No More Excuses: There are Green Guides for Everything!

TreeHugger.com is a website devoted to helping individuals go green in all aspects of their daily lives. For this reason, they have developed “Go Green” and “Buy Green” Guides to make our attempts at going green a little simpler. Topics of the Go Green Guides range from how to green your kitchen, your workplace, and even your funeral. Each guide offers the Top 10 Green Tips for the particular topic, as well as sections on how to do more, as well as statistics. The Buy Green Guides are divided into several categories including shoes, jeans, desktop computers, and furniture. Lists of green products are located under each heading. The author explains why these products are considered green, in addition to how much they cost. As stated on the website, “TreeHugger knows that we can't shop or buy our way to global sustainability…but there comes a moment when your favorite shoes are finally worn beyond repair, and when you need to upgrade your work clothes, or kitchen utensils, or living room furniture, and we're here to help you do it green.” Check out TreeHugger for more information!

Lawyers Can Go Green, Too!

Meritas, an international affiliation of over 6,000 lawyers in ten countries worldwide, has recently initiated a project called the Meritas Leadership Institute. The Leadership Institute is made up of people who are committed to studying new sustainability projects. The culmination of their efforts led to the publication The Green Guide For Lawyers. This guide is divided into three separate tiers: Sustainability Advocate, Partner, and Leader. According to ecopreneurist.com, “each tier contains initiatives that fall into the Triple Bottom Line categories of people, profit and planet.” For example, law firms in the Sustainability Advocates tier may follow some of the following tips: - Adopt a sustainability mission statement. - Encourage employees to carpool or use public transportation. - Use environmentally friendly cleaning items. Firms under the Sustainability Leaders tier may follow much more service-oriented guidelines: - Allocate a certain number of pro bono service hours to an environmental organization. - Provide education for clients through a newsletter, sponsored events, or discussions. - Include “green” information on their websites. Click Here for more information and to download this educational handbook! What can your firm or company do to help the green initiative? Do you think your firm or company already falls under one of the guide's three tiers?