Becoming an Eco Friendly Law Firm

LFF encourages law firms to avoid paper products from unsustainable sources, such as Reflex paper made from the needless destruction of Victoria’s magnificent Mountain Ash forests and home to the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum.  Its easy to chose sustainable papers instead, such as Fuji Xerox Recycled Pure and J.Burrows 100% recycled.

Check out the Ethical Paper Guide 2014 and sign the Ethical Paper Pledge

Learn more about Japanese-owned company Australian Paper that manufactures Reflex from woodchipping Victoria’s native forests.

LFF also encourages law firms to chose an energy retailer that guarantees power from renewables and firmly rules out sourcing electricity from burning native forest products (also called “biomass” power).  We recommend Powershop.

Reduce overall use of paper:

• set the printer default to print out double sided, so that only the few documents required to be printed one-sided are.
• store files on disk for archiving rather than printing them out – saves space as well as paper and archiving costs.
• have whiteboards in each office to avoid use of paper for lists, diagrams etc
• encourage re-use of discarded paper, such as printing drafts on the back of used paper and making notepads from discarded paper
• Have recycling bins (and separate bins for separate products)
• Add environmental charities or groups to the law firm’s charity and pro bono policies

In 2002 Lawyers for Forests published the below eco-kit for law firms, detailing how your firm can improve its environmental sustainability.  The Guide is still an excellent tool for law firms today, but product advice (paper, energy and investment) within the Guide is now outdated.