Sustainability experts have issued an urgent call for a ‘seismic cultural shift’ towards reuse to solve the growing waste and pollution crisis. A BRITA UK paper shows the myriad of environmental and economic benefits that implementing a reuse culture across society could bring. 

If your organisation is looking to tackle the climate emergency and bolster circular, sustainability and zero waste strategies, reuse is one of the most important concepts to include. 

The Warp It reuse service extends the lifespan of goods and products by creating a platform to reuse existing assets. It is designed to make it easy to swap surplus work items within organisations and externally to other organisations, charities, and not-for-profits. 

And it works.

To date the Warp It community have made financial savings of over £32.5 million, saved 25,033,010kg in carbon, and diverted 4,522,507 kg of waste from landfill.

This is evidence of the economic benefits that reuse, and a circular economy offers. The environmental impact is also clear.

Importantly, Warp It also makes it easy to engage with staff in a meaningful way as they embark on their net zero journey.

Here are some ways to boost reusing activities, whether you’re starting out on your journey or want to inject some life into your existing programme.

Run a declutter initiative

Setting up a declutter campaign at any time of the year is a brilliant opportunity to get creative with your reuse project and will increase awareness and engagement throughout the workplace.

Decluttering will increase reuse, improve procurement and estates management, and is an action towards reducing waste and achieving zero waste. This guide outlines seven hacks that can be used in the office to get the most out of a clean desk, and boost reuse efforts.

Get our Christmas declutter campaign information, our New Year declutter campaign materials, and spring clean campaign materials. And access our general declutter campaign materials.

You can follow this up with a regular reuse day every week. Pick a day of the week to promote reuse. Warp It Wednesday has proven a great success at Leeds Teaching Hospital. Every Wednesday their porters pick up any surplus furniture and transfer it to a new home using the Warp It reuse system. 

If you’re taking it to the next level and running a clearance in a department or even throughout the whole organisation, read this guide to managing your building clearance in a timely and efficient manner so reuse is maximised, and delays are reduced.

Hold a stationery amnesty

Do you really need two staplers, three pairs of scissors, 11 pens, and fifty paper clips?

Find out who is responsible for stationery in your office and return all surplus materials to them and encourage colleagues to do the same. Advocating this behaviour can reduce the procurement of already-owned assets in the office. Get our guide to setting up your own Stationery Amnesty. Check out why reusing stationery is the write idea along with stories about organisations doing just that. 

Host a clothes swap

A report from the Hot or Cool Institute looks at fashion’s impact in G20 countries and says the biggest solution to reducing the industry’s impact on the planet is to stop buying so many new clothes. It says personal changes do play a role in the fight against climate change and reducing new garment purchases is more than four times more effective at reducing the industry’s carbon footprint than the next best solution, which is reusing garments.

By setting up a project focusing on swapping and reusing uniforms, workwear, and shoes, as part of Warp It, you’ll save your organisation money, reduce disposal costs, cut carbon emissions, and prevent sending waste to landfill. There are a number of Warp It members who have done this, with one NHS Trust saving £7,000 in just 12 months.

Perfect your policies

Embedding reuse into your policies is an effective way of ensuring reuse is taken seriously and consistently throughout the organisation.

Introducing a reuse policy might replace your current disposal policy or may sit within your waste or zero waste policy. If you’ve been considering introducing a workplace reuse policy but feel a bit overwhelmed about where to begin, read this blog. It not only looks at why you should introduce a reuse policy, but gives you access to a template reuse policy focused on procurement, disposal, and building decommission.

A simple tweak to your waste disposal policy can prevent perfectly useable items being sent to landfill. In turn, it will also help with your sustainability strategy, sustainable purchasing plans, and circular economy activities. 

Get everyone involved

Any successful campaign centred around change needs more than just one person on board. Getting buy in from all departments within an organisation undoubtedly maximises reuse of surplus assets.  

It starts by adopting strategic steps to bridge gaps between leadership and action. See our guidance on achieving board-level buy in and 10 ways to get senior management to commit to a reuse project.

Nip waste in the bud through the procurement department and embed reuse into purchasing objectives. See our guide on getting the procurement team involved.

Porters are essential to the smooth running of an estate or within an institution. They provide a safe and secure environment for staff and visitors providing a range of customer focused services. In this article we explain how porters are one of your secret weapons to increase participation in your reuse programme, or any culture change project for that matter.

A more unexpected ally in embedding reuse in your organisation is the HR Department. The comings and goings of people often frees up equipment and assets that can be used elsewhere. Get the lowdown. 

Pay a few visits to the communications team. Approach them with a strategy, with clear explanations of what you need, and try to win their favour. If the communications team is willing to help, you'll suddenly have a direct line to many of your organisation’s members and stakeholders, and can promote reuse to them automatically through email newsletters and other updates. Here’s why, how, along with a few templates. 

Consider repair, refurbishing, and remodelling assets 

Repair, refurbishment, and remodelling of assets should be the part of any organisation's circular economy strategy. This activity is the next step after reuse.

It also allows you to give the older model to someone who really needs it, like a department in your organisation that has even older computers than you! In this blog post we talk to someone who knows a thing or two about repairing IT and bringing it back to life. It includes a downloadable document if you're considering setting up your own electronics repair activity in your organisation.

Tell people!

Warp It captures data, not just so you can report on the savings to senior management, but also so you can use it as a marketing tool and demonstrate the great impact you’re having. Here’s a template for sharing the good news.

Don't forget we're on hand if you want to tell your Warp It reuse story. We can help increase your impact by writing a case study and sharing it on our website, in our newsletter, and on our social media channels. 

Make circularity a priority for your organisation and start reusing today. Take the online tour and get in touch to join the Warp It reuse community.

Get more tips on supercharging your reuse success.

Read our reusing tips and tools.

Check out the work Warp It reuse heroes are doing.

Start reusing today and register with Warp It.