Waste Prevention
There are many things you can do to reduce your waste that involve little to no cost. With a little dedication, these tips can become best practices for your organization.
Reduce Paper Use
Although the prevalence of laser printers and high quality copiers made the fabled "paperless office" a joke, with over three times more paper consumed each year by American business, the Internet era has made the goal far more attainable. Here are some ideas for reducing paper use:
- Print double-sided.
- Use single-sided discards for draft prints and photocopies.
- Print only the number of copies you need.
- Save documents in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) and share them through email.
- Use Word's annotation features to edit and markup documents on your computer screen.
- Use Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader to share and markup drafts of documents on your screen.
- Route paper-only documents to the various stakeholders rather than making photo copies for each person.
Reduce Shipping Materials
- Reuse boxes and packing for packages you send.
- Use shreded office paper for packing instead of new styrofoam peanuts.
- Whenever possible, use or request that suppliers use durable packaging that can be reused.
Other Tips
- Stem the tide of junk mail and waste paper by removing yourself from unncessary mailing lists.
- Review your internal business processes to ensure that your use of supplies does not generate extra and unnecessary waste and expense.
- Purchase durable equipment and regularly maintain it. From tractors to office chairs, you can avoid waste by buying quality gear and taking good care of it.
- Buy recycled toner cartridges and recycle spent cartridges.
Tips for Specific Industries
The California Integrated Waste Management Board offers tips for specific industries. The links below provide more information for these industries.