Introduction
Understanding waste management is one thing, but implementing sustainable practices in our everyday lives can pose challenges. Whether it is at the office, in public settings, or inside a household, engaging in positive waste management practices doesn’t necessarily come easily or naturally; it takes effort.
However, committing to sustainable practices, even at the individual level, is a step toward creating a world of global citizens, those who recognize their responsibility and impacts on the world around them.
In our own communities, promoting sustainable practices can build accountability and incentives. So, how can we go about bringing these practices into our lives and the lives of those around us?
Promote Positive Action by Example
To bring positive practices and examples to our communities, we must first be committed to them ourselves. No one wants to be told what to do by someone who doesn’t have to follow the same rules.
So, committing to individual goals and positive actions can promote and encourage similar behaviors within our communities. For example:
- Opting for reusable coffee cups over single-use coffee cups at work
- After eating lunch with single-use plastics, take the time to separate your waste in the correct recycling bins (yes, including rinsing your plastics)
These actions, while less fun initially, promote positive behavior for those around you, and allow for you to move forward in constituting community-level goals and actions. Making recycling fun starts with making it visible and normalized.
“The key to recycling is making it social and rewarding.”
Engage in Conversations
After establishing your own commitments, engaging in conversations can bring sustainability awareness and practices to the next level.
This can be done through initiating conversations with:
- Roommates or family within your household
- Coworkers in your office
- Friends in your community
Talk about how you can create better habits, both on an individual and collective level. Consider waste management systems you have seen or heard about and how you might be able to implement them, or even aspects of them, into your own communities.
With your chosen group, make goals that are achievable but address the weaknesses of your current sustainability practices. These goals can be:
- As simple as relocating and reorganizing your waste management systems with proper recycling cans, so they are clear and convenient for everyone
- As ambitious as aiming to reduce waste significantly by eliminating most single-use plastic products
Your goals are up to you!
Make It a Game… Create Incentive
How exactly can we incentivize sustainable habits and practices in a productive and long-term manner? Once goals are set, it’s easy to forget the purpose of creating them in the first place. This is where it could be useful to incentivize (and where recycling fun really begins!).
Print challenges could be implemented to keep track of how many sheets of paper are printed by each individual. Encourage people to:
- Print as little as possible
- Use the double-sided feature
- Reward those who print the least over a given timeframe
Zero waste day: On this assigned day, people would be asked to refrain from bringing single-use plastics into the office. They could be rewarded with reusable coffee cups to keep at the office.
Be creative! There are countless games and challenges that can promote sustainable practices and waste management. When you set goals, the group can brainstorm as many challenges as possible to address! The key to recycling fun is making it social and rewarding.
And of course, having the right office recycling bins makes these challenges easier to implement.
Recognize and Celebrate
Once your goals have been met, celebrate your successes! It’s important to set goals that can be quantified so you have the opportunity to celebrate your accomplishments and the milestones on the way to your goals.
After goals have been met, continue setting them! Keep goals new and exciting so as not to forget or become distracted from the overarching goal of sustainability. Even goals that have been accomplished should be recognized until they become natural habits.
Other milestones can be celebrated, like Earth Day or Green Up Day, by actively participating in the community outside of your household or office space. Making recycling fun means celebrating every step forward.
The Bottom Line
Challenges, within the office or at home, can create accountability, which encourages positive habits. While initially adopting new practices may be difficult, we may just surprise ourselves with how quickly we can implement even one new habit into our lives.
Who said waste management couldn’t be fun?
Ready to make recycling fun in your space? Having the right recycling bins and systems makes sustainable practices easier and more engaging for everyone. At Recycle Away, we have waste solutions and recycling bins to suit every need.
