How to Celebrate Earth Day at Work

Many businesses are beginning to promote procurement, packaging and waste-management practices that are environmentally friendly. One way in which companies are promoting green practices is by promoting the causes of individual employees. You can celebrate Earth Day at work to increase efficiency without increasing costs.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Head into work on Earth Day with an environmentally friendly commute. You can share a ride with coworkers in your neighborhood and walk to area businesses to celebrate Earth Day in an appropriate way.
2. Promote the recycling of bottles, cans and paper in your office by offering an incentive in the week before Earth Day. You can assign trashcans to each section of your office and give a gift certificate to the department with the largest number of cans.
3. Encourage the use of the front and back of print paper for internal documents. You can place a bin next to each printer in your office to store sheets that have been printed on one side. These sheets can be inserted into the printer for new documents.
4. Contact your office-equipment supplier to determine various ways to recycle old equipment in your office. The benefits of returning printers and computers may include a discount on new purchases as well as a cleaner office.
5. Gather toner cartridges, fluorescent bulbs and other unique recyclables in your office for proper disposal. You can celebrate Earth Day by promoting the idea that many items within the office can be recycled or disposed cleanly.
6. Turn your computer screen, printer and scanner off when you walk away from your workspace. Remind your coworkers to shut off equipment during breaks and meetings to help the company save on electrical costs.
7. Ascend to your workplace by walking up stairs instead of taking the elevator on Earth Day. You should encourage colleagues to follow you up and down stairs to save on energy costs and promote a healthy lifestyle.
8. Prepare a luncheon with your managers and coworkers, sharing organic and fair-trade foods on Earth Day. These foods will show skeptical workers that organic and fair-trade items can be tasty and high quality. You should prepare miniature cards about each food to show their origins and cost.
9. Begin a campaign for the exclusive use of electronic documents on Earth Day. Your efforts at promoting the use of digital documents should include a meeting with your boss and supervisors and a discussion with your colleagues about the virtues of e-documents.