Ropes & Gray’s Green Contribution: 4,000 Saved Water Bottles a Month
Ropes & Gray decided last year it would no longer buy bottled water for office meetings. Instead, the Boston law firm offered old-fashioned liquid refreshments—water in pitchers and glasses.
In the first month alone, the change saved 4,000 water bottles and helped reduce damage to the environment.
The law firm was among the workplaces featured in a New York Times column on efforts to save the environment. Other companies reduce paper waste and recycle the rest, save electricity by turning off computers and lights and encourage employees to take public transit or bike to work. “Green is to this decade’s workplace what flexible hours were to the last,” the writer says.
Ropes & Gray is not the only law firm taking action, according to an ABA Journal article. In early February, at least 88 law offices had signed on to the ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge. The initiative calls on law firms to reduce paper waste, increase energy efficiency and obtain some of their electricity from renewable resources.
