By Beth Starkin, GreenPepper
Readers to this blog likely already know tomorrow is the International Day of Climate Action. Taking this day as an impetus, we decided to do a little experiment here at Peppercom, and declare today Peppercom No Impact Day as another way to improve our green footprint.
I call it an experiment because as I drafted an email to our staff encouraging them to participate and offering helpful hints like try biking to work and forgo the convenience of the grocery store for the local farmer’s market, I wasn’t really sure what kind of response or participation level I would get. After all, we’ve already taken away paper cups and plastic spoons (sending germaphobes into a panic), sent persuasive emails asking everyone to shut down their computers at night (causing workaholics to wonder how they can access their desktop from home in the wee hours of the morning) and begged folks to print double sided (you’d be amazed how much confusion this caused when people couldn’t “find” the second page of a document). Could we continue to push folks to do more? What I found was green champions I had no idea existed and an overall willingness from my coworkers to do their part. After sending out my little note, I received excited responses from across the agency, and from some, additional suggestions.
But what I really discovered, is continuing to push harder on green issues and ask more of people is becoming more accepted by many. With tiny green steps behind them, people are more willing to take larger ones, but sometimes just need a little prodding. It’s exciting to see so many mindsets changing, and ears open for suggestions.
I call it an experiment because as I drafted an email to our staff encouraging them to participate and offering helpful hints like try biking to work and forgo the convenience of the grocery store for the local farmer’s market, I wasn’t really sure what kind of response or participation level I would get. After all, we’ve already taken away paper cups and plastic spoons (sending germaphobes into a panic), sent persuasive emails asking everyone to shut down their computers at night (causing workaholics to wonder how they can access their desktop from home in the wee hours of the morning) and begged folks to print double sided (you’d be amazed how much confusion this caused when people couldn’t “find” the second page of a document). Could we continue to push folks to do more? What I found was green champions I had no idea existed and an overall willingness from my coworkers to do their part. After sending out my little note, I received excited responses from across the agency, and from some, additional suggestions.
But what I really discovered, is continuing to push harder on green issues and ask more of people is becoming more accepted by many. With tiny green steps behind them, people are more willing to take larger ones, but sometimes just need a little prodding. It’s exciting to see so many mindsets changing, and ears open for suggestions.
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