Plastic audit required!

This week I watched 'War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita" and was horrified by what I saw. It's not exactly news that we're using too much plastic, not recycling enough and that things need to change to save the planet but what are we doing about it?

I have worked in a number of different workplaces and am still shocked at how much people use and throw away. Imagine making your own lunch and brining it to work in Tupperware, hardly revolutionary but it's surprising how much waste is produced in one single lunch break. Not only would you be saving yourself money but you'd be saving another piece of rubbish being thrown into landfill. Perhaps support a local deli where they provide your sandwich in a paper bag.

People are buying far too much plastic and throwing far too much away. Even for those who recycle, this programme showed that literally tonnes of it are left littering foreign countryside. We have all got to realise that we need to start using less plastic and recycling more and so what can your business do to help?

• If you sell goods wrapped in plastic, are there alternatives and is it actually necessary?
• Think about the products you buy for the office - if they are wrapped in plastic is there an alternative?
• Work with local businesses! For instance, if you have a local deli nearby (as mentioned above) see if you can broker a deal with them to offer your staff a discount if they start buying their takeaway sandwiches from there.
• Ban water bottles. Provide staff with branded stainless-steel water bottles. Not only a great thing for the environment but potentially brilliant branding when they're taken away on their weekends out.

ClientEarth, an environmental law group, released a report last year which warned business of the possible risks of not acting which including litigation. If doing the right thing alone is not enough, financial risk often results in a prick of the ears. However, not only will litigation risks be reduced if businesses act now but there could also be cost savings, efficiency improvements, enhanced brand reputation and more customers as a result. 

So rather than 'blue sky thinking' businesses should be seriously considering their 'green' thinking. It's not something that is going to go away if we bury our heads in the sand for long enough. We have been doing this already and now we have to face the problem, tackle it and the earlier we start the better.