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Do you ever find yourself at the French Broad River staring at piles of plastic litter wondering what you can do to stop this?  Asheville GreenWorks and our sister page, Going Plastic Free, are here to help you make this happen! Mind Your Plastic May is a month-long campaign to inform you about the grave social and environmental harms that ensue from plastic waste and equip you with the knowledge to reduce plastic in your own life.  

All month long, we will be sharing plastic reduction tips, volunteer opportunities to address plastic waste, educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses, and much more. We aim to foster knowledge and encourage mindfulness around plastic consumption and disposal for individuals and business owners. This month, we hope you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you will gain valuable knowledge about how to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as learn about local waste reduction efforts.

Join our 
Race2Reduce and commit to decreasing your plastic usage for the entire month of May. Sign up here to join the challenge and earn points to win a $25/$50/$75 gift card to Ware!

Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. #goingplasticfree

Join us in our love for the planet as we
 address and defeat our global plastic addition.
Donate now for a plastic-free future
Mind Your Plastic May is meant to encourage and challenge us in our journey to live plastic free. These posts are created by GreenWorks staff. If you've found these posts helpful and encouraging, please consider making a donation to support this work. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

5 Steps for Ditching Plastic at Work

5/13/2019

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Plastics are everywhere, including all around our workplaces. Workplace plastics come in the form of disposable flatware, excessive wrappings for individual portions, plastics used for grab & go convenience and more. That bottle of water is easy to grab on the way to the meeting.

​If you work in a business or attend a school or university, you’re in a great position to make changes with far-reaching and long-lasting impact simply because of the scale of your organization. So how can you change the plastic culture at your office?


​Think about investing in a set of inexpensive flatware, plates and bowls for use in the kitchen. Are there items in the office that don’t need to be individually wrapped? Perhaps some stock products can be found wrapped in recyclable paper rather than plastic?
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In a blog on Less Plastic in the UK, Amanda Keetly shares tips for going plastic-free in the workplace, referring to what she calls, “The Plastic Game Changer 5 Ps’.”

  1. Picture - Create a shared vision with your colleagues of what reducing plastic in the workplace looks like. You can even invite an expert, like Waste Reduction Partners locally, to help you assess your office’s plastic use or screen a movie. My favorite is inspiring people by doing a clean-up project together. GreenWorks would love to help you organize something to energize your team.
  2. Plot - This could be a job for the office numbers person. Plot your office’s plastic usage. How much are you using each week? What is it costing? How will choosing alternatives change those costs?
  3. Pledge - Make a commitment to reducing plastic and make it public. Encourage your office mates to join you in the Mind Your Plastic May Challenge. Once you’ve made an office-wide commitment, be sure to share in your newsletter and on social media. You’ll be more accountable and your clients will applaud your efforts.
  4. Plan - Encourage creative ideas for reducing plastic from your colleagues and develop a plan to implement them. Be sure to include ways to measure your progress.
  5. Promote - Share your success and inspire others to join you in #goingplasticfree

And, let’s add a sixth P to the list. PARTY! Celebrate being a Plastic Game Changer. This work isn’t easy. Have some plastic-free fun to celebrate your accomplishments.

Danise Hauser
GreenWorks Office Associate

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​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees