Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Breakroom. As many of you know today happens to be Earth Day! While most offices will recognize holidays like Thanksgiving or Memorial Day, Earth Day seems to fall through the cracks so I wanted to shed some light on this holiday flying below the radar.
I will first mention that Dunder Mifflin in Scranton does recognize Earth Day each year, stemming from the company’s motivation to develop a green initiative. Considering they are a paper company and therefore make money off of paper (which comes from trees) I have to give them props for them attempting to give back. The primary focus was to put an emphasis and develop a recycling program. So how did Michael approach this task? Well, he did so by handing it off to Dwight Schrute who chose to approach this task with great aplomb. He developed a special character, Recyclops, to educate the office on how to incorporate recycling into our lives. One such example was he taught us that an old recycling container could be cut in half and converted into a makeshift planter. Another was he showed the error of our ways by pointing out someone put an item into the wrong recycling container. See those numbers on recyclable materials tells us what category they fall into, and it is important to separate them to assist with the process. I will mention that there are plenty of companies who accept everything in one bin, and then they are sorted at their facility. But it was from here that Recyclops took a turn for the worse because we find out the planet he hailed from was invaded by a pollution-loving enemy and he swore his life to seeking vengeance against all who pollute, including humans on Earth. Fast-forward to today, he has renounced Earth Day and instead intends to see our species wiped out by our own lack of green accountability. This might be dark, but personally this was one of my favorite initiatives that Dwight led because I agree we need to be more strict on ensuring we focus on green initiatives. And I have soft spot for recycling because when I worked with Environmental Services, I saw so many people throw away recyclable and compostable materials in their trash. Many cities have organizations or schools that will gladly accept your compost, and recycling is typically a cheaper option. This is because recycling is often not taxed, and many states offer tax incentives for companies with a strong recycling program. The problem is, these are seen as long-term dividends and a company needs to be invested in this for many years to truly see the fiscal benefits associated with it. And I believe that too often businesses only care about whatever is the simplest option upfront rather than investing in a program for many years, regardless of how beneficial it can be to the environment. So I encourage a company bringing in their own Recyclops to help push the good fight.
It was Senator Gaylord Nelson who formulated the idea of the holiday to push for Americans to put a greater emphasis on green initiatives, and he was able to get the support after the California oil spill in 1969. He brought in a young activist, Denis Hayes, to spearhead launching this to the public, choosing April 22 because it fell between Spring Break and Final Exams, making it ideal to get college students involved. And April 22, 1970 they celebrated the first Earth Day and were able to inspire a staggering 20 million Americans to take to the streets that year to march in favor of fighting for the planet1.
Flashforward to 2025, and the theme they have adopted is ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ which is calling for an emphasis on renewable energy, with the hopes of tripling clean electricity by 2030. You can get more information from their website and even if you are unable to put together anything this week, save their website so you can prepare for next year.
Considering it is already Earth Day, sounds like we are too late to do anything, right? Wrong! We do not need to only care about green initiatives on Earth Day, so why not find time this week or next to do a belated Earth Day Event.
Some cool ideas include:
Hands on events
It is an oldy but a goody for a reason, get out there and plant a tree. You might think that one tree does make a difference but I am adamant that every tree makes a difference. Cannot line that up? I can assure you that there is always plenty of trash in our natural areas that need to be cleaned up. Why not get together with a team and head out onto nature trails or local parks and make a contest to see who can collect the most trash? No trails? Find a beach!
Reuse, Reduce, Recycle
While many offices might have a recycling program, I find that not nearly enough take the time to recycle everything that should. In fact, I would argue that most offices could use a larger recycling bin than their trash if they truly did their job right. So take stock of your current recycling and compost program and educate people on the correct methods. And if you don’t currently have one in place, use this as the chance to start one.
Green Team
Why not formulate a designated Green Team, employees hold educational meetings to push for green initiatives. Often it is the employees, and not leaders, who might have a better idea on areas that are really wasteful. And I do not want to point out, because I hate when people get extra jobs thrown on their regular workload, that the employees should be able to find time during their regular working week instead of being expected to work off the clock for this. You’d be surprised the level of good publicity a company can receive by these simple initiatives.
Meatless Mondays
While naysayers always say that there is an “attack on meat” but it is true that meat has a greater carbon footprint than vegetables. For those who do not want to give up meat (I myself do love my meat) there is this idea of ‘Meatless Mondays’ where the idea is you have at least one designated meal a week that has no meat. If everyone where to do this, it really would help make all the difference. So encourage people to try out meatless meals, and you could even exchange recipes or do a meatless potluck as means of showcasing how easy it is.
Enjoy Nature
Often the simplest method of realizing how important it is to focus on green initiatives is taking in nature. Go on a hike, do an employee training at a park; remind yourself what Earth Day is fighting for.
If anyone has any other cool ideas or initiatives, then share them in the comments! Even better than just one-time events, what can we do all year long?
Happy Earth Day everyone, may Recyclops not darken your door with his thirst for vengeance.
- (n.d.). The History of Earth Day. Earth Day. Retrieved April 20, 2025, from https://www.earthday.org/history/ ↩︎