#3 Waste Management

Waste Management for New and Existing Buildings

In addition to making your building more energy efficient, you also can be greener in how you maintain your building and handle the waste that your tenants produce. Providing recycling and composting options for your tenants is not only green, but it also can save you money and increase the desirability of your property.

Recycling – Make sure that your building or community is designed so that recycling is easy for every resident.  Provide recycling bins at every point where you have a garbage bin, such that every tenant has a convenient option near their unit.  Stopwaste.org recommends that it you make it equally easy to recycle or throw-away an item.  This minimizes the likelihood of a resident throwing a recyclable in the garbage and visa-versa.  They provide an excellent guide to multi-family recycling here.

Composting – Although less common than recycling for multi-family buildings, composting is growing in popularity.  Some municipalities, such as San Francisco, have already begun to require composting as part of an integrated waste management program.  Implementing a composting program for a multi-family building should be under-taken with careful planning.  If done appropriately though, it can significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.  Although waste management providers charge a fee to pick up compost, composting may actually reduce your total bill by reducing the amount of garbage.

Janitorial – If your building has common areas that require cleaning, use cleaning products with fewer synthetic and toxic ingredients.  For common areas with bathrooms, choose paper products with a high recycled content.  Make sure that the frequency of your cleaning program is appropriate for the amount of use that the area receives.  Reducing cleaning frequency is an easy way to cut down on use of cleaning products.