Most offices have a janitorial or custodial vendor who cleans offices. It is important to have your vendors support your organizations sustainability program.To encourage ‘green’ cleaning ask your vendor for the following;
Use green cleaning supplies. Make sure cleaning supplies are non-toxic and eco-friendly. Seventh Generation and All Green have a great line of cleaning products.
Turn off lights. Ask your janitorial staff to turn off all lights upon leaving the building. This supports accountability with this simple energy saving action.
Provide recycling and waste data. In order to improve recycling and waste management it is important to get data from your janitorial staff on the usage of receptacles along with rate of recycling. Make sure your janitorial staff is managing waste responsibly.
Here are the Top 10 Clues That You’re an Environmentalist that was developed by the Natural Marketing Institute at the LOHAS 2009 conference:
1. Your workplace doesn’t have recycling so you bring everything home
2. Your Tupperware® collection consists of reclaimed takeout containers, yogurt containers, and salvaged jars
3. You have maximized the number of places to dry Ziploc® bags in your kitchen
4. You glare at people at the store who don’t have a canvas bag
5. You double-glare at the ones who ask for things to be double-bagged
6. You don’t blink when paying $5/pound for local, heirloom tomatoes
7. Your conscience prevents you from jet skiing, despite it looking SO fun
8. You worry about cow flatulence
9. You have visions of drowning polar bears each time you adjust the thermostat
10. Your friends have finally stopped asking you for advice on how to be green, knowing you will offer it soon enough…
I travel a lot as a consultant. In some cities I see some great green stuff going on. It is easy to recycle, easy to get public transportation and travel green. In other cities in can be a constant struggle. I find the best way to get these cities on board is to continue to ask, even though I know the answer might be ‘no’ or ‘not possible’. I ask hotels about recycling program, I ask restaurants for their organic dishes, I ask the tourist information about public transportation. The more we as consumers ask, the greater liklihood, that cities, hotels and restaurants will start taking action. I would love to know how you travel green…
I just finished a week long trash log. This is an exercise I ask of my clients and thought I better to do it myself. I wrote down each and every piece of trash that I had and what I did with it– recycled, composted or re-used or discarded. Then, with items I had to discard I wrote down alternative options for the future. Although I consider myself a trash ‘connoisseur’ I discovered through this exercise even how I can get better with my own waste. If you haven’t done it yet, I would highly encourage anyone to track their trash for a week. You will discover not only how much trash you really do accumulate but you will gain more consciousness before throwing it away. I’d love to hear your experience of conducting a trash log.
Energy Saving, Green Business | eco-officiency February 9, 2010 | 
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