Maine Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Is your office/school green?
I keep thinking about how Abe's daycare could be more green by recycling/composting/etc. But I know there are probably some rules for a large center like that.
But that made me wonder...are other workplaces green?
We house the waste management and recycling program so we are very green. We recycle all paper, cardboard, plastics, glass and we compost.
I think it would be such a cool idea to start a green daycare and teach the kids about being nice to the earth. Jess D...I'm looking at you.
Is your workplace green?
Re: Is your office/school green?
*SNORT*
I wish.
We have a "Green Team" that another teacher started at full steam, but she's crashed. Her team of students are supposed to be helping to take care of recycling containers around the school. But the janitors wind up getting sick of the mess and dump it in the trash anyways since it takes more time for them to take it out to the recycling bin instead of just in to their big trash barrell.
I think we're doing better with paper use in general as more and more teachers are going electronic. In fact, I scold my kids for doing anything on paper any more. My entire class is electronic so that it saves paper, but it also teaches them how to learn online, which is what they will have to do in college.
I wish we were more eco friendly.
One of my company's big community commitments is to being green. I think we have a long ways to go, but we're trying. A lot of our branches are incorporating green things like solar panels and stuff like that. We give incentives to customers to go paperless and there are regularly discussions about green initiatives on our intranet- which is the department I work in.
I'd like to think I am helping make a difference at the office. Part of the capabilities of our intranet is that we can comments on stories, just like on a newspaper site or like Facebook. On the Earth Day story, I posted a comment about how we've been reducing water consumption by installing a low flow European style half/ full flush on our toilet and turning the water off while we are washing dishes.
I also included in my comment how I only use one papertowel in the bathroom to dry my hands as it is plenty. I encouraged others to try just using one as it is easy enough to take another if you need it if your hands are still too wet for your liking. But it's amazing that one papertowel, when really used completely (not just the middle- but all the corners) is perfect. The comment got a lot of thumbs ups, and I know of at least one coworker that has made the switch to a single use. I hope others read it and took it to heart- it's one of those really simple, little things that adds up to cost and green savings!
We're doing pretty well but we still have our work cut out for us!
Direct green efforts
We do have mixed use recycling bins (paper, glass, plastic, aluminum) in every office or cubicle as well as gigantic bins in every conference room, copying room, kitchen, etc. We get regular e-mail tips on how to save on electricity by turning out lights, using partial lights, putting our computers to sleep, etc. I do see people following these tips but we have a ways to go. We are trying to make the switch from being a paper-reliant agency to fully embracing electronic documents but it's still a ways off. The biggest change is that 2/3 of our staff now have a 24" screen monitor, making it much easier for us to look at documents side by side. I've noticed a HUGE reduction in printer and copier use since we got these. On code red days in the summer (worst air quality days), we are encouraged to telework for health and environmental reasons. It's a good option but not heavily used and I'd like to see more people take advantage of it.
Indirect green efforts
Generally, we've been in a big cost-saving push for a few years that has had green effects - limited power supply on weekends, etc. More and more people are regularly teleworking 1-2 days a week, keeping their carbon emissions down.
Well, my office if very green. Considering it's my home :-) However, if you notice my above post, my new office is very green also. I'm sure there are lots of things we can do better. Erika you hit the nail on the head... for me, it's practicing being green and hope others follow suit and educating people along the way. It reminds me of Michael Jackson's song, "man in the mirror"...
I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change
Small changes add up in big ways!!
The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware; joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. -Henry Miller
http://cookthehumbletable.blogspot.com/
My workplace is green , but I work from home
Yesterday I was at BB&B buying a gift off the registry. I got the item I knew I wanted to get and brought it to the register. They still had me print out the ENTIRE registry so they could use the barcode. Wouldn't take it off my iPhone either. Then, they went to through it away and I asked if they recycled. Lady said ,"Nope." Needless to say I came home with paper to recycle. Drove me nuts!
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
That's very cool! I need to move to Lewiston before this baby is born!!
My workplaces have never been green (medical fields) - in fact, they're horribly wasteful.
Jake's daycare just started a big recycling program w/ the kids, teaching them to sort their recyclables after lunch. I love it because we have him do it at home too and he loves having a job! Jake is also responsible for watering the plants, feeding Sadie, and filling the bird feeder (with help of course), and he thrives on contributing to the household. A green daycare would be so cool.
Jake blowing out the candle at Katie's coming home party
Katie Belle
Kristen, Chad, Jake, Katie & Sadie the Wonderdog, est. 6/17/06
My office is still 1/2 stuck in the Stone Age and even though we have an online database, we still do everything in paper first.
We do recycle paper, but that is it. I bring my own lunches and hardly have trash- I don't even have a trash can there, and I made a pile of paper beside the printer that has 1 good side (I'm the only one that uses it but I keep reminding)... my coworker buys lunch out every day involving a ton of trash, and has a giant cup/jug of iced tea every day and can fill a trash bag with those cups alone in one week. Drives me freaking insane.
I've realized that a lot of the "green" things I do are habits I learned growing up, some were choices and some out of necessity. My parents had awesome gardens that we had to help with, we composted, recycled even when it wasn't easy, shut off lights, etc. when we weren't using them, didn't use paper plates/napkins, were a one car family & my dad biked to work sometimes, used cloth diapers, the list could go on. My mom also had a day care... makes me wonder how those kids were influenced by our "green" house. I'd love to find a day care with the same green values.
Our office is 100% green even the cleaning products we have brought in. We compost and recycle. I work for Cooperative Extension could you expect less?
Part of the work i do is to help youth take action on living sustainable. B- I am actually training some of the staff at Abe's school!
We do pretty well. We recycle, the kid's have an organic garden, and we compost. The agency hired a 'green' architect to come in and evaluate our living spaces, and so we're trying to do 'green' repairs and renovations here on out when possible. So like instead of doing vinyl floors we just had marmoleum put down at this guy's recommendation.
The daycare Marcus is on a waiting list for is a small in-home daycare. She has an organic garden that the kids help with and learn about and does organic meals and snacks.
This would be pretty cool. There's a daycare off route one in Scarborough that eludes it having a green philosophy...I can't remember what it is now. My cousin's kiddo attends a "green"school and they are not allowed to have juice boxes and must use reusable containers. No zip locks. She's the one who ordered 10 of my reusable bags for their silent auction.