By Alisha Fowler
Offices. There are tens of thousands of offices in the U.S. – and the vast majority of us spend at least eight hours a day in them. I’m one of ‘em. Le sigh. And, as a product of my work routine, I’ve developed a pretty serious habit: coffee. Coffee is my trusty steed to get me through the post-lunch lethargy.
I don’t meant to complain about my work, though; I have an amazing job. I get to work for a group that educates high school students about climate change!
We strategize about how to best equip the next generation of climate leaders with the tools they need to kick their own carbon habit and, if we’re lucky enough, the carbon habit of our nation and the world. As we’re plotting how to crush carbon on a grand scale, however, we’re racking up our own hefty footprint.
Our office staging grounds may be one of the greenest spots on the block – tucked inside a refurbished LEED certified green building – but we still generate an amazing amount of waste trying to help the planet out. We throw a lot “away” both at work, and at home.
The good news is, we’re not taking our waste sitting down! At a meeting two weeks ago, our boss informed us to come prepared the following week with a Personal Sustainability Pledge (PSP): One thing we would do to lower our carbon emissions in our own lives or in our communities.
We had a week to think it over, and at our most recent staff meeting the results were encouraging. The results also gave us some interesting insight about how we humans are wired.
We each came to the meeting with our pledges scrawled on index cards, and went around in a circle and read them aloud (did I mention I love my job yet?!).
By the time the third person shared, we’d tallied 17 PSP’s total, not three. Our executive director burst in saying “Ok, ok. Let’s reign it in, people! Remember, one thing you’ll do, not ten. Focus. Then, you might achieve it. We also don’t have all day to talk about this….”
We all smiled at one another, realizing the reach of our lofty commitments. It felt good to promise my coworkers that I would weatherize my apartment, grow all of my own herbs, air-dry my clothes, use only a reusable mug, and write to my newspaper about climate change – but I wasn’t so sure all of that was achievable (at least not all at once). So why did I say it?
Turns out, most of us humans are wired to bite off more than we can chew. We get excited, we get passionate, and pretty soon we’re promising the moon. It all seems so manageable and great in our minds, but when the rubber hits the road, starting or breaking 10 new habits at once is far too much.
Plus, when we shine the light on a problem – especially when it hits home - everyone feels guilty. We – at least I – want to fix it immediately. But when we try to solve an entire problem in one day, especially a problem as big as climate change or postconsumer office waste – it can become overwhelming and leave us literally paralyzed, much less likely to succeed.
Committing to changing one habit, however, is much more manageable. It’s something we can all visualize and wrap our minds around as we build our daily routines, especially if it’s a change we opt into. Single-tasking your behavior change ensures a much higher success rate - therefore boosting morale and likelihood to continue on to other habits. One foot after the other is the surest way!
And here are what I believe are the secrets of success when it comes to a PSP:
- KISS – Keep It Simple Sweetheart
- Accountability – somebody cares!
- Rewards – pats on the back all around
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My boss gave me another go at the PSP and I reflected for a minute. I thought about how spending over 40 hours a week working often leaves me short on time for other things in life, like: slow breakfasts and home-brewed coffee. Thus, I often grab a cuppa joe on my way into work (or in the afternoon), and more often than not I use a paper cup.
So I committed to using only my reusable mug when I want to get coffee. Period. The stats on the number of paper cups consumed in America was enough to fuel my decision: our society consumes more than 16 billion paper cups every year. And while certain coffee companies might tell me they have only recycled paper cups, most cups are manufactured using 100% bleached virgin paperboard.
I have successfully built my reusable mug into my routine, sticking it in my cupholder whether there is coffee in there yet or not.
It’s been exactly a week since I made the pledge and I’ve only used one paper cup, down from about seven. That’s 6 less cups in the landfill this week… if I keep this habit up all year, that’ll be over 300 cups saved from the landfill! Not to mention the trees it would have taken to produce them… boy do I feel doubly-good! ☺
Maybe it’s time to reward myself with a little… coffee!
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Alisha Fowler is an Educator at ACE, Alliance for Climate Education.
