What can you recycle in your cubicle?

Let’s play a game — a recycling game. This game is in honor of America Recycles Day to get us all in the correct mindset to do our part of environmental stewardship.

Wherever you are, however you’re reading this, stop and take a look around. Are you at home, or at your place of work? Are you in a coffee shop? It doesn’t matter the setting; just take a few seconds to scope out your surroundings and take a mental note of everything that can be recycled, reused or even upcycled. The goal here is to ponder how many things in your immediate area can be disposed of, or given a next “life” without having to hit the landfill.

Odds are the percentage of items nearby that qualify for this little test is probably at or very near 100%. Are you surprised, or maybe even skeptical? I’ll play, too.

As I’m writing, I’m in a typical computer-in-a-cubicle setup. Looking around, I see a computer, which includes the screen, mouse, keyboard and attachments. These are all very much recyclable, as the components are predominantly made of plastics and metals. E-waste recyclers are popping up around the country and can be found easily with our recycling location finder.

Next, I see a desk phone, plastic filing trays, a metal desk shelf, wire mesh office supply holders and various office knickknacks like paper clips, a hole puncher and all sorts of papers.

Guess what? Those can all be recycled as well, either through traditional means of sorting metals into a metals bins and plastics into another, or simply by taking quality items to a local charity as a donation. Of note, plastics numbers 1 to 7 are those that can typically be recycled easiest.

One last turn and I see a few reusable drink containers. Like the other products, these fall into two categories: metal or plastic. The same rule applies here: Either sort by material type for recycling or add to the donation box.

Notably absent are plastic bottles that soda and water come in. Those too can be recycled, of course, but I align with the camp that attempts not to use them at all.

By no means is the above list extensive. Obviously, I’m leaving out very commonplace items that can be recycled like newspapers, bottles and cans, clothing, etc. But, hopefully, this little exercise can train your eye to look at all objects with a thought toward their end of life. In fact, after looking my workspace, I have found only two products that I’m not entirely positive can be recycled: rubber bands and binders. Feel free to offer advice in the comments section on how to recycle such problematic objects.

The message of this post is straightforward: No matter where you are and what you buy, use and inevitably dispose of, odds are that these products are recyclable. Recycling has evolved over the years to accept most everything. It is has also developed into a globally accepted practice, which is perfect, seeing as how the result of recycling is to create a cleaner, greener world.

So, this month, be sure to browse your surroundings with a green lens and see how you can reduce the need for landfills by recycling as much as possible. Remember: Be sure to check out the official America Recycles Day website to learn more and find recycling events in your area.

Recently, however, I found a company that will help me recycle my glue containers: Elmer’s Glue. The company, which began in 1947, started its recycling program for schools on Earth Day 2011.

Here’s how it works:

• Sign up. Sign up your classroom at elmersgluecrew.com.
• Collect and clean. Collect your Elmer’s Washable School Glue and Glue Sticks. Clean the empty glue bottles and glue sticks as best you can with warm water. Elmer’s will accept all brands for recycling, although it can’t guarantee they will meet the strict standards for recycling of these types of plastics.
• Send for recycling. Both Walmart and TerraCycle offer ways to recycle your empty containers:
  • Walmart
    • Collect empty glue sticks and glue bottles.
    • Once your collection box is full, close the box and print the official Elmer’s Glue Crew Recycling Program mailing label and affix to the outside of the box.
    • Bring your full receptacle of empty glue containers to your nearest Walmart and give it to one of the Walmart People Greeters.
  • TerraCycle
    • Collect empty glue sticks and glue bottles.
    • Once you have collected at least 250 empty glue bottles or glue sticks, put them into a reused box (about the size of a copy paper box).
    • Sign in to your account at terracycle.net and click on “Get Mailing Labels” on the left side of the Elmer’s Glue Crew Brigade page to print a prepaid shipping label. Place the label on your filled box and take it to a UPS drop-off location.

I also haven’t found anywhere that recycles tape, but I have found a greener tape with a reusable dispenser. 3M makes Scotch Magic Greener Tape, which is an environmentally friendly version of the company’s original matte-finish invisible tape. The tape contains more than 75% recycled or plant-based materials based on the weight of the product, including the tape, dispenser and packaging. The two-piece refillable dispenser and the core within the roll of tape are both made from 100% recycled plastic.

Scotch Tape has also collaborated with TerraCycle to keep used tape dispensers out of landfills. Through the Scotch Tape Brigade program people will be able to collect used Scotch Clear Tape dispensers and cores. Once 50 dispensers and cores are collected, they can be shipped back to be recycled and kept out of landfills.

For more information on this innovative program, visit terracycle.net.

I talked about how to reuse and recycle CDs and CD-Rs recently, but now I’m going to tell you how to get rid of, and even repurpose, the most underestimated office staple: the file cabinet.

My absolute favorite way to make new use of an old file cabinet is to turn it into a desk. The 8-foot-long desk in my office is made from a door I bought at a yard sale attached to a couple of two-drawer file cabinets on each end. The cabinets have a wood veneer, so they look nice with the wooden door on top, but you could still pull it off with metal file cabinets.

If you wanted to take it up a notch with the metal variety, you could buy some sheets of lauan — an inexpensive and thin plywood with a similar grain to mahogany — and glue it to the top, sides and drawers of the cabinet. Presto, your very own chic wooden filing cabinets.

If you just don’t have the need to reuse a small file cabinet, or have industrial-size file cabinets that aren’t really suitable for such repurposing, there are plenty of ways to get rid of them without having them hauled away to the dump.

First, check your local charities, nonprofits or Habitat for Humanity branch and see if you can donate the file cabinet to them. If you can’t find a place to donate it, you can list it for free (or even a small price) on Craigslist or your local Freecycle group.

If that still doesn’t yield freedom from your antiquated file cabinet, take it to your local scrap yard or metal recycling facility and they’ll gladly accept your filing cabinet to break it down for scrap metal.

Lauren Wiltshire, Naked Binder

Naked Binder makes great binders with three distinct characteristics in mind: sustainability, durability and community.

Naked Binder is dedicated to eliminating PVC from our homes and workplaces by offering recycled, recyclable, three-ring bare-board binders. We use 100% post-consumer waste board to make incredibly strong, long-lasting and good-looking binders and pocket folders.

When we say that Naked Binders are recyclable, we mean the whole thing — in a matter of seconds, you can prepare your binder to be recycled. If you visit our website, you can see exactly how to get your binder ready for recycling by watching our video.

Naked Binders are not only aesthetically pleasing, with five binder styles in a variety of colors, four ring sizes and two spine styles, but they are also often touted as the strongest binder in the world.

We had an independent laboratory flex one of our binders 250,000 times and it’s still used today — that amounts to 20 uses a day for 34 years. While most binders fall apart after a few months of use, Naked Binders are designed to last, making purchases less frequent and therefore helping to reduce the footprint office supplies make on the planet.

Naked Binder supports the community by donating to educational services, including local and national schools, workshops and nonprofit programs. Naked Binder is also a member of 1% for the Planet, donating a part of its profits to preserving the wilderness and the wildlife that live there.

These binders save you money, last longer and are environmentally friendly. That is truly a sustainable three-ring binder.

For more information on Naked Binders’ full line of products, visit us at nakedbinder.com, or give us a call at 877.446.2533.

Lauren Wiltshire is an intern at Naked Binder in Des Moines, IA. She is from Littleton, CO, and currently attends Drake University, where she is entering her senior year studying marketing and management.

F-4 Ejection Seat. All images courtesy of MotoArt.

“This is a hard business. Not everyone loves fuselage office dividers. But if you believe in something you can never give up.”

— Dave Hall, Co-Founder, MotoArt

Ever caught yourself daydreaming while stuck in the office chair behind your monitor, imagining yourself as a pilot at the controls of a jet fighter or bomber? If not, then perhaps your levels of maturity are stratospherically higher than ours, but if the excitable child or adventurous spirit in you is not lost, then this high-flying range of furniture could be for you — provided you can afford it.

DC-6 Cowling Airplane Desk

Trust us, these seats, stools, tables, reception desks, sculptures and even fish tanks are an armchair aviator’s dream, manufactured as they all are from abandoned aircraft parts — many of them from military planes. From engine covers to ejection seats, propellers to rear stabilizers, they’ve all been reclaimed, recycled and reused by MotoArt. Strap yourself in as we take the tour to see what’s on offer.

F-4 Ejection Seat (detail)

Take this low-riding seat — except, of course, it’s no ordinary seat. No, it’s an F-4 Ejection Seat, ideal for anyone’s who’s ever envisaged themselves as an ace pilot on the tail of an enemy fighter, particularly if in the cockpit of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom, where this ejection seat was once ensconced.

F-4 Ejection Bar Stool

This variation, a highly limited-edition series of F-4 Ejection Bar Stools (with only a handful left) swivels on a single post and features a polished foot rest. We’re just wondering whether it could also function as a one-button solution to removing overly rowdy revelers from a party or bar!

F-4 Ejection Bar Stool (detail)

The other version of the F-4 Ejection Bar Stool also uses the original fighter plane bucket seat, with the workmanship retaining the original paint to complement the plush, “high-performance” upholstery.

F-4 Ejection Bar Stool

The F-4 Phantom was a long-range supersonic interceptor and fighter-bomber introduced in 1960 that formed a major part of U.S. military air power for 30 years before being phased out in favor of modern replacements like the F-15 Eagle, F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet. It was MotoArt’s ace vision that ensured not all the remains of this out-of-production aircraft were lost to the scrapyard.

B-52 Ejection Chair

This next Ejection Chair was once housed in the cockpit of a B-52 Stratofortress, the largest bomber in USAF history. It’s arguably MotoArt’s best, sold as “a virtual escape from the gravity of an ordinary executive environment.” Among its design features are paintwork that replicates that of the original chair, like the yellow-and-black seat handles, and an “intact ejection pin, replete with the ‘remove before flight’ warning tag.” New upholstery and a gloss aluminum finish add a sleek look to this relic from an aircraft built to be able to carpet bomb areas with a 60,000-pound payload.

The B-52 Bomber was a stalwart of the Cold War, but after the thaw in icy international relations many of these flying behemoths were junked in line with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Some were packed off for early retirement to Tucson, AZ’s famous Airplane Graveyard, where rows of the once proud planes line up, their wings now amputated.

MK-84 Aquabomb

One of MotoArt’s most mind-blowing yet oddly most homely contributions to interior design is the MK-84 Aqua Bomb. Made using the tail fins of the eponymous bomb, it’s a 10-gallon vertical fish tank with inbuilt pump, filter and lighting that stands over 6½ feet tall.

Liberally dropped on a huge range of targets in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm, the MK 84, known as the “Hammer” due to its power, weighs up to 2,000 pounds and carries a lethal high explosive able to create a 50-foot-wide, 36-foot-deep crater. It is ironic that a weapon built for such destruction should now provide such tranquility!

KC-97 Cowling Airplane Desk

Were those whose fates collided with MotoArt lucky? Well, their ejection chairs were at least spared the ignominy of becoming scrap. And B-52s, Phantoms and Mark 84 bombs are not alone in having been salvaged for this offbeat repurposing. The USAF’s Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker gave up some of its materials for the airplane desk above, for example.

747 Jet Liner Bed

And then there’s this round 747 Jet Liner Bed, which features the engine cover housing of the eponymous oversized airliner as a headboard, which is then painted and mirror polished. High-flying style!

You’ve probably realized by now that MotoArt specializes in an array of furniture items that were once integral to different airplanes — both civilian and military. The polished cylinders of the Douglas DC-6 Cowling Desk (top), which can be used as bar or workstation, began its life housing the once widespread airliner and transport aircraft’s piston-powered engines.

747 Cowling Reception Desk

The Boeing 747 Cowling Reception Desk, nearly 9 feet across, is more slick reuse of an old engine cover from the archetypal jumbo jet, one of the largest aircraft to take to the skies. They’re pretty limited, too, as apparently only a couple of 747s come off the production line each year.

747 Cowling Reception Desk

Various wing parts now serve not to stop aircraft plummeting to earth, but to ensure stationery doesn’t drop the more incidental distance to the home or office floor.

B-25 Mitchell Bomber Airplane Desk

Take the B-25 Mitchell Bomber Airplane Desk: once a wing, its aluminum frame covered in cloth; now given a glass surface through which you can see the design details of the rudder and elevators that allowed this tough twin-engine medium bomber to fly on its many WWII missions — like the morale-boosting Doolittle Raid on mainland Japan in which all 16 B-25s crashed after the attack, martyrs to the cause.

C-130 Outer Flap Airplane Desk

Another classic warplane whose retirement has proven rich pickings for the guys at MotoArt is the C-130 Hercules. “The epitome of strength and prowess, C-130 desks and the C-130 conference tables transform any executive office space into an aesthetically bold command center,” booms the marketing spiel. The wing flaps are salvaged from around the world, then crafted into products ranging in size from 4 to 20 feet.

C-130 Navigators Chair

Meanwhile, the C-130 Navigators Chair restores the air crewman’s seat with red racing upholstery, casters and reclining functionality. More furniture to put you at the helm.

C-130 Inner Flap Conference Table

The Hercules has been a widely used mainstay for well over 50 years, serving in various roles from troop and cargo transport and offensive ops (as the AC-130 gunship), to search-and-rescue and wildfire fighting. A durable beast, some of its 40-year-old models have been reinstilled with life by MotoArt.

DC-4 Conference Table

Interested in buying any of these discarded pieces of equipment and weaponry transformed into furniture? Those who are will need a purse big enough to match their enthusiasm for all things aviation, with some items costing tens of thousands of dollars, and owned by the rich and famous.

Douglas C-133 Pedal Table

That said, significant man hours go into creating each custom piece of furniture, as the team of technicians — working out of the 12,000 square foot Torrance Hangar — strip, repair, cut, grind, sand, buff and polish the former airplane parts into a beautifully burnished addition to any room.

F-4 Phantom Coffee Table

MotoArt began as a flight of fancy for ex-Disney signage maker Dave Hall and artist and business partner Donovan Fell. In early 1998, Fell noticed some greasy, dented B-17 propellers in the scrap pile of his local junk metal recycler.

C-119 Airplane Rudder Desk

“What beautiful shapes they were and what countless memories of engineering, combat and freedom they contained,” says Fell. “It was love at first sight, and I vowed to save these unique forms of metal from the smelter’s furnace. Within minutes a deal was struck and the possession of several hundred pounds of scrap aluminum changed hands.”

Large Propeller Sculpture: DC-3

After several weekends of restoration work, the idea of propeller blade sculptures formed, and “Within a few months my office and adjacent workspace had become a propeller forest,” Fell continues. Other sources for more blades and other parts were found, and the rest is history.

“The rescue of these marvelous engineering components from yesteryear gives much joy as well as a feeling of being a small part of the great art of aviation,” concludes Fell. With this kind of passion for the recycling process, it’s no wonder MotoArt’s work has taken off.

Thanks to MotoArt for permission to use their images

Recycling paper changes the world, because for every ton of reclaimed paper, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space are diverted. Starting with your office paper products is a great way to get involved and become more sustainable, and for the most part, there are very few types of paper that can’t be recycled.

You have the power to prevent the estimated 1 billion trees that are thrown away by Americans every year!

Acceptable office products

Despite what most people think, thermal printing paper (most receipt paper) is not recyclable.

By recycling your paper office products, they have a chance to become office supplies all over again. Recycling centers and collectors will take corrugated cardboard, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, junk mail, newspapers — most types of paper can be recycled.

This includes common office supplies such as sticky notes, printer paper, ream wrapper (from printer paper), notebook paper, file folders, scrap paper, mailers, boxes, postcards, business cards (non-glossy), envelopes, receipts, paper cups (rinsed), etc.

While the majority of what you toss out while you work can be recycled, there are some exceptions to the rule.

Unacceptable office products

Papers that cannot be recycled are lumped into three main groups: soiled paper, shredded paper and wax-, plastic- or foil-coated paper. These are the no-nos to general paper recycling that you also have to apply to your workspace.

Examples of soiled paper include used facial tissues, napkins and paper towels, take-out boxes, carbon paper and paper plates. Overall, avoid recycling any paper items that have been contaminated with food, bacteria, viruses and mold. These contaminants will affect the pulp that is created at the paper mill, and the pulp cannot be turned back into paper if oil from food leftovers is in the mix.

Although you might think shredded paper would be a shoo-in, it’s actually not because the act of cutting the paper into smaller pieces weakens the blend of the paper fibers. As a result of the shredding, the paper isn’t strong enough to go through the recycling process. Shredded office paper includes those private and confidential documents such as credit card bills, classified documents and other documents with personal information that you usually destroy to prevent identity theft.

Lastly, wax-, plastic- and foil-coated papers include frozen food boxes, juice boxes, dairy and non-milk (e.g., soymilk) cartons, individually wrapped candies and chocolates, thermal fax paper (glossy) and laminated presentations.

Paper can only be recycled approximately eight times, because the recycling process weakens the cellulose or organic plant fibers. Therefore, it’s crucial for you to conserve and recycle as much paper as you can, and it’s easy to start doing so in your office.

Dreaming up ways to use paperclips, notebook paper, pencils and more as camping equipment is one thing, but testing them in the outdoors is a whole other story. Some ideas work while others blow up in your face and leave you starving for food or shivering without shelter. To start on a greener path toward reusing your office products, below are some bright ideas to get the light bulbs illuminating in your head.

These may come in handy when in the wilderness.

Hike with paper products

Every camping excursion needs a fire and homemade food — homemade can even mean a simple peanut butter and jelly prepared ahead of time. Wrap sandwiches and other snacks you might make at home before you set off in paper instead of packing them in plastic bags. The notebook or printer paper will keep the food dry and protected in your pack.

When evening creeps up on your heels, it’s time to start a fire. But, once the fire is burning, you will want some kindling to keep the flames going throughout the night. Scrap paper from a notebook or planner can be used as filler along with twigs and logs from the woods.

Wash your clothes with pencils

Since the lead in pencils is poisonous, you’re not going to be able to use them as wood skewers for roasting marshmallows. Although that dream is dashed, you can still reuse a handful or more of pencils by creating a washboard. All you need are the pencils, a metal file tray and waterproof glue. By securing the pencils to the back of a metal file tray, you can take it into the lake with you and scrub the dirt, grime and sweat out of your garments for good.

Fish with a spear or handmade rod

A nearby body of water is a great resource, especially when you’re low on food supplies. Fishing does require patience, but it doesn’t require a professional, high-tech fishing rod.

When in a pinch, you can resort to spear fishing. Stroud was successful with this technique while in Costa Rica (season one, episode three). By sharpening the plastic outer casing of a ballpoint pen and attaching it to a long piece of wood, he was able to catch his meal. If spear fishing isn’t an option — not everyone is like Stroud and can prevail in choppy, shark-infested waters — you can resort to traditional pole fishing and mold a paperclip into a hook.

These are just a few thoughts on how to reuse office products while camping, but the possibilities are limitless. So, the next time you go camping with friends, take along some office products, because they might come in handy in the outdoor break room.

If I had my way, I would create a home office made from recycled materials and choose furniture and supplies from sustainable companies. My ideal green office would be something like this:

Furniture

Maku makes office sofas and tables with a sustainable lean.

My office would have a small sofa from Maku Furnishing, made from reclaimed teak, for when I need to stretch out and write. Maku Furnishing is also a member of 1% For The Planet, an organization whose members contribute at least 1% of their earning annually to various environmental causes. A filing cabinet from Barnseeker would fit nicely in the corner; all Barnseeker items are made from reclaimed wood from 100-year-old barns, houses and commercial buildings. Herman Miller sells office chairs that are made from approximately 64% recycled material and are 94% recyclable at the end of their lives. The foam and textile pieces from the chair can be made into things like carpet padding and car interior parts. Finally, I would fill my space with a corner desk from Legare Tool-Free Furniture made from bamboo. The piece comes ready to assemble, and conveniently for customers and the planet, assembly does not require any tools. This means that I can put my desk together without nails, bolts, screws or cam locks.

Accessories

My pencil and pen holder would come from the Etsy shop GeekGear, and it’s made from recycled floppy disks. The same shop sells upcycled clocks made from used CD-ROMs and recycled acrylic stands, which would fit nicely on my desk. I will cross off days and write down deadlines on a plantable, eco-friendly calendar from Olive Barn. The calendar is made from 100% recycled material, and when the month is over, I can plant the page and watch wildflowers grow.

Computer

I would finish off my green dream office with an efficient computer. Apple makes the Mac mini, which is PVC-free, BFR-free and lead-free and 31% smaller than the first-generation Mac mini. With a size of 6.5 by 6.5 by 2 inches, this mini desktop uses much less material than other full-size desktops. The computer is energy efficient, using about 14W of power when idle, less than 2W when in sleep mode and less than 1W when turned off. The computer has an Energy Star label and a gold rating through The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). When you buy a new Mac, the company takes your old computer to recycle free of charge.

Recycling

If your work already recycles, you can still improve current recycling standards, such as making it easier and more visible to encourage people to participate. For example, make sure the recycling bins are in clear view and in obvious locations. Have a separate container for each type of recyclable, such as plastic, paper and aluminum. If your office doesn’t offer recycling, talk with your HR department or office manager to see what it would take to implement a recycling program.

Using LED lights

LED lights use a quarter of the energy of standard light bulbs and last much longer while providing the same amount of light. Take note of the type of bulbs your office currently uses. If you notice they’re using standard light bulbs, write up a proposal and send it to the top. Demonstrate in your proposal how much money and energy can be saved with statistics and viable sources. If it is going to save the company money, the switch will most likely be seriously considered.

Using Energy Star computers

Energy Star was a program started by the U.S. Government in the 1990s to highlight various electronic devices that use significantly less energy to operate compared to standard electronics. Many offices have opted to purchase Energy Star computers because of the savings in the electric bill, but some companies are stuck on outdated computers that in the end still cost the business more money. Another option is to use a laptop computer instead of desktop. An Energy Star laptop can use up to 90% less energy than a standard desktop (depending on the model).

Use recycled office products

It is easy to find recycled office products, such as copying paper, notepads, folders, napkins and bathroom tissue. Many suppliers now offer recycled paper products for the same rate, or cheaper, as compared to unrecycled office products. Using recycled products will also help staff think about the planet more frequently.

Turn it off

Make it office policy to turn off all electronics during lunch periods, meetings and at the end of the day. You can create a program where various people in the office can volunteer to turn off and unplug the fax machines, computers, copy machines and other electronics at the end of the day. Unplugging the machines will prevent energy usage that occurs even in sleep modes (vampire energy). You can also make it company policy to turn off computer screens when not in use during bathroom breaks or other periods of time.

Set eco-friendly kitchen standards

Aside from placing recycling bins in an easy-to-see area of the kitchen, you can also encourage people to get away from using disposable plates, cups and other dishware. If disposable items are necessary, choose to stock the cabinets with corn-based compostable products or recycled items.

Use natural light when possible

Natural light doesn’t cost anything, it won’t use any energy and it is better for mental health. It’s a win-win, no matter how you spin it. Take a look at where the windows are located in the building and what type of shades or blinds are currently on them. Talk to people with a creative edge or those that have an eye for interior design. Brainstorm a few solid ideas and then present them to the office manager or your boss. Think about how you can take advantage of the natural light and turn off the ceiling lights.

Carpool

Organize a carpool group among co-workers. Get permission to send out a companywide email to gather people who are interested in participating in a carpool. Find a person who is good with logistics to organize the various people and locations. You can present the idea by highlighting the financial advantages and the positive impact it has on the environment.

Print only when it is essential

The ability to present most things digitally is a much better option than using paper. For example, if you need to show a group of people an idea, send it via email as opposed to printing one out for each person. Use PowerPoint in meetings and have someone take notes on a laptop instead of using paper.

Replace toxic cleaning products

Not only are traditional cleaning products highly toxic, which can have a negative effect on a person’s health, but they also harm the environment. Talk with your janitorial department about the option of switching to natural cleaning products. Even if the company can’t switch all the products, you can always replace the kitchen dish soap and cleaning products in your personal area with your own natural products.

A long-standing theory in architecture has been to “bring in” the outside world by offering ample windows from which workers can enjoy natural light and views of outdoor settings. Yanko Design has taken this idea and run with it. By bringing actual vegetation into the most clichéd image in oppressive offices, the cubicle, Yanko Design has created what is perhaps the most inspiring partition on earth — and it’s green!

The Breathing Partition offers several benefits to any that get to enjoy its presence. Improved air quality, enjoyable bright green visuals and a textual experience reminiscent of childhood pleasures (enhanced by the additional footrest) are invoked by the tufts of grass integrated into the creatively designed office walls. Yanko Design’s website offers the following justification of these partitions infused with some greenery: “The project was started with the purpose to develop a creative and pleasant office environment as the product has been designed to allow feeling a sense of nature in dreary office environments.” What a great idea!

These forms are even as eco-friendly and structurally solid as the idea behind them. The walls are made from durable HDPE (high-density polyethylene) plastic, which is easily recyclable or reusable at the end of use, and it includes a watering system required to keep grass growing and keep breathing cleanly.

The mundane office setting, combined with the whirring and chirping of computers and printers, fluorescent lighting and indistinct office chatter, can lull even the most prolific employee into a comatose state. But, with these eye-catching partitions that are adaptable in any office space by being endlessly configurable in shape and size, the Breathing Partition might just revolutionize the office setting. That being said, the custodial staff might not be as thrilled.

It’s safe to say that this business is environmentally conscious, not only in its product, but also in working to reduce its footprint in the office. Here are a few ways the office is staying green.

Recycling

LightWave Solar Electric is installing solar panels throughout Tennessee and implementing recycling practices in its Nashville office.

At LightWave Solar, recycling is easy. A dumpster outside the office accepts “single-stream” recycling, meaning nothing needs to be sorted. You can toss in phone books, cardboard boxes, office paper, plastic bottles, accepted plastics and cans for recycling. This makes it simple inside the office, too, since employees can throw everything together in one bin, and they don’t have to keep three or four bins for recycling. Also, for in-house memos and papers, LightWave employees print on both sides of the paper. This may not sound so impressive, but it does save half the amount of copy paper that would normally be used for printing.

Energy use

All the light bulbs in the office are energy-efficient bulbs. The temperature on the water heater was lowered to save energy at the office. The server that supports LightWave Solar’s website is run by solar power, and soon the entire office will have solar panels to produce clean energy.

Composting

LightWave Solar employees have a place to collect food scraps for composting. There isn’t a compost bin at the office, but two employees at the company compost at home. These employees take turns bringing a gallon jug full of coffee grounds, banana peels, tea bags and other items home to compost.

Employees

The people that work at LightWave Solar share common environmental beliefs. New employees are examined on their experience as well as their values. This company prefers to hire environmentally friendly workers, and more specifically, solar advocates. Two employees here drive hybrid vehicles, and there are two composters, as mentioned above.

What you can do in your office

Other offices can learn a thing or two from LightWave Solar’s simple practices. If you compost at home, bring in a container to collect food scraps in the office. Make sure you bring in a sign to post beside the container listing items that should and should not be composted. Talk to your fellow employees and tell them how much it would mean to you if they took the time to put compostable items inside the container.

If your office doesn’t use energy-efficient lighting, let your boss or office manager know that these bulbs last longer and use less energy (meaning less money on the electric bill) compared to regular bulbs.

If you are recycling at home and your office isn’t (this has happened to me at two of my jobs), bring in a bin to collect recyclables. You’ll be surprised how many people will toss their cans and scrap paper here rather than the trashcan. Take the bin home yourself and add it to your recycling.

Thanks to Steve Johnson, President and founder of LightWave Solar Electric, for taking the time to tell 1-800-RECYCLING about his practices within the office.

We consult professionals about all kinds of things: career advice, tax preparation, real estate. But, one thing you may have never considered is a recycling consultant. (Yes, there is such a thing!)

Believe it or not, there are people out there you can hire to help you maximize your recycling potential at home or in the office. I’m going to focus on workplace recycling consultants, because let’s face it, there is a lot of waste in the workplace. If your office is anything like the offices I’ve worked in, the volume of wasted paper alone is enough to make your stomach churn. So, here are the names of a couple of recycling consultants, along with information on how they can help your office go green.

Great Forest Sustainability Solutions: Based in New York City, this “sustainability consulting and sustainability program management” company has worked with financial institutions, universities, municipalities and other organizations around the country to assess sustainability needs and challenges and develop recycling programs focused on “making recycling as easy as possible, while driving down costs associated with waste removal.” The company also has LEED-accredited professionals who can help building owners navigate the LEED-certification process.

Boston Waste Solutions: This company works with a wide range of businesses, including restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and retail stores, to identify recycling and waste reduction opportunities and implement new solid waste management plans. It also provides detailed monthly reports showing results of the new plan.

Both of these companies claim that in the end their services actually save money for their clients by streamlining waste management services and reducing waste in the first place. So, if you feel like your workplace could be a lot more sustainable, it might be worth pitching this idea to the boss — I have never met a boss who didn’t like saving money!