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?