My office finally ditched the single-use cups, took 2 years of pestering

Last week our building manager in Portland swapped all the break room coffee stations for ceramic mugs and a deposit jar system. It took about 2 years of me leaving polite notes and bringing my own thermos to work every day, but the change finally stuck. We cut roughly 1,800 paper cups a month based on the old order receipts. Has anyone else pushed their workplace to do something similar, and what actually got them to listen?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver_anderson1mo ago

1,800 cups a month? That is wild. I honestly did not think offices actually tracked that stuff, let alone had a number that big sitting around. Two years of polite notes sounds exhausting, but I guess it worked, so props to you. Our place just switched to those thin plastic cups that feel like they dissolve in your hand, and I can barely get anyone to refill the water cooler. Maybe I need to start leaving notes on the fridge door too.

sanchez.blake1mo ago

Read somewhere that the average office worker goes through like 400 disposable cups a year, so that number checks out. But the real trick is those notes. We had a facilities guy who laminated a sign about the coffee machine and suddenly everyone started cleaning up after themselves. It's all about catching people at the right moment, I guess. What kind of notes are you thinking of leaving on the fridge?