Green Days

I actually accomplished some enviro friendly things at work. But man, what a pain in the ass it is. Seriously. Management jumps on the bandwagon because it makes the organization (or more importantly themselves) look good. But they sure as heck don't want to lift a finger to do anything, and most of the time they are more of a hindrance than anything. This is how a typical conversation goes:

Me: "Hey Mr. Manager, can I do such and such that will save: 1) a bunch of money 2) a bunch of time 3) reduce waste 4) make things reusable, etc."

Mr. Manager replies without every bothering to stop and look at me, "Sure, go for it."

I should ask them if I can have the next 4 months off of work w/ pay to train for a 100 mile running race to see if they are paying attention. I understand they are busy, I am in a meeting with them every morning so I know what the work load is. I'm not asking them to physically do anything though. I'm just asking them to support me 100% as I make process improvements that are in line with the board of director's itinerary. Maybe mention once in a while to their employees that the so called green movement is not really a movement but something everyone from the CEO (who talks of it frequently in the press…greenwash or not) on down should be interested in. The company has all these goals they want to accomplish by 2012. It will be here before we know it and then when time passes and the goal is not met…do we make up a new timeline like other more media intense endeavors? All of this is for the good of the company, the community, and the individual. It's a win win situation for everyone. Stop being so apathetic and help out, do your part, every little bit is welcome.

I know Auden Schedler (Getting Green Done) frequently mentions how hard it is tomake headway in this fight. And I can relate to the fact that more grunts are needed - which is what I am and am comfortable being, but I wish I could just get a couple more people actively involved. Yes, the job we are paid to do is what we need to be focused on because if we do not sell our product we do not have jobs. But there has to be some way that you can become engaged and still do your job well. I don't really spend too much time working on the "green team" stuff, but I feel like I'm making a difference. And I am very thankful for the one person at work that has been so helpful.