Think Green®

"The contented do not grow smarter. They grow moss." When I first read this in Todd Buchholz's new book Rush: Why You Need and Love the Rat Race, I was taken aback. Is there no room for contentment in our personal lives, professional careers and enterprise pursuits? Buchholz originally intended to write a book on why we are losing our souls in the ever-frantic chase to get ahead. Ironically, Buchholz changed his position and took the counterargument.

Being discontented, or shall we say displeased, about our procedures and policies we employ in our personal and professional lives can be a good thing. Yes, we can appreciate the progress we have made, savor it and reflect; nevertheless, examining and asking the obvious question is perfectly in order: can we do better?

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My apologies to John Lennon; imagine an office without paper. It isn't hard to do. No fax machines or personal printers. Perhaps a multifunction printer shared by all and wireless tablets before us.

If you work in a corporate environment or even a small office, no doubt you have seen and participated in this phenomenon. Well, at least attempts to realize the paperless office. Now, enter the wireless tablets such as the iPad and Zoom.

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Have we been underestimating the energy saving potential of the bag? In the quest to cut down on the use of wasteful plastic bags, many of us have turned to reusable shopping bags made of nylon or canvas to tote our groceries. If you've tried out these reusable shopping bags, you've no doubt realized that you can fit many times more items into these bags.

The same principle is at work in a new concept from Waste Management: the Bagster^® bag. The energy saving idea embodied in these big green bags is both a new product and a service currently being offered by Waste Management for people who have a waste disposal need that is larger than a regular trash pickup but smaller than a dumpster rental. As you might expect from the name, the Bagster bag is a cross between a dumpster and an extremely oversized shopping bag.

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Most of us shudder to think that at one point in time, hazardous waste disposal meant pouring used motor oil down the storm drain. We now understand that those hazardous waste products must be dealt with in a more environmentally sensitive way. In fact, it's illegal to do otherwise. It's certainly unethical.

However, many Americans haphazardly unleash toxic materials like mercury, lead and arsenic into the ecosystem without even a second thought, in the form of E-waste. We're not talking about a covert group of eco-terrorists determined to destroy mothership earth here. We're talking about anyone on the planet that owns a cell phone, laptop, stereo, etc.

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