Phew, it's been a while since my last post, sorry about that. I haven't been on vacation, I've just been working on a series of future items for Plain Black, many of which I'll be sharing with you through this blog between now and the WUC.
Let's start with one I was working on this past week, our company picnic. Like many companies around the world, we have a company picnic in the summer where we provide food and other sundries and invite our employees to get together with their families and have some fun in the sun. Unfortunately big events like this, especially when they have food, are usually also very wasteful events. At Plain Black, we try to be green at everything we do from using recycled paper to buying our employee's bus/train passes to encourage using mass transit. Our picnic should be no different.
I present the following ideas that we have done not to push environmentally friendly stuff down your throat, but to offer ideas for you and your company picnic, in case you want to head in a green direction. Here are the things we did this year to be more green:
- We're using equipment we already have rather than purchasing new stuff wherever possible. Everything from basketballs to grilling utensils.
- We purchased real silverware and cups that will be washed and reused next year rather than being discarded.
- We are using paper plates and napkins, but they have no plastic or wax elements, just natural paper, so they will degrade naturally in a landfill or compost heap.
- We provide moist wipes that have no harsh chemicals, are made with natural ingredients, and are designed to bio-degrade.
- We provide kites as one of our activities, and these kites are made of reclaimed Oreo cookie wrappers. They are made by TerraCycle but you can find them in Target, Walmart, etc.
- We're providing our own recycling for bottles and cans.
- The bug spray and sun tan lotion we provide comes in 100% recyclable containers.
- Any extra food and drink left over at the end of the day will be given to our employees to take home as left overs rather than throwing it away.
I'm sure we'll have even more ideas for next year, but if this list gives even one of you some ideas for your own company picnic, then it has served it's purpose.
Incidentally, for those of you who are concerned more about financial green than fiscal green, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that besides the food and drink, all the other stuff we purchased for our picnic (and there's a lot more than what's listed here), cost about $100 to outfit a picnic designed for 40 people. Next year it will be less because we won't need to repurchase a lot of what we purchased this year. So you see, you can be green in both senses, financial and environmental.
