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| I've been using the cans that we buy coffee in for material collection. They sit on a shelf just below the coffee machine and adjacent to the garbage bin. It seems that this is too difficult for some staff and a lot of "good stuff" ends up in the trash. We are a 24/7 unit with thirty some odd employees.
What do you folks use at work for collection (if in fact you have a collection system) and how successful is it? Lloyd |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by heirloomjunkie 5a (My Page) on Tue, Feb 1, 11 at 11:03
| Most people are really lazy about composting! ;) it took forever to get my family "trained". I suggest ease of use. Something with a big opening, and no lid. The easier it is to toss in, the better. Maybe a big sign? Also, do they know what all can go in there? Many people get unsure and go the safe route, the garbage can. Kim |
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- Posted by borderbarb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 1, 11 at 12:37
| Might help to have a humorous cartoon or TV character on your sign .... As I recall that worked in our office ... |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Tue, Feb 1, 11 at 13:42
| You could stand by it with a stick, at the ready ;-) You could move the trash can further away..... You could have a beautiful pot of your gorgeous Compost displayed on the counter, and occasionally cup your hands full of compost and let it run through your fingers ,and show the guys the final product of "the can". |
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- Posted by tsugajunkie z5 SE WI (My Page) on Tue, Feb 1, 11 at 16:29
| I think someone here once wrote that they had success when cans were labeled "Compost" and "Landfill". Seems "landfill" hit home better than "garbage". tj |
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| I use ice cream buckets at all three coffee pot locations within our two buildings. The break room that I use the most collects the most material. That could be partially because I fill it with fruit/vegetable matter, but mostly because people see that I add that stuff every day and then they add it as well. The other two locations are mostly just coffee grounds. Which is OK. I did notice the other day that the only other person at work that composts had two banana peels in his garbage can by his desk. I had a hard time not saying anything or not picking them out. :) In his defense it is 10 deg F and we have 3 feet of snow. The ice cream buckets have lids but they are easy to remove. The pails are on the counters too so they are easy to get to. Having no covers would be too much for some people. I also make sure I keep them emptied and cleaned. That makes it more inviting to people. It has to be easy and clean. |
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- Posted by blameitontherain 8 PNW wetandwetta (My Page) on Wed, Feb 2, 11 at 16:14
| Yep, easy and clean. I use the same set-up as we use at home: A small, step-on trash can with a rubber liner. The Depositee simply steps on the lever, which then operates to swing open the lid, whereupon said Depositee deposits the compostables, removes his or her foot from the lever and voila, the lid swings shut. No muss, no fuss, look ma, no hands. The lid works as an anti-squeamish device in case I am out of town, in court or whatever. The rubber liner is easy to clean. The outside is metal, colored a sporty red. A small sign proclaims, "Please Feed Little Roja. She's hungry for peels and grounds." Well, actually, we don't have the stupid sign at home. Rain |
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| Just be sure that if you use a coffee can to collect the compost materials that it's clearly labeled, especially if the contents will likely be mostly UCG. One of my brothers worked for a small company and "everybody knew" which can was which so he didn't bother with a label. Then one day the company president, who spent most of his time on the road, came into the office. He was early, so he made coffee. As soon as the next person came in (happened to be my brother) the company president asked why they were using such horrible coffee. Needless to say, a new pot of coffee started brewing right away and a sign was attached to the coffee can that was used for the UCG. |
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| May I suggest the round ten litre ice cream pails from ice cream shops. These are the shops that sell the 98 flavours of ice cream. The pails don't have handles but they have lids. The local ice cream shop gladly sells them - 3 for a $1. The money goes into the staff Christmas party fund. They are also handy to store stuff that you don't want the mice to get into. |
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- Posted by nutsaboutflowers 2b/3a (My Page) on Wed, Feb 2, 11 at 22:06
| Lloyd, I vote for the stick that Jon suggested =:) Or, if there's room on the wall, what about pictures of your setup and your compost versus a picture of a landfill. There's a lot of people out there who have never seen compost, let alone understand the process. You could even make a small list of all the things that can go in the compost container, for those people who are unsure of what to put in there. |
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- Posted by nutsaboutflowers 2b/3a (My Page) on Thu, Feb 3, 11 at 9:28
| Good Morning Lloyd. Another thought. Since you don't grow food with your compost, maybe Jon would let you also use one of his pictures so that people could see the whole process and how vegetables actually grow. Depending on the age of people you work with, some of them may not have ever even seen a garden before. Or, again, a stick =:) |
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| Hi all, most of the folks at work are familiar with my composting, some even get free compost for their yards and a few have taken up backyard composting. Awareness is not really the issue. I think it's mostly laziness with a healthy touch of apathy. Anything I come up with to replace the "cans" has to be clean (appearance wise), management won't allow "open top" containers. I like the idea of a step on, pop open, container that has a container within it (I have access to 20 liter white pails so this size would be ideal). This would allow me to swap out the inner container whenever. I would prefer not to have it on a counter and there is space under the coffee prep area table to place a container. I've been looking online for something suitable but may end up building something to fit. I've even contemplated a bin system like restaurants use with the front swinging door and a flat top. As far as the "big stick theory" goes, I use the hairy, raised eyebrow method. It works well on the kids at bowling but it seems grownups are immune to this type of admonishment. Thanks for all the discussion, if anyone thinks of anything else fire it my way. Thx Lloyd P.S. Bp, no worries, management isn't allowed to make coffee, too difficult of a process for them. |
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| Lloyd, my company got 1,200 employees to recycle and compost everything, all in one day, without the need for coaxing and encouragement. How? They took away our garbage cans! No joke! Under my desk is a large can for paper only. We have to empty that ourselves in the large paper bins they provide in our copy room. They also put containers for bottles and cans by each printer, which is usually only a few feet away. All food products, cardboard, disks/cds, plastic food containers or anything else that doesn't apply has to be walked to the break rooms on each floor. In there, you have bins to separate out food, plastic/glass, etc. There is one garbage can in there that can be used for real "garbage" that doesn't fit into the other categories. That bin conveniently has a lid on it that you have to lift in order to throw away your trash. Thus, by making it easier to toss the recyclables in the open bins, that's what people do. Yes: There was much grumbling at first. I recall personally complaining that my job title should be changed to janitor, or some other equally snarky comment we all make when forced to change our habits. Now, it's just second nature and I don't even think about it. :-D |
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- Posted by borderbarb (My Page) on Thu, Feb 3, 11 at 15:20
| In a very high pressure office environment, we used comic characters for EVERYTHING ... The image of the character [Ernest] whose tag line was HEY VERN, was widely used in the break room ... cleaning the refigerator, and not stealing people's lunch... and putting coffee grounds in the container .... impossible not to laugh when you look at his face .... but we also had pictures of Bette Davis and other movie stars to nag/remind us about company policy. I recall some old PUNCH cartoon characters. Some humor was a bit "earthy" [quite a few years ago], but all in the spirit of fun ... being 'preachy' about anything is the kiss of death. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Hey Vern!
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