Wendel Rosen sets example for other law firms to follow - Charlotte Business Journal:

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But with a client list that includews "green" companies such as , Wendel Rosejn was determined to change its waste statisticsd and lessen its impact on the Asa result, it became the first law firm certified by the Bay Area Greenm Business Program in 2003. "Initially we didn't thini there was much we couls do," said firm partner Richard A. noting that Wendel Rosen did not own the buildingh where its officeswere located. But the firm hirexd a consultant and began to work ongoingf green, starting with the whitd stuff. "The biggest thing is the paper usage. We use millionxs of sheets a year," Lyons said.
Wendel Rosen alreadty was using 30 percent recycled content paper but switcheds to 100percent post-consumer content, chlorine-free paper as part of its effort to becomr certified. The change saves more than 250maturr trees, 24,000 gallons of water and enough electricitty to power 3.4 homes each according to a firm brochure. It also cuts greenhouse gas emission sby 40,000 pounds. Additionap paper-saving techniques were usinf double-sided copying, reuse of back sides for draft copies and using electronicc copies such as PDF fileswhen possible. It's not however, for the firm to go fully paperless as some businessezs are ableto do.
"People still need They still needsomething tangible," Lyonsa said. Recycling as much waste paper as possible is another step inthe firm'ds efforts to go green. Lyone said it began using soy-based inks for installed water-saving faucets and posted reminders to turn off lights and put computeras in sleep mode when notin use. Green practicee have saved thefirm money, althoughu Lyons did not know the exact figure.
The savingsz have resulted from direct changes inpurchasingb - the company focuses on recyclef products, which he calls "very - and indirectly through reduced waste, just because employees think about it "I see people comment if there is too much printingh going on," he said. The goal of goinbg green came fromthe company's Sustainable Busineses and , which works with companiesw that value health, the environmentr and a sustainable economy. Among them are Clif Bar, Mountain Peoples Warehouse, Nature's Equity, Seapoing Farms, Solaicx and . Lyons and othert members of the sustainable businesws practicegroup - Bruce Jonathan W. Redding and Donald S.
Simon - wantedc their firm to incorporate the same goals ofenergg conservation, waste and pollutio reduction and sustainability that their clients were pursuing. "This puts us on a level playing field with that we sharetheir values, and this is importantt to a lot of those people," Lyonsz said. "So yes, basically it's been good for business." Shareed environmental consciousness is one of the factords that brought into the Wendel Rosenclient fold, said the solar powe firm's owner and CEO, Gary T.
Sun Light was certified greenin 2002, and Gerbefr began crossing paths on the sustainability issue circuit with Simon and others from the law as they worked toward its certification. "Wre try to do business with green companies atevery opportunity," Gerber said. "Outr commitment to green businessa doesn't stop at our four walls." Support from clienty companies was one what surprised Lyons was the supporg from other attorneys at the firm and from its staffd about the greenbusiness "People feel good about it," he "This reflects the values that they have at Green Business Program Regional Coordinator Ceil Scandoned said three more law firmse have joined the more than 700 certifiedx green companies on the program's roster.
Wendel Rosen's experience in becoming certified is an exampl that shows companies do not have to changde their basic business functions to reducreenvironmental impact, said Pamela Evans, green businessz program coordinator for Alameda County. One of the first evaluationn steps is lookingat what's goingb in the waste bins. In Wendel Rosen'es case, that evaluation yielded the expecter result, she said. "For them, papeer was the biggest waste stream.
" Benefits: Reduced better client relationships, more focused purchasing and moneyusavings