No trash cans for Google employees
Google’s London office has made several eco-friendly changes, including the removal of trash cans at employees’ desks.
Wed, Jun 03 2009 at 10:53 AM EST
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Recently, Google has made several eco-conscious changes at its London office. One of the more creative changes Google implemented is the removal of trash cans from individual employee desks. Instead of simply tossing away garbage without a second thought, employees now have to get up and walk to a centralized disposal and recycling station. This small change has led to an increase in onsite recycling -- if the employee is already walking to the disposal center, it is easy to make the decision to recycle the waste.
After an after-hours check of employee computers, Google implemented an educational program to help employees understand the energy benefits of powering down their computers at night. This is a low-cost way to save Google money and reduce the company’s carbon footprint.Google’s removal of employee trash cans is an ingenious idea. It costs nothing for a business to remove the item and direct employees to a centralized disposal/recycling location. This one little step led to a significant increase in recycling rates at the company, 50 percent, and helps Google meet its green initiative goals.
via [Green Inc]
Photo by Todd Baker << technowannabe
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Comments
Stephanie B.
06/29/2011 18:24 PM
I gave myself the challenge at home to only use one garbage bag from Easter to Christmas. It's actually easier than it sounds. I use washable tissues, washable puppy pads, washable napkins, washable cleaning cloths and washable baby wipes for toilet paper. I don't use stuff that needs to be thrown away. It was sort of confusing at the beginning but it actually works! Now I don't even go to the bin anymore. I just recycle or compost everything. I did some research and most people in America.... More
Landfill Laden in Michigan
06/12/2009 09:12 AM
I live in a town in Michigan that has a landfill that receives waste from local towns and across the state and who knows where else. There is another landfill three times as large not 30 minutes away. So I agree that throwing trash "away" could be in your own backyard if you are unfortunate enough to live near a landfill. From a business and personal standpoint, we should all be looking to reduce and reuse as much as possible without compromising sanitary and healthy living. An added.... More
Dude
06/05/2009 03:41 AM
The majority of us posting comments most liely don't work for Google. My guess is that those who do are free to find other employment, whenever the any down sides ofworking for Google ever outweigh the good points
Anonymous
Today 22:48 PM
Google employees subjected to this idiocy should save a week's worth of snotty tissues, put them in an interoffice envelope, and then send the envelope to the cretin whose idea this was.
Anonymous
Today 19:17 PM
Adobe has done this for a long time. Individual offices have recycling and composting bins (which can take the used kleenexes!) but anything else has to be taken to the trash bin in the break room.
Anonymous Googler
Today 18:28 PM
I work at Google Mountain View, where they reduced the number of garbage cans. A consequence is that used tissues sit on people's desks because they'd have to stop what they're doing and get up to throw them out, rather than being able to immediately discard them in a bin by their desk. I'm all for reducing waste, but it hasn't had that effect for me: just increasing germs and distracting people from work. (It takes a while for a programmer to get in the zone.)
Anonymous
06/08/2009 08:22 AM
I used to have my own recycle bin right at my desk, no snotty napkins for me, and I did recycle much more from doing that. Very simple and easy, and a constant reminder to recycle, as it was so close.
Anonymous
Today 13:23 PM
Wow, that last comment was sarcastic and uncalled for. I think it's a great thing. I am continually unnerved by the amount of trash that is wasted in our office. All my efforts to nudge "the boss" into printing less and throwing away less has been to no avail. Very frustrating.
Anonymous
Today 12:30 PM
Most of the waste offices generate is paper. If you can put the paper straight in a recycling bin at your desk it saves time and trees.
Mrs Green
Today 12:19 PM
Yep, definitely a no brainer idea that makes a huge difference. It would be good if all homes and offices could adopt a similar idea to take away the 'convenience' of throwing things away (to a place that doesn't actually exist - have you ever stopped to think where 'away' is?!)
We've written about this several times on our site about reducing landfill waste:
.... More
Douglas Stoddard
Today 11:39 AM
This is old news for Google as in our 3 Santa Monica offices, We have been doing this for over a year now!
Wesley Joseph
Today 10:01 AM
This is great for raising awareness about the volume of garbage each of us produces, as well as improving that part of our environuman impact. I wonder if Google should couple the program with health tests to see if there is any measurable difference in this group of employees' health from the extra exercise over the course of a year.
Anonymous
Today 09:13 AM
Just imagine.
Anonymous
06/03/2009 15:32 PM
Next thing you know, Google will remove the toilets from their buildings, as an effort to reduce water consumption. Employees will then have to either wait until they get home to go to the bathroom, wander outside and find a tree, or use their supervisor's desk as a urine and fecal receptical.
