, etc., we could maybe do this too.

What about waste in the employee cafeteria? It's easy to overlook - vending machine waste, coffee stir sticks, napkins, plates, etc. Would it be better to have reusable plates and cups for employees which would have to be washed, or is recycling the disposable paper items a better option? We are struggling with what would be more environmentally sound in terms of water and energy waste (and as always, what employees would be willing to do).

A coworker and I are were just talking about how to incentivize employees to use less paper. Has anyone instituted a rewards program for reduction in paper use in their offices? We were thinking that for every $500 saved, there could be another quarterly spot bonus awarded within the company.

But, of course, then the question is how to track the savings, and where - company wide or department specific?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

I'm all for saving paper and energy efficiency. My probelm is, since when did all this become part of an environmental manger's job? All of a sudden I'm appointed to "Green" committees just because environmental is in my job title.

Has this trend toward "greening the workplace" affected anyone else's responsibilities?

So far, I haven't had any changes in responsibilities concerning "going green."  I have, however, suggested starting a policy regarding unnecessary idling and I have also suggested installing computers that record driving activities on the trucks.  Giving a Honda Civic hell on the throttle is one thing; a Chevrolet Silverado 3500 with a wide bed, lift gate, and full load in the bed is a whole new ballgame.

Gas is expensive.  Considering Americans gripe and complain about it so much, you'd think they'd do something.  They don't.  Well over 70% of full-sized SUVs and trucks I see speed heavily and act like they have to drag race every car they pull up next to.

-Justin