Katy Duggan-Haas Model City Mar 28, 2014 0:06 am

Hi All! I'm working with a local healthcare system that is moving several offices into one building and taking advantage of this as an opportunity to work toward culture change for more sustainable behaviors. My colleague and I are working with them to plan their recycling program. They're seeking advice about best practices with regards to service ware.

They'll have kitchenette areas for employees who bring lunch and for mini-celebrations like birthdays, etc. They don't want to use plastic forks and other disposable service ware because of the waste, but they're concerned that if they stock reusable items, they'll have greater long-term expense because some will inevitably go missing and need to be re-stocked and they have to deal with the issue of people not washing their dirty dishes in a timely fashion. I thought maybe a 'welcome to the new building' gift of a travel cutlery set so everyone would have cutlery and if they lost their gift set then they would have to bring their own from home. But for birthday parties and such, you'd have groups of people all needing the sink to do their dishes at the same time.

They won't have a post-consumer organics diversion program in their kitchenettes.

I'd love for you to share your thoughts and experiences with this issue.

Thanks,
Katy

Katy Duggan-Haas
Sustainability Program Coordinator
Modern Recycling
United States
www.moderncorporation.com