After the success of the First Upstate Business Summit that was held at The Hangar in downtown Spartanburg on Friday, April 30, we didn't want the "green" momentum to end there. We wanted to create a central site where companies would have the opportunity to share anything "green" that might be inspiring to other readers. Anywhere from a sentence that states, "Since June of 2009 we have stopped ordering Styrofoam cups," to a full length story, we want to hear it. Don't be selfish and keep it to yourself!
Everyone is always looking for ideas, inspiration, success stories, and attempts being made at preserving our environment through the workplace. You can even share your struggles. In one of the workshops a gentleman requested ideas on how to inspire workers in his company to not only recycle and be environmentally conscientious because it is their job, but to really WANT to do it. Voice your concerns! People can read your concerns, and offer advice in the comment section.
This could be an advertising and networking opportunity for you as well. If you share anything with us, we will put your company logo on that blog entry and give out any other information of which you want readers to be informed.
If you are thinking, "I have too many other things to do than write a blog post," we understand. Simply call me and take 5 minutes of your day to tell me a story and I will write and post it for you. You giving that 5 minutes of your day may encourage a company to pursue a green initiative that they had not considered prior to your post!
We cannot do this alone. We need you to share. Simply send your post along with your company logo or any other pictures documenting your success, questions, suggestions, etc to ccarpenter@upstatewib.org
Can't wait to hear from you!
Regarding the need to tap into intrinsic motivation to encourage employees to recycle: I found a good, basic set of ideas published by the Arkansas Dept. of Environmental Quality using the keywords "motivating employees to recycle fact sheet" (the link was too long to post!). I've also read stories about field trips to the local landfill as a way of making it "real" for people. Instead of just allowing the trash to disappear overnight by a collection service, maybe appoint employees to take it to the landfill and monitor the reduction in waste with photographs that are posted for all to see. Appreciative Inquiry is also a great positive way to build ownership and buy in as well - ask employees "when we're at our best" in managing recycling issues, and then try to build in a positive fashion on the ideas they propose. This is a very different approach compared to the "It's broken, let's fix it" attitude that can encourage intrinsic motivation.
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