Green Team

We’ve recently instituted a Green Team at our company whose job it is to look to see how we can control the waste we generate and how we can lessen our carbon footprint. Amazing things have happened. First of all, when I asked for volunteers eight women immediately applied soon to be joined by another two. They have thrown themselves into this task with enthusiasm and creativity. We have one woman on the team who grew up without electricity, so she isn’t daunted by anything.

Secondly, we found that we could do simple things quickly that really make a difference. For example, we discovered that we were using 50 disposable cups a day. That’s 250 a week and that’s 13,000 a year! It makes me ashamed when I think of how long we’ve been doing this.

We’ve found a local company who for $6 a mug will make them with individual names printed on them. This means that the mugs will always find the right owner and we’ll know if anyone leaves dirty ones in the sink! (That won’t happen in our company, of course.)

Some of the most hazardous materials we use every day are cleaning products. (Ask anyone with chemical sensitivities.) We spoke to our cleaning company to find that it’s no more expensive to use environmentally friendly products, easier on his cleaning staff and certainly better for our collective health.

Little things do matter – just like the makeup you wear. We’re bombarded with so many toxic chemicals that it becomes more and more important to eliminate as many as possible. Your skin is the largest organ you have. It’s often called the body’s third lung or the third kidney. It takes things in and it lets things out all day long. In other words, it breathes. Make sure you know what you’re putting on your skin. Read the labels.