My boss loved it - her husband once asked her plaintively "we not only have to wash our trash, we have to fold it, too?"

Then someone asked me if it was ok to put their orange peels in there, and then a banana peel showed up...

Now if I can find an equally subtle way to get people to stop using a fresh styrofoam cup (supplied by my employer) for every drink of water or coffee.

At work, I put out wastebins for recyclables, because they were going into the trash instead, and everybody jumped on board very readily. (Of course, my husband grumbles about me collecting the "garbage of the entire world" but I just would rather bring home and recycle a bag or two of recyclables a week rather than see them go in the trash.)

My co-workers also now save old paper for me to cut down for scrap. They call me the Paper Patrol, lol! We throw away so much paper it sickens me, so every little bit helps, I like to think.

Also, since people know I compost, often co-workers will leave me their banana peels or tea bags etc, neatly wrapped in a napkin, for me to take home. I even have a customer or two who actually bring me in bags of kitchen scraps, lol!

The only way I can think of to get people to stop using the styrofoam cups is to present every co-worker with a nice coffee cup, something they would personally like. Of course, there is no guarantee they would leave it at work to use, and then again, I don't know how many co-workers you have...

Great start! (And great title for the thread, lol!)
:)
Dee

Good luck!

or you might get your co-workers a coffeepot.

Buy one at a thrift store or garage sale, clean it up, take it to the office with a package of filters & a wastebasket (looks nicer in the break room than a bucket, & if there isn't an extra in the supply room, you can get an inexpensive one at a dollar store).

Put a bowl or mug nearby for donations to a coffee fund, & ask the coffee drinkers to pitch in for coffee & to put the used grounds & filters into the wastebasket.

I my own self would nip the styrofoam cup temptation in the bud by getting a supply of mugs or cups at that garage sale.
Bleach them to remove coffee stains & donate one to each coffee-drinker.

Tah-Dah!

One co-worker is a tea-drinker, though, and she often saves me her tea bag, along with her banana peel from her snack. I'll take every little bit I can, lol!

:)
Dee

I started saving the bags our cereal is sealed in (watertight) and bring them into work to haul home the coffee grounds. I have been collecting grounds myself, but today had a washed out quart yogurt container to put the bag in and asked people to put the grounds in the bag/container if they make a second pot. No prob. Outing yourself as an organic gardener may open the door to other environmental discussions. That is what I am hoping for me.

So true! Since I've overcome my fear of being perceived as weird, and started bringing home the recycling from work, asking for people's banana peels, and saving every bit of scrap paper, two of my co-workers have started composting, two others now save scrap paper when I'm not there, and because of further discussions, others now use re-usable bags, and have told me of other minor changes they have made at home.

Gotta start with the first step....

:)
Dee

:)

Mining material, manufacturing, firing, transporting, washing, and disposing of ceramic and glass has a tremendous environmental cost.

A sign that asks people to reuse their foam cups without rinsing them would probably actually have a better impact.

But I do think it's rare to find people that take care of things, unfortunately. Doubly so in an office environment, and compounded by the fact that an office might buy cheap mugs that chip.

:)
Dee