How to Conduct a Waste Audit

Obtain Your Waste Disposal Records

Contact your trash collector to obtain your monthly disposal services invoices. These invoices can help you answer the following questions: How are you being charged, by the pull or by weight? How much are you paying each month? How much are you throwing away? By obtaining back invoices you can put together a picture of your yearly waste disposal charges and/or weights/amounts. This will also give you a base line from which you can track your future progress. Don't be afraid to call your trash collector with questions. These invoices can be confusing.

 

Walk Through Your Facility

A walkthrough of your facility is necessary to learn where trash is coming from and where it ends up. A walkthrough can also help you determine what waste is being thrown away, and help you identify reduction opportunities and potential savings. Use the Building Questionaire and the Walkthrough Worksheet to record your findings. You will want to plan the walkthrough for a time when garbage bins and dumpsters are full. You may want to contact your janitorial and/or building maintenance staff for assistance.

 

Consider Conducting a Waste Characterization Audit

A waste characterization audit should help you determine what materials make up your waste. There are two options for conducting a waste characterization audit. Either way, the goal is to find out what types of waste and how much of them are being thrown out. The first option involves estimating waste types and amounts by conducting a visual survey of individual waste receptacles. This can be accomplished during the building walkthrough. The second option is the most accurate and consists of actually sampling and weighing the building's wastes. The audit can be conducted at anytime of the day, but before garbage and recycling receptacles are emptied. You want to make sure that you are measuring exactly one day's worth of waste. So it may be helpful to obtain the assistance of custodial and/or building maintenance staff in conducting this phase of the audit. See the Waste Characterization Audit Guide download further guidance. Record your findings on Worksheet A and Calculate percentages using Worksheet B.

 

Kansas Green Team Assembly and Awards Luncheon, July 16, 2008

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate the success of the Green Team program at the Kansas Green Team Assembly and Awards Luncheon on July 16th! The event had 94 attendees, presenters, exhibitors, and staff all working together to help promote waste reduction, recycling, and green purchasing within state government. Please see the links and attachements and below for more information about the event.

Event Agenda

 

Links to Videos:

Greensburg Videos

http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegoodfight/projects/greensburg

 

Power Show and Exerpts

http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500316998

 

 

 

The Big Picture

Welcome to the Kansas Green Teams website!

WHAT IS A GREEN TEAM?

A Green Team is a group of volunteers that work to improve environmentally responsible stewardship practices such as recycling, waste reduction, and environmentally responsible purchasing practices in their own place of work or school. The Green Team program provides guidelines, ideas, information, and tools to help you implement these practices.

By implementing this program in your school or office, you will be helping Kansas to lead by example and increase emphasis on responsible stewardship practices, which promote energy conservation, pollution prevention, resource conservation, and economic development.

BACKGROUND

The Green Team program began with a question asked by one state employee. “Why aren’t we recycling this?” From this question grew the idea of creating a program for government offices to lead by example in responsible stewardship practices, like waste reduction, recycling, and environmentally responsible purchasing. And so the Green Team project was born.

Today the program has grown to include schools, businesses, and local units of government. Additionally, all 101 state agencies and their satelite offices around the state are now participating. The program has already generated thousands of dollars in disposal fee saving and recycling revenue for the State of Kansas.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We plan to continue working to expand the program to schools, businesses and local units of governments.

Find a Recycling Center Near You

Kansas Recycles is a directory where you can find important information including:
- Locate a recycling center or program near you.
- Find markets for collected materials
- Find resource information

www.kansasrecycles.org

Kansas Green Team Results

Coming Soon...

Waste Reduction and Reuse Ideas

PAPER

Keep mailing lists current by removing duplicate and out of date addresses.

Reduce junk mail to your business by writing to the Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service, PO Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008, and ask that your business be removed from their mailing lists. Sorting and handling unwanted mail is a waste of your company’s time.

Use e-mail, voice-mail and bulletin boards to circulate company-wide messages and information.

Save documents electronically rather than printing out a hard copy

Proof documents on your computer before printing them or in lieu of printing them for proofing.

Review the need for computer printouts from time to time. It is all too easy to go on printing out a regular fifty-page report for the same ten people who have received it for the last two years. Do they need it?

Use both sides of the paper. Whenever possible use double sided photocopying and printing - and make sure that all staff know how to do this. Better still, set photocopiers and printers to default to double sided printing. Also be sure to require future purchases of copiers and printers to have double sided printing capability.

Make scratch pads from spare/used paper/outdated letterhead. Reuse envelopes or use two-way envelopes. Reuse cardboard boxes for shipping materials.

Donate unused books, magazines, and journals to local organizations, literacy programs, hospitals, or schools.

PACKAGING

Repair and reuse pallets or return them to your vendor.

Reuse newspaper and shredding as packaging/shipping material.

Reuse foam packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and other packing materials.

If your business is a retail establishment, consider offering an incentive to customers for bringing back and reusing items like shopping/grocery bags, drink cups, containers, etc… rather than receiving new ones.

Talk with vendors to reduce the amount of packaging used.

Have shipments delivered in returnable and/or recyclable containers.

Consider returning cardboard boxes and foam packing material to suppliers or shipping companies for reuse.

Minimize the packaging used in shipping your own products.

OFFICE SUPPLIES

Reuse binders, folders, hanging file dividers and other storage items

Eliminate disposables – Encourage the use of reusable coffee cups, utensils and dishes in your kitchen or lunchroom an when arranging food for meetings or conferences, try to ensure that disposables are not used.

Rent equipment that is only used occasionally.

Use rechargeable batteries.

Use less toxic products for cleaning, inks and paints.

Use products that are more durable, higher quality, recyclable or reusable.

Compost organic food waste using an in-office vermicompost bin system, or a compost bin if there is space outside.

Sell or give old or unused furniture and equipment to other businesses, employees or charitable organizations.

Use reusable furnace or air conditioner filters.

Consider using a material or waste exchange for large quantities of reusable materials.

Set up an area where employees can exchange items they no longer need.

COMPUTERS AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

Try to repair equipment before having it replaced and establish regular maintenance check-ups for frequently used pieces of equipment to extend their life (copiers, fax machines, computers, etc…)

Consider purchasing refurbished office equipment and furniture.

PURCHASING

Purchase products with a minimal amount of packaging.

For materials you use a lot of (e.g. copy paper), order materials and supplies in bulk and choose recycled content and environmentally preferable products when possible.

Avoid excess. For items you use less often, order only what you need.

Purchase remanufactured ink and toner cartridges and return them to the supplier for remanufacture.

Purchase items that you know you can recycle and that include the most recycled content.

Friday Facts

Friday Facts publication archive

Recycling Receptacles

Green Team Receptacles 

Developed through a collaboration with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to provide attractive yet inexpensive beverage recycling bins for the Kansas State Fair, these receptacles are now available to Kansas Green Team participants.

Produced with water-resistant adhesive for added durability and sized to hold a universal liner, these boxes are perfect for offices, schools, events, and festivals. They ship flat, store easily in small spaces, and can be recycled when no longer useable.

For ordering information, contact American Packaging at phone number (785) 663-1222 or at e-mail address boxes@ampackcorp.com.

 

State Offices

 Prices available to State Offices, Cities and Counties, and Schools that are eligible to purchase from state contract. For more options from Grainger, contact Matthew Otec at Matthew.Otec@grainger.com  or see www.grainger.com/ksgreen.

Businesses, Organizations, Cities, and Counties 

1. BuyRecycledProducts.com - offers a large selection of recycling and waste collection containers.

2. Windsor Barrel - A nice option for cans and bottles.

3. Recycling Containers and Waste Receptacles - Low prices on Rubbermaid brand receptacles.

4. Midpoint Receptacles - Very professional looking indoor receptacles for collecting multiple materials, price list available upon request.

5. Sam's Club - A variety of receptacles available at reasonable prices

6. Clear Stream Recyclers - An easy to use portable option for indoor or outdoor events.

 

Recycling Receptacle Loan Program

Need receptacles for your event. Contact us about our receptacle loan program.

 

 

Green Purchasing

Everything you buy affects the environment, but some choices are better than others. Whether you are a business, governmental entity, non-profit organization, or school, can use you purchasing power to help protect the environment and even save money. When purchasing products and services, keep these considerations in mind:

Buy Durable Products - Instead of purchasing disposable items, purchase items that will last a long time, such as rechargeable batteries. Also, choose products with a longer life and extend that life span through repair and reconditioning, which might also include upgrading.

Avoid Excess Packaging - Look for products that have less packaging or buy in bulk. You will have less to throw away. You can also purchase items with packaging that can be reused or recycled.

Buy Recycled - By purchasing recycled content products, you are helping to "close the loop" by providing markets for recovered materials. Recycled content products come in many shapes, sizes and forms including: paper and office supplies; carpeting; construction materials; toner cartridges; vehicle fluids; pens and pencils; landscaping materials; furniture; retread tires; clothing; and many other items.

Buy Energy Efficient - Energy efficient choices for items such as computers and lighting can help your business save on utilitiy costs and cut back on green house gas emissions. Choose items that are Energy Star certified.

Choose Products that Prevent Pollution - Choose cleaning products, paints, and other chemicals that are less toxic and biodegradable.

Reesolve to use your purchasing power to help protect the environment. Start by checking out the options listed below. (Listed prices are available for state agencies, cities and counties, and eligilbe schools only.)