Minimise Waste at the University

It is generally accepted that recycling unwanted items is better than sending them to landfill. This is just one element of sustainable waste management.

It makes sense, both economically and environmentally, to minimise waste at source by reducing the amount of rubbish we generate in the first place; in other words to think about disposal before making a purchase and throughout the life of a product.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• When purchasing new equipment, do you really need to make the purchase, and which product would result in less waste?
• Can we substitute short life items with long life ones; for example disposable or single use with reusable and rechargeable products?
• Can a product be reused, or used more fully before disposal?

What you can do in the office

There are many opportunities to minimise waste in the office. Why not try some of these:

• Regularly check mailing lists and remove duplicates and out of date contacts or addresses
• Reduce unwanted mail by returning circulars addressed to colleagues who have left the University. Cross out the address and mark the item ‘Return to Sender - addressee has left the organisation - please remove from mailing list’
• Use a glass or refill a bottle at the water cooler rather than using disposable cups
• Use both sides of the paper. Whenever possible use double sided photocopying and duplex printing, particularly for multiple page items
• Use scrap paper for notes to colleagues or taking down messages
• Reuse envelopes for internal circulation
• Reuse wallet folders, hanging-file dividers and other storage items
• Use shredded paper for protective packaging and reuse jiffy bags and bubble wrap where possible
• Offer unwanted but reusable items to other staff via Personal Items before considering disposal
• Offer unwanted books for colleagues or students to look through and take if they want
• Get creative; for example old CDs/CD-R's make great coasters!

Time to de-clutter your office

An office full of equipment, stationary supplies and bulging files on your shelves can seem like the natural order of things, but it’s all too easy for a functional workspace to become cluttered, making you less efficient and less comfortable. You may even be thinking about a big sort out ahead of an office move. Why not take some time this summer to free up space and de-clutter your office?

To help you in this process we have created a guide to help you de-clutter your office while ensuring you recycle and reuse as much of your office waste as possible. We have broken the process down into 10 manageable 10-30 minute chunks which can be carried out independently of each other so you can schedule them into your day. Take a look at BU’s guide to de-cluttering your office the sustainable way.

Office De-clutter Recycling Guide (pdf 778kb)

For information about reducing waste at home, please visit www.recyclenow.com and click on ‘What more can I do’.

• Waste and Recycling
• University Waste Facts
• University Waste Management
• Waste Awareness and Links