Green Your Day

About a decade too late, Israeli’s are finally starting to understand the importance of recycling. This is most obviously seen by the recycling bins that have been popping up in the streets of Tel-Aviv (where I live.)

Unfortunately, most of these bins seem to be filled with mostly water bottles, so I wanted to point out a few other things that (believe it or not) ARE made of plastic and SHOULD be recycled as well:

• plastic cups AND straws (usually sold at coffee shops: ice coffee, milk shakes, fruit shakes, juices, etc…)

• plastic boxes, forks, knives, spoons (especially from take-out and food ordered in at the office or at home)

• plastic lids (usually found on top of paper coffee cups)

• plastic beauty products (shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, hair products, body lotions, nail polish remover, deodorant, etc…)

• plastic cleaning products (laundry detergent, almost ALL cleaning materials, liquids and sprays)

• plastic food packaging (almost ALL cheeses, yogurts, ketchup, mayo, puddings, syrups, etc…)

• plastic trays INSIDE food packaging (for example, the plastic trays inside cookie boxes or frozen foods, etc…)

Of course, there are many more places we can find plastic right under our noses. If you can think of any, please comment and add them below. Oh, and recycle, recycle. recycle! Thanks!

Image by annienothi

We have all been there: we wake up groggy, we grab the kettle, carelessly fill it all the way up, and then wait impatiently for our morning coffee so that we can start facing the long day ahead of us…

Little do we actually consider the unnecessary energy and water that is being wasted as we are doing this.

Yeah, but what could I possibly do about it?

Easy: Don’t fill the kettle all the way to the top, simply boil as much as you really need. If you are making yourself a cup of coffee or tea you don’t need to boil enough water for the entire family.

Ordering in food to your home or your office can be fun every once in a while (I’m rather addicted to it myself…) But ever notice all the “stuff” that comes along with your meal? A typical order of one simple meal can usually include most (or all) of the following:

A plastic fork, a plastic knife, a plastic spoon, 1 or 2 paper napkins, a small paper packet of salt, a small paper packet of pepper, a toothpick, freshener wipes in their little paper cover and the little plastic bag that holds all these unnecessary items together! Oh, and not to mention a plastic cup and/or straw for your drink!

What the means is that one simple meal (that you didn’t even make yourself!) can result in a bag full of waste that goes straight to the garbage! Un-freikin-believable!

“Yeah, but what could I possibly do about it?”

Believe it or not, all it takes is one simple sentence upon ordering: “And I won’t be needing the utensils and stuff, thank you.”

Use your own utensils, use your own salt and pepper, use your own cups and as for the “freshening wipes”… oh, for green’s sake, just wash your hands!

Some offices in Israel and around the world have already been officially declared “green” and are no longer offering disposable coffee cups to their employees (good for them!) But just because your office is not environmentally aware, doesn’t mean you have to go along with the crowd!

“Yeah, but what could I possibly do about it?”

1) Suggest a green movement to the company bosses, removing all disposable coffee cups and utensils from the office kitchen. If the bosses don’t seem convinced, you could always mention how much MONEY they will be saving (bosses love that!)

2) Teach by example: When CEOS have their heads so far up their butts that they can’t seem to grasp how important such a decision is, well, then there’s nothing left to do but be your own boss! Just Say No to the disposable cups by officially declaring today (and every day) “Bring Your Coffee Mugs to Work Day”. Simply put, BE the change that you want to see in your office!