I don’t know about you, but I love Monty Python. Really, has there ever been a comedy troupe that so brilliantly satirized everything they touched? So when the Green Team in our Framingham, Mass. office decided to pay tribute to one of their classic bits when launching their e-waste recycling program, I knew it was going to be a hit.

Corporate e-Waste Recycling 

e-Waste. We all know what it is. That CRT monitor gathering dust in the basement; those discarded cellphones in the junk drawer; old printers, fax machines and modems hidden away in closets...and don’t even get me started on old laptops and computers....how do we stay on top it all? Now multiply that times a multi-national corporation, and that’s what our Green Team set out to address.

Sarah Johnson, the team leader, explains how the project got started. “We knew there was a lot of e-waste in our Framingham office. We decided to start with a pilot project focused on finding and recycling electronic and computer equipment that was, one, owned by CA Technologies, and two, either broken, had reached end of useful life or was not being used. We encouraged all employees from the IT team to HR to identify gear that had to go. If something was questionable, employees were directed to connect with their boss for approval.”

Putting up signs throughout the office featuring the “Bring out your dead!” tagline, employees were asked to round up eligible monitors, CRTs, laptops, computers, servers, routers, peripherals, and even dead power strips and drop them in clearly marked bins placed on every floor in the building. And the team responded. In a few short days, over 120 pieces of equipment were identified, deposited, inventoried and handed off to our recycling partner. The project was a highly visible “quick win” for the Green Team and is something that will be repeated on an annual basis going forward.

But what about all those laptops and printers sitting in employee’s basements you ask?  We’re looking into it....don’t be surprised to read something here in the future about how the “Bring out your dead” program has been expanded.