Going Green: The Steps We’re Taking

Gong Green

“Going Green”, “Sustainability”, “Carbon Footprint”, these seem to be the buzz-words these days. They all seem to represent the same thing: Earth is about to explode in a fiery ball of death, right? Probably not, but if it did I doubt there would be anything we could about it.

Whichever way you feel about “Global Warming” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your part to reduce waste. Why be wasteful if you don’t have to be?

Here at Industrial Shape & Form, we have our ‘official company sustainability policy’:

We will use recycled, and reclaimed materials whenever possible. Our purchasing program includes environmental considerations, as well as social and ethical considerations. We are also taking steps to reduce energy consumption and waste in our own facility.

Simple and to the point. But what exactly does it mean? Well I’ll tell you.

Some of the things we do are forced upon us by our local government. Metro Vancouver has a ‘zero waste challenge’, which our waste management company is all for. But for us, that means there’s a lot of stuff we can’t put in the dumpster anymore. We’ve been forced to make changes, which is a good thing. We’ve been doing the following for the past few years.

Cardboard: 2008 was a great year for cardboard. Everyone wanted it (recycling companies anyway), so it was easy to get rid of. Now that the prices have dropped, some places make you pay to get rid of it.

Clear Wood: We save most of our clear wood for ourselves. You never know when you need a small piece of something.

Paper: We have paper bins next to the trash bins in the office. When they get full, we add the paper to our shredded paper bags, and take them in for recycling.

Bottles & Cans: We have a bin for our bottles and cans. When it gets full, we usually just put them into a trash bag and put a quick note on craigslist for anyone that wants them. They’re usually gone within an hour.

Scrap Metal: Luckily for us, we have a recycling depot very close to us, and they have a scrap metal bin outside. So it’s easy for us to drop it off.

We’re far from perfect when it comes to recycling, but we try to do our part. What steps is your company taking?

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