FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Falls City, Neb. Launches Productive Environment Challenge™
Professional Organizer Barbara Hemphill Helps Kick-Off New Recycling Program
FALLS CITY, NEB. — Nationally known professional organizer Barbara Hemphill helps companies large and small create a more productive environment. But now, she’s going to help an entire city.
The residents of Falls City (pop. 3,933) are taking on the challenge to be more productive as a way to launch a citywide recycling program. From Aug. 29 to Sep. 3, families and individuals will compete to see who can donate and recycle the largest amount of stuff. Prizes will be awarded for the most valuable item, the oldest unnecessary item, the most unusual item and more.
To launch the event, Barbara Hemphill will conduct a seminar on Monday August 29 called “Sometimes It Takes An Expert to Take Out the Trash™: Techniques for Deciding What To Toss and How To Find the Rest!”
Her presentation offers practical techniques developed and tested over 30 years in offices and homes around the world for creating a “Productive Environment™” —an intentional setting in which everyone can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives.
“Your ability to accomplish any task or goal is directly related to your ability to find what you need when you need it,” said Hemphill, whose Productive Environment Institute creat es such places for businesses. “This event enables the people of Falls City to get a fresh start on their goals.”
The Productive Environment Challenge is the first of many Hemphill hopes to launch across the country.
“Clutter exists everywhere: in our minds, our homes, our offices, and in our communities,” Hemphill said. “You can keep everything you want, but it’s going to cost you something — time, space, money or energy. I’m proud to help my hometown residents and businesses begin the journey toward lowering some of those costs.”
Prior to the kick-off seminar, businesses, organizations and households can register to participate. Then, employees and residents will implement the principles and techniques presented in Hemphill’s seminar, identifying and eliminating items that do not help them “accomplish their work and enjoy their lives.”
Donation centers will be set up around the city, enabling participants to recycle and donate clothes, plastics, newspapers, cans, catalogs, cardboard, metal appliances and more. A paper shredding truck will be on standby for sensitive documents. City officials are also allowing furniture and other big items to be placed at the curb for pickup.
To highlight the uses of recycled materials, artist Andrea Jenkins is creating an outdoor sculpture from materials not commonly considered art, as inspiration to participants.
The event is a collaboration by City of Falls City: County Commissioner Jim Davidson: Mark Harkendorff; Tim Koelzer; RJ and Carol Hamilton; Falls City Journal; KTNC; Sunny 101.3; Time Warner Cable; Richardson County Bank; First National Bank; American National Bank; Southeast Nebraska Communications; Miller-Monroe Co.; Lichty Tubach, Sikoka Insurance Agency; Sts. Peter and Paul Knights of Columbus; Falls City Chamber of Commerce; and the Friends of the Library.
About Barbara Hemphill
Barbara Hemphill started her organizing business in 1978 with a $7 ad in a New York City newspaper, based on the principles she learned growing up on a farm in Falls Lake, Neb. She is the founder of the Productive Environment Institute. Barbara is a celebrated international speaker, corporate spokesperson, and consultant to small businesses and major corporations worldwide. She is the author of the “Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger” book series and the co-author of “Bushido Business” with Stephen M.R. Covey, Tom Hopkins, and Brian Tracy. She has been referred to by the media as “America’s Favorite Organizer” and has appeared on CNN Nightly News, CNBC, and CCN-FN and in Fast Company, Investor’s Business Daily, Business Week, USA Today, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Guideposts Magazine. A wife, mother of five, and grandmother of four, Barbara now lives in Raleigh, NC where she enjoys hosting visitors in her own Productive Environment ™.
About the Productive Environment Institute
The Productive Environment Institute trains and mentors specialists whose mission is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment™ so everyone can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. Based in North Carolina, PEI trains and mentors Certified Productive Environment Specialists nationwide. Learn more at http://www.productiveenvironment.com/.
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Productive Environment Challenge
Media Information Fast Facts
The Purpose
The purpose of the Productive Environment Day Challenge is to create a series of days to encourage and provide education and support for businesses, organizations, home-based businesses, and individuals to take the time to eliminate any items from their offices or homes which can be tossed, recycled, shredded, or donated in order to increase productivity, reduce costs, and demonstrate commitment to the environment.
FAST FACTS
WHAT: Productive Environment Challenge™
WHEN: Aug 29-Sep 3
WHERE: Falls City, Neb.
WHO: Barbara Hemphill, City of Falls City: County Commissioner Jim Davidson: Mark Harkendorff; Tim Koelzer; RJ and Carol Hamilton; Falls City Journal; KTNC; Sunny 101.3; Time Warner Cable; Richardson County Bank; First National Bank; American National Bank; Southeast Nebraska Communications; Miller-Monroe Co.; Lichty Tubach, Sikoka Insurance Agency; Sts. Peter and Paul Knights of Columbus; Falls City Chamber of Commerce; and the Friends of the Library.
RELATED STATISTICS
- Significant productivity gains based on statistics that 80% of what we keep we never use and the average worker spends 400 hours/year looking for misplaced items.
- An OfficeMax survey found 64% of employees admit having difficulty prioritizing what they should throw away.
- A Brother International study says collective messy desks and time spent looking for misplaced items costs corporate America $177 billion annually.
- Reduction in requisite floor space, permitting companies to put reclaimed space to better use as well as potentially reduce real estate costs.
- Significant marketing and branding exposure as local (and potentially national) press highlights involvement in an initiative with positive environmental impacts.
- Increased public awareness and perception as an environmentally active and socially responsible organization.
- One church that participated turned a room previously used for storage into a classroom within 48 hours.
- One company with 40 employees recycled 7 tons of paper and outdated supplies in 2 days.
