All across Istanbul, corporate slaves are turning green. Environmentally conscious employers and employees are coming up with creative solutions to change how they carry out their businesses.

Take for example, Ahmet Ertuğrul, the General Manager of the online careers site Işportal. He has been reducing and recycling paper for the past 20 years, chose diesel for company cars, ensures that everyone uses the back of each paper, keeps the office temperature moderate according to the season and recycles plastic bags/envelopes by giving them to MNG, the cargo company who offer this service. When asked why he goes to the trouble of doing all these things he says, “Our planet is being destroyed because of human actions so we need to reverse the damage as best as we can.  Why have a room that is so hot that you need to open the window, wear a sweater in the summer because the AC is cranked up or pull out a new piece of paper when you can use the back of another sheet?” He states that he hasn’t had difficulty ensuring that everyone in his company “goes green” because when one person starts the process others are quick to follow. Mr. Ertuğrul states, “People overall want to do something for the environment, but don’t know where to begin. One should never underestimate the importance of each person making an individual effort because it has a ripple affect on many.”
 
Another shining example of what you can do to be an ecological warrior and still run a company is Pınar Çakmak, the C.E.O of The Smarties. She’s a talented entrepreneur with a high-kick conscience. She states, “Ever since I founded my company 5 years ago, I have been very environmentally active. Separating paper and glass is a must.” She says that wasting paper is avoided by a policy to “never print out anything before it’s final.”

Reducing waste and recycling is not the only way this communication agency expresses their love for Mama Earth.  Living up to their namesake, the company has also found smart ways to use their marketing and advertising savvy to protect marine life. They designed an ad campaign promoting pledges individuals can take to protect the Black Sea for the United Nations Environment Committee (www.unep.org) with significantly reduced costs. In exchange, not only did they receive that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you know you are doing something good, but also recognition for their talent with the Red Award for “Best Ad campaign with Social Content.”
 
In the education field, teachers cannot avoid spending a lot of time educating students about climate chaos and the ways to address it, but being a role model is a far greater goal than merely imparting theory. One private school on the European side took on this challenge by creating an Environment Committee with the purpose of looking into ways of how to make their practices reflect the content that was being taught. First on their action plan was to end the use of plastic cups throughout the school. Teachers were asked to bring in ceramic cups for hot beverages and students were asked to bring in steel bottles for water. Pretty soon thousands of cups were prevented from entering yet another over-stuffed landfill. 
 
The Wedding industry is also experiencing eco-changes with how people express their commitment to their loved ones. The ritz and the glam of weddings are increasingly taking place outdoors and this is making room for a little thought about sustaining the beauty of the landscape. It makes sense seeing that you can’t exactly whisper sweet nothings in the ear of your spouse, if you don’t have a viable planet. That’s why, instead of regular invitations with little silver bells and white ribbons, nature loving couples are opting for invitations from the environmental foundation ÇEKUL (www.cekulvakfi.org). The money from the invitations goes toward the “7 trees campaign” and the envelopes are from recycled paper. Couples can also opt out of receiving huge flower wreaths (seen not only at weddings, but also shop openings and funerals) by adding a note to suggest guests’ plant trees in the couple’s name instead. 
 
ÇEKUL as well as TEMA (www.temavakfi.org) foundation also offer couples a unique way to replace the traditional candy given at the end of weddings. Wedding candy is usually placed in anything ranging from tiny silver bowls to elaborate boxes with the couple’s names engraved in. Instead of these soon-to-be-tossed-to-the-far-corner-of-your-drawer trinkets, guests can receive a certificate stating that the wed couple donated trees in each guest’s name. This way the memory of your fairy tale wedding grows into a forest befitting a happily ever after ending. 

According to Dr. Ayhan Tokgöz, the head of the Lokman Hekim Health Foundation (www.lokmanhekimsv.org), thousands of companies, factories, schools, and hotels are doing their part to recycle paper to benefit not only the environment, but also patients. The system works as follows: the foundation picks up paper from any institution with more than 50 kilos and sells it to a recycling factory. With the money gained, the foundation gives health services and medicine to patients who are living below the poverty line.

So, for all the workers of the world who want to save the world, but just couldn’t leave the office, now is your chance to start your Green Revolution... one cubicle at a time.

Lokman Hekim Health Foundation: 212-278-6745/9536
ÇEKUL foundation: 0212-249-6464
TEMA foundation: 0212-283-7816
 
 
WORKER’S GREEN MANIFESTO
 
1.    Set up re-usable/re-cyclable boxes around the office
2.    Use diesel company cars
3.    Always print double-sided
4.    Keep temperatures moderate to season
5.    Turn off unused electronic equipment, even standby
6.    Do pro-bono or reduced fee services for environmental organisations
7.    Carpool or take service buses
8.    Switch from plastic cups to ceramic
9.    Have virtual meetings
10.    Donate paper (preferably used and abused) to charity organisations