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Going Green: Nowadays, One Person’s Junk May Also Be Their Treasure!

dneel
Explorer C


Happy Green Tuesday!  Face it, we all have a little bit of pack rat in us—at home and at work.  Operational Groups and Departments are no exception.  With space at a premium in almost all SWA locations, it often becomes necessary to conduct periodic cleanouts.  Recently, that was true for our Facilities Maintenance Team, as we set out to clean out a large storage building (the Quonset hut) across the street from the Dallas Data Center. 

However, before doing so, we applied a green filter to the process and identified all potential recyclables in advance.  (It’s important to do this so that Republic Services, our national waste and recycling Partner, can help make the necessary local arrangements for proper disbursement of various materials).  As a result of our efforts, we recycled 12.62 tons of mixed metals (which brought the Company $1700 in rebate); three pallets of cardboard; and a 40 yard open-top container of loose wood and pallets. 

Republic Services

Instead of this material ending up in a landfill, it now goes to serve another purpose.  Is your Station or workgroup planning a closet or storeroom cleanout?  If so, please consider:

  • Repurposing old furniture by arranging for donation to a local charity
  • Recycling all cardboard, paper, magazines, and metals
  • Reusing picture/poster frames by replacing the old pictures or posters with new ones (framing is expensive, so doing this saves the Company money)

When items are simply tossed in an open-top container as trash, we not only pay haul charges for the container, but landfill disposal fees as well (based on the weight).  So, anything you can do to “lighten the load” by recycling will save both money and landfill space. 

Keep those green tips coming in the comments section.

DING!  You are now free to be green!