Does your office recycle? If not, you might want to think about starting a program. Recycling is not only good for the environment but is also good for business in a variety of ways.
Recycling Saves Money
Recycling can minimize garbage disposal costs and potentially earn revenue for your business. Recycling reduces the amount of trash in your dumpster, as well as the frequency of trash pick-ups. You may even be able to negotiate your waste contracts to reduce the cost of trash collections. On average, it costs more for businesses to dispose of waste than to recycle the same amount of items. In fact, recycling is less expensive than land-filling since materials are being reused instead of occupying more space in landfills.
Recycling Can Save Office Space
Recycling paper files and scanning them into digital files will save a considerable amount of space in your office. After receiving documents, scan the necessary paperwork into a digital file and recycle your paper (or up-cycle it as printer paper or note paper). Not only does this save space in the office, but it saves money spent on file cabinets and paper as well. While this can benefit any office, it will be particularly space efficient for law firms whose work product is mostly contained on paper.
How To Start A Recycling Program
1. Start Small
If your office has never had a recycling program before, it is a good idea to start small, recycling only one or two categories of items. For instance, you may decide to start with paper and aluminum soda cans. Starting small allows you to more easily make decisions on how to begin. It will also allow you to make adjustments to the program as you deem necessary.
2. Appoint a Recycling Director
Any new initiative needs a leader to help design and implement the program. Find an employee who is already interested in recycling and will be a good advocate for the recycling program. Depending on the size of your law firm, you may need more than one director on the team.
3. Find a Collection Service
Before you begin collecting recyclables, it is a good idea to find and engage the recycling service. They may have rules that you need to be aware of, such as the types of bins with which you will be collecting recyclables. Contact a service before you make any decisions about how the program will be implemented so that you can include practices that fit their requirements.
4. Begin Collecting Recyclables
Once you decide which service you will be using, ask if they provide containers. If they do not, ask if they have a suggestion for what types of containers you should purchase. Once you have acquired containers, explain the program thoroughly to all staff and begin collecting.
Recycling is good for the environment and good for your firm. Your law firm can save money and save storage space in the office. You also may have some clients who are enthusiastic about recycling and will appreciate your effort to keep our world green.
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