Convention Center Boosts
Public Recycling Effort
When implementing recycling most businesses don’t have to contend with a
750,000 square foot facility receiving more than 500,000 visitors a year.
But the Duke Energy Convention Center (DECC) decided that reducing waste and
recycling was necessary to remain competitive. “Going green is not an option
in the 21st Century. It is a mandatory element of business in a socially
conscious business environment” says Ric Booth general manger of DECC.
One of the largest portions of
the waste from conventions is cardboard, a result of thousands of vendors at
conventions and the large number of supplies needed to support a convention.
DECC set out to reduce this waste stream in April 2008 with a cardboard
baler. Alongside the cardboard recycling, DECC began recycling paper from
their offices. By the end of 2008, they had recycled 43 tons of cardboard
and 13.5 tons of office paper.
With the immense number of
people attending conferences at the convention center every year, DECC decided
a ‘behind the scenes’ recycling program was not enough. DECC wanted to make
recycling available to the public. They received a grant from Ohio
Department of Natural Resources to help purchase 20 interior recycling
containers to place throughout DECC. The containers complement the interior
of the newly designed facility but are also well labeled to signify
recycling to visitors.
The recycling and other
environmental initiatives help DECC stay competitive. “One of the first
questions frequently asked by event planners is ‘What are you doing to be
green?’” explains Darren Cotton, Director of Operations at the DECC. The
sales team can promote DECC’s efforts to recycle and other green initiatives
like using low or no VOC based paint and purchasing recycled content paper
products for the restrooms.
DECC successfully recycled 77
tons of material from their waste stream in 2008 after not even a full year
of recycling. Congratulations and thanks for representing Cincinnati in such
a green light!
HP Harnesses Creativity to
Promote Recycling and Waste Reduction
In June 2008, the Cincinnati
branch of Hewlett-Packard set out to increase recycling in order to reduce
waste at their corporate office of about 350 employees. True to the
inventive nature of the company, HP found creative ways of motivating
employees to hop on the green bandwagon!
Throughout April, HP encouraged
employees to adopt green habits like recycling, riding the bus to work, and
using their own water bottles, by holding an “Earth Day Raffle”. As the
world’s largest technology company, they had access to some exceptional
consumer products to place into the drawing for those that met the
challenge, including an Energy Star rated HP mini PC, a Solio portable solar
charger, and an ActivTrax solar iPod speaker.
The office is also working to
phase out disposable Styrofoam cups. They purchased HP labeled mugs and
reusable water bottles, and provided a free mug or bottle to employees who
pledged to give up Styrofoam. As an added bonus, employees taking the pledge
during April also received a ticket for the Earth Day raffle.
HP employees can bring in
computers for recycling throughout the year. As part of the Earth Day
activities, they provided a convenient drop-off service for employees to
dispose of unwanted home computers and electronic equipment. More than 5
skids of equipment were collected in one week! Usable equipment was cleaned
up and donated to local schools and nonprofit organizations, and the
remainder was returned to HP’s recycling facility for reclamation,
recycling, and proper disposal.
All the promotion has paid off!
After one year, HP has recycled over 10 tons of materials, and saved over
$3,000 through waste reduction and recycling equipment with useful life
remaining.
Hats off to HP for your success!
Mercy Mt Airy Saves Significant Green
In September 2008, the Mt. Airy branch of Mercy Hospital implemented a
hospital wide recycling program. In addition to the cardboard recycling
already in place, Mercy Mt. Airy began recycling in staff lounges, patient
waiting areas, cafeterias, and offices. They found that recycling cost
significantly less than landfilling the same amount of material. After only
six months of recycling, the hospital saved over $4,600 in avoided trash
bills!
Why was the program so successful? Mercy Mt. Airy received support from top
management including the CEO and Vice President of Operations. The hospital
took the Go Green Challenge to set an official goal to increase recycling.
Finally, Mercy Mt. Airy garnered employee participation by setting up a
display in the cafeteria in the beginning of the program, posting flyers and
signage, and giving presentations to employees about recycling. In the first
six months, Mercy Mt. Airy recycled 43.9 tons of material and achieved a 20%
recycling rate! Their recycling efforts:
- Reduced greenhouse gas
emissions by 34 MTCE, equivalent to removing 22 cars from the road for a
year.
-
Saved 346 trees.
-
Conserved enough energy to
power 6 homes for an entire year.
Congratulations on your success,
Mercy Mt. Airy!
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