Think paper recycling is a boring task? Not unless you make it that way! This year’s Friday File Fling, brought to you by our event sponsor Planet Ark 100% Australian Recycled Paper (Australian Paper), was all about getting rid of those paper files piling up in the office, flinging it into the recycling bin and having fun while you did it. So how much was recycled what did this mean for the environment?

Based on the reported results, it is estimated around 23 tonnes of old files were recycled or 422 wheelie bins (240L).

This equates to saving:

• enough energy to power a CFL bulb for 848,326 hours, or over 97 years,
• over 8,588 L of water,
• over 16 tonnes of carbon emissions, and
• over 102,124 L of landfill space!

A wide range of workplaces - from schools to councils, small businesses to big corporates, dentists to government departments - participated in this fun, simple activity to de-clutter, and put quality office paper back into the recycling stream.

New South Wales had the most Friday File Flings with 42% of all registrations, followed by Queensland at 23%, Victoria on 16% and Western Australia and South Australia tied in fourth place with 6%. There’s nothing like a little bit of state rivalry to motivate participants for next year.

As a part of this year’s Friday File Fling, the first 20 businesses to submit their results won five cartons of Planet Ark 100% Australian Recycled Paper. By using Australian recycled paper such as ours, workplaces can help close the loop on paper recycling, first by putting paper into the right bins, and then buying it back.

Our winners were extremely happy with their prize. Amy Bennett from The Flagstaff Group in NSW said “What a great incentive to encourage the use of recycled paper. Friday File Fling was a fun event at our workplace and our supported employees will be thrilled to know their efforts have paid off!...We’re looking forward to celebrating again next year!”

Since the Friday File Fling began, Planet Ark has had 634 business registrations with more than 166,315 Kgs of paper recycled. That equates to saving 111,434 CO2 eq (KG)  of carbon emissions or over 2,228, 688 million CO2-filled black balloons!

So a big congratulations to the 70+ organisations and 3300 plus people who participated this year! Check out some of the photos.

Thanks again to all the fantastic coordinators for this year’s Friday File Fling. It’s because of individuals like yourself that our positive, environmental behaviour change programs can thrive.