The green warrior
Almost every employee, myself included, has been in serious trouble with the boss this month.
However, it's had nothing to do with work or client satisfaction. Operations Director, Daniel, has launched a one-man Kony 2012-style offensive against rubbish! I hate to admit it, but he has a point. Our waste bins have long been overflowing with coffee cups, Curly Wurly wrappers, banana peels and junk mail (real-world junk mail) - and that's embarrassingly wasteful.
To snap us into line, he's purchased twin EcoBin recycling and landfill bins for each workstation. We'd love to say this simple addition changed our habits overnight, but it's actually taken a little time for some of us to get used to. We all knew that paper was recyclable, but what about paper bags with small food scraps on them? Or broken glass? Or foam packaging? The answers are 'yes', 'no' and 'no' by the way.
Lachie getting some much needed basketball practice.
It turns out 'going green' is not just about buying a yellow bin, it's an ongoing education. There are now signs in our kitchen, and our group chat application, Slack, now has a dedicated 'recycling' channel, where we post questions about what we can and can't chuck away. There are bigger plans for the future too; we're now recycling 'soft plastics' separately and planning to start a compost heap on our rooftop!
We've also switched to a greener electricity company called Powershop, we're using KeepCups for our takeaway coffee, and buy our afternoon snacks in bulk to save packaging and money.
Sure, none of these are massive changes, but collectively they make a decent impact. So here's the part where I'll preach. Is recycling at your work a token effort, or do all of your colleagues do their part for the environment?
The biggest thing I've learned in this process is that a lot more materials are recyclable than I first thought. If you take just a bit of time to look at your own workplace, perhaps you'll discover something different. It might be a report that doesn't need to be printed, a regular purchase you can change, or an incentive for your employees to ride to work.
So go ahead and see what green opportunities you can find. Don't be fazed if your colleagues call you a 'hippie'. Captain Planet and the Optimising team are proud of you.
James Richardson
Co-Founder
James is Co-Founder of Optimising who’s worked with everyone from national retailers and franchise groups to fast-growing eCommerce brands. He’s as interested in how AI engines send traffic as he is in old-fashioned rankings, and spends a lot of time testing how brands show up across search.
He started out running sports fan sites and early eCommerce stores, picked up a few senior sales and marketing roles at ASX-listed companies, then decided to build the kind of SEO agency he actually wanted to work at. Outside work, James is usually being out-negotiated by his three daughters, hosting very serious pretend tea parties, or supervising yet another cubby house build in the lounge room.
