Zero waste at work

David and Gabby Locke and the Entire Tech team receiving their Switched on Business Award from City of Armadale Mayor and Chairperson of the South East Regional Energy Group, Ruth Butterfield. They were joined by Cr Aaron Adams (City of Gosnells / SEREG delegate), City of Melville Business Development Advisor Stuart Tomlinson and Sustainability Engagement Officer Jess Sutherland. Photo credit: City of Melville. 

The term ‘zero waste’ can seem intimidating. By breaking the idea down into a series of achievable actions, we can celebrate small successes and pave the way for a zero waste future.

You probably spend many of your waking hours at work. We’ve compiled our top five tips for being zero waste at work. You don’t have to pressure team members or get approval from your manager. Start small and quietly and you may just be the ripple that starts a zero waste movement at your workplace.

  1. Pack your lunch. The simple act of packing your lunchbox can save mountains of plastic packaging, and disposable cutlery over the course of a year. Your bank balance and health will also benefit from less take away food.
  2. Compost. Many of us happily toss dinner scraps into a worm farm or compost bin, but what about your fruit scraps, left overs, tea bags and coffee grounds from your day at work? If your workplace doesn’t have a compost bin, pack up your scraps and take them home with you to rot in peace in your home worm farm or compost bin.
  3. Digitise. It appears the paperless office is a myth. But we can still try to reduce the amount of paper we use every day. Only print when you really need to and keep notes digitally in a word document, notepad file or digital sticky note.  Less paper also means fewer staples, binders, files, paperclips and all of the packaging that comes along with stationery.
  4. Choose to reuse. Keep common reusable items close at hand. Storing reusable shopping bags for your lunch break grocery shop, your travel mug for the morning coffee run and a stash of cutlery just in case will mean you won’t need to fall back on single-use alternatives.
  5. Zero waste challenge. If you’re in an office, try removing your bin from under your desk. Or at least challenge yourself to leave it empty at the end of the day. You may still have a little bit of rubbish – but there will be other bins close by if you really need them.