Greening The Legal Environment

1. Greening The Legal Environment Presented by Jane Gourley-Davis and Derek Simon Co-Chairs, Patterson Law Green Team

2. Who We Are: • Patterson Law • The “Green Team”

3. Why should law firms Go Green? • Forward Thinking • Profitable: • Reducing paper use: printing costs and storage costs • Reducing Water use, • Reducing Electricity use • Less costly/healthier transportation options

4. Why should law firms Go Green? • Happier, Healthier Employees: • 68% of employees say that it is important that Employer’s Environmental values match their own (BusinessWeek poll, Feb 2008) • Employees feel they’re part of something • Green buildings can improve worker productivity (http://www.cba.org/cba/Practicelink/Bsky/greeningyourfirm.aspx) • Offers employees flexible hours/healthier options for getting to work

5. Why should law firms Go Green? • Happier Customers: • 91% of organizations indicated that they do consider Green factors at least occasionally, and 16% said they always consider environmental factors when making a purchasing decision (Terrachoice Environmental Marketing Inc.) • Similar figures for consumers • Care About Issues that are Important to Society: • Harris-Decima poll in January, 2007 placed Environment as the top priority for Canadians • Doing the right thing: because the environment affect us all

6. Issues that Affect us All … • Loss of Biodiversity/Habitat • Ozone Depletion • Air, Water, Land Pollution • Resource Use and Waste Management • Energy • Global Warming/Climate Change

7. The Challenge of Our Time … • “The protection of the environment has become one of the major challenges of our time.” • Justice LaForest (Friends of the Oldman River Society v. Canada (1992), 132 NR 321 SCC) • “Achieving sustainable development is the most fundamental challenge facing the world today […]” • Clean Growth: Building a Canadian Environmental Superpower, A Policy Declaration of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives Task Force on Environmental Leadership, October 1, 2007

8. So how green are we? • Paper Use • The average office uses 1-2 lbs of paper per worker per day: more than our body weight in a year • Average cost per employee to purchase, copy, print, mail and store paper is $500 per year. • E-mail: actually increases paper use by 40% (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1362631/Boom-in-email-puts-paper-use-up-by-40pc.html) • Takes more energy to produce a ton of paper than a ton of any other industrial product

9. Making duplicate copies and computer printouts of things no one wanted even one of in the first place is giving America a new sense of purpose. - Andy Rooney

10. So how green are we? • Paper Use: Law firms are particularly bad: • Paper Use – avg. lawyer – 20,000 to 100,000 sheets per year [http://www.cba.org/cba/Practicelink/Bsky/greeningyourfirm.aspx) • At 8,333 sheets/tree, that is 2.4 to 12 trees per year! (http://www.conservatree.com/learn/EnviroIssues/TreeStats.shtml)

11. Leaves a lot of us doing this:

12. When maybe we should be doing this:

13. Paper, paper, paper…. • Bad for Business • Copy, store, purchase paper - $500/employee • Bad for the Environment: • Greenhouse gases/water use • Misconception that “recycling” paper helps on the front end • REDUCE, REUSE, Recycle

14. So what can we do about it? • Bad: Printing single-sided • Good: Double-sided printing should be the default setting on printers and copiers • Bad: “Papering your file” • Good: “Paperless files”: Save everything to your document management system

15. So what can we do about it? • Bad: using paper made from virgin timber • Good: Using paper made from recycled sources • Good: Re-using scrap paper • Bad: Printing draft documents and e-mails to review • Good: Email documents and print only once • Good: Reminding people not to print e-mail! One World - Help us keep it green by only printing this email if necessary.

16. What about energy consumption? • Lights are often left on all night and computers rarely shut down • Lighting an average-sized empty office overnight wastes enough electricity to make 1,000 hot drinks or print 800 sheets of paper. (The Independent) • Computers in US offices burn $2.8 billion worth of electricity annually while not performing any work: http://ca.tech.yahoo.com/experts/chrisnull/article/3088 • Heating and AC: • Represents about 15% of CO2 emissions • for every one degree we save up to 5% on our heating/cooling bill

17. So what can we do about it? • Bad: Leaving lights on unnecessarily • Good: Turning lights off • Bad: Leaving computer on all night • Good: Shut down • Bad: Freezing in the summer; Boiling in the Winter • Good: Having a manageable temperature all year long (and encouraging people to dress appropriately) • Good: Using Energy Efficient Bulbs, Machines, etc. • Good: Using laptops instead of desktops

18. And what about the H2O? • Bottled Water • Extra Cost, and for What? • Canada’s two biggest brands are both just filtered municipal water • Travel and Energy consumption: • 31.2 billion litres of bottled water consumed annually in US take 17 billion barrels of oil to produce • Waste • Difficult to recycle • BPA and Health Concerns

19. So what can we do to help? • Drink plain old tap water : use filters or Brita if necessary • Tested regularly • Environmentally friendly • Free from BPA • Free! • Refilling large water bottles helps as well (reuse)

20. What about travel? • Is a significant contributor to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions • About 20-25% of CO2 emissions • Every 3.5 miles travelled produces 1 kg of CO2 • Bad Habits: • Idling at Tim Hortons • Driving /Flying to Conferences • Driving to work, meetings, etc.

21. So how can we improve on that? • Drive Wiser! (90 km/h) • Encourage use of public transportation: • Bus passes instead of parking spots • Safe ride home programs • Encourage active transportation (walking/cycling) by creating employee clubs, giveaways, participating in events • Carpool or use http://www.hrmsmarttrip.ca/ • Use videoconferencing, webinars, conference calls instead of travelling to meetings, conferences

22. Other things we can do • Green Building Improvements/Leasing • Buying Green Products/Having a Green Purchasing Policy: • 100% Recycled or FSC Paper • EcoLogo or Green Seal products • Energy Star equipment

23. How do you put this into action? • People: • Get buy-in: develop a proposal, do a survey, etc. • Make sure you have support from top management/head office • Form a committee or designate a green champion: • Get people from different parts of organization: management, senior and junior lawyers, support staff, accounting, IT, librarians etc. • Meet regularly

24. How do you put this into action? • Conduct an Audit • Checklist: http://www.cba.org/cba/Practicelink/Bsky/greenchecklist.aspx • Hire a consultant/environmental auditor: http://www.auditingcanada.com/ • Adopt a Policy: • ABA Model Sustainability Policy: www.abanet.org/environ/committees/climatechange/ModelLaw/ModelSustainabilityPolicy.pdf

25. How do you put this into action? • Communicate • Let everyone in the workplace know about it! • Hold a Contest • Do a “Lunch and Learn” • Have a Party • Newsletter/E-mail: “Green Tips”

26. How do you put this into action? • Put into Action • Start small and be realistic • Model the way: Be the change you want to see in your firm! • Follow Up • Evaluate your progress • Keep people up to date with e-mail or newsletters • Celebrate your successes!

27. Questions?