Think in Green: Reduce Reuse Recycle

I've tried to create Fusion with Green in Mind and as we have grown we continue to look for more ways to Think in Green to help conserve energy and operate as sustainable as possible. This issue is so important to me that I wanted to take time out to focus on it. We all need to hear the mantra Reduce Reuse Recycle over and over to actually change our habits and clean up our act! Here are the steps Fusion has taken, hopefully they will inspire you and as always we are open to more suggestions. REDUCE With gas prices so high it is a highly motivational time to go through a process of reduction in the amount of energy and natural resources you consume. Making some small changes to your lifestyle and standards now could save an immense amount over your lifetime. Here is how Fusion is Reducing: Milder Temperatures: we were meant to adapt to the seasons so toughen up and drop the air con gauge or ask your office to adjust it. Living/working in a freezer isn't good for you anyway. Walk/Bike/Bus to Work: every Fusion employee either walks, bikes or takes the bus to work here. We all don't have this luxury but carpooling and trains can reduce energy/pollution and improve your mood. Turn Electric Off: I am constantly turning lights off but often feel like I am along in that endeavor. Enjoy a bit more darkness and chill out in it. In addition, unplug your computer and electronics, the sleep/charging modes still use energy. Reduce Plastic: we are now back to using paper cups, we always meant to but ordered wrong once. Always avoid Styrofoam, plastic and mention it to workplace and retailers you frequent. REUSE America has become a disposable society filling up landfills and streets with plastic trash for a bit more convenience. We don't like to think about where all the trash goes, but in my travels around the world, many places are not as good at hiding it even when they create much less which makes you think twice about our wastefulness. Here is how Fusion is Reusing: Reusable Water Bottles: remember when regularly paying for bottled water seemed ridiculous, well it is. Fusion now has stainless steel reusable bottles. Reuse Silverware: trainers like many people eat on the job so Meredith and I brought in real silverware that we use and clean instead of wasting plastic forks. Reuse Misprints for Notes: how many times have you printed a website or report and 10 useless pages come out. Use them as scrap for message notes. RECYCLE Over packaging has become such a huge part of our lives that there is no way to avoid it but we can make a strong point to recycle everything we do use, ask our workplaces and retailers to recycle and make a point of buying goods made of recycled material to support it as a business. Here is how Fusion is Recycling: Recycle Plastic Bottles and Magazines: we recycle just about everything we can, which for Fusion means plastic/aluminum drink bottles and magazines. Build with Rubber and Bamboo Flooring: when building offices and homes we need to think in green as well. Fusion uses recycled rubber flooring as well as bamboo flooring. Bamboo is not recycled but it is a fast growing, highly renewable resource that is at the center of the work in preserving the rain forests. I thought I would close by sharing an anecdote from friend, Matt Arnoldy of 3M Alliance that related to trying to reduce plastic bottle usage. "When I sailed across the Indian Ocean, we anchored at numerous uninhabited islands hundreds of miles from the nearest continent and the shores of every single one of them were full of plastic bottles that had washed up." Check out this mapping of the trash in the oceans.