When the Economy Forces Us to Care About the Environment.

Last December, we got an email about the financial situation at work.

It was full of grim statistics about our loss in endowment, stocks, and other news not fit for maintaining one's holiday spirit.

Attached to the email was a document outlining a dozen of ways we could immediately reduce costs, in hopes of avoiding layoffs.

Nearly 100% of those suggestions were measures that would benefit the environment. Instead of cutting salaries or employees, we were urged to cut our electricity and paper use. Among the suggestions and changes:

• Turn off lights when rooms are unoccupied.
• Shut down computers and monitors overnight and especially over breaks.
  
• Travel less.
  
• Don't heat buildings that aren't in use.
• Use the web instead of print publications to share information.
• Don't change the trash in offices everyday. (Thank goodness! I hated that they would change a whole bag for one little cereal bar wrapper. Annoying.)
• Email direct deposits - less paper.
• Reduce printing, reuse scrap paper, and print on two sides.
• Spend less money on bottled water. Hallelujah!

I've also noticed other small changes happening around here - the heat was lowered over Christmas break. And there is less wastefulness in general. For example, instead of throwing away (perfectly good) envelopes left over from the annual Christmas card - we're using them. How novel! (Although I did see dozen of perfectly good brownies and other goodies tossed in the dining room trash last week. I was half-tempted to pull a George Costanza. I didn't. Or did I? You will never know. Mwahaha.)

(I didn't.)

All of this just proves that reduce, reuse, recycle isn't some hippie thing, it isn't just for a few of us, and it doesn't just "Save our Mother Earth!". It can be simple and save money.

It shouldn't take a huge financial crisis to get an organization to carefully examine their spending and waste - but I am content if it means a little less waste and a little more consciousness.