USPS makes going green easier

 
A press release from the United States Post Office dated June 2, 2008 announces “an easy, online resource for consumers to make environmentally friendly decisions about their mail.”

According to the release, just about every Post Office service can be conducted online, including ordering packaging and shipping materials.

The website – www.usps.com/green – has general tips from “how to improve environmental awareness” to how to using USPS online services can reduce your carbon footprint.

On the website itself, the Eco-Friendly Products and Services tab outlines your online options. Greening Your Mail has information and options to recycle and reuse materials. The Recycle and Innovation tabs outline efforts by the Post Office to be more environmentally responsible. And, Direct and Green has insights on how to make your promotional mailings greener.

While the website is heavily promotional, there are some good tips. So, even if you’re not using a mail campaign as part of your marketing plan, there are many good, easy-to-implement ideas to help your firm “go green.”

Climate change affects firms’ management and revenue

 
In her article, Powered Up: Climate Change Work Fuels New Business for Texas Firms in the April issue of Texas Lawyer, Jenny B. Davis addresses how the climate is not only changing how attorneys practice, but what they practice as well.

Global warming is now much more than just a blip on the radar as “…Texas firms have been mobilizing to capture this climate change business. Over the past few years, many of the biggest firms have done this by creating specific climate change practice groups.”

Energy producers are facing changing business and legal climates, as well as changes to the natural one. As a result, “lawyers on both sides of the bar say they’re profiting from new types of deals, new types of litigation and the promise of what may be an entirely new regulatory system.”

Clearly, opportunities in environmental law – on all sides of the issue – are going to grow for some time.

At the same time, attorneys are adopting more environmentally friendly business practices, developing and implementing green initiatives. Thompson & Knight’s new offices in a Dallas building still under construction are designed to be “eligible for certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.”

That’s a big commitment, but more simple practices can yield great results as well. According to Elisabeth G. Anderson, practice and industry marketing manager for DLA Piper, the firm has stopped buying bottled water and “installed filtration systems next to kitchen-area faucets and outfitted conference rooms with old-fashioned pitchers.”

Fresh, pure water and a touch of old-fashioned class… I like it and I’ll be the clients do as well.

Your clients ask, “Are you green?” What do you say?

 
Somehow, when I wasn’t looking, environmentalism hit the mainstream.

I’ve always been environmentally conscious, as long as it wasn’t too much of a burden. But now, it seems we’ve reached critical mass and if you’re not green, it could cost you clients.

So, what does it mean to be “green?” Different answers are appropriate to different situations, but there are basic things all of us should be doing, both as individuals and as businesses to earn the green label.

To get on the green bandwagon, if you haven’t already, your firm should start with the basics, like recycling.

• • Do you recycle paper, plastic and cans?
• • Is the company that shreds your documents recycling the paper?
• • Are you printing and filing multiple copies of documents that could be saved electronically?
• • And, although you’ll probably want nice paper for your letterhead, are you using recycled paper for your drafts and other documents?
• • If you really want to lead the charge, modify your branding strategy to include being green and print everything on 100% recycled paper.

I’ll be reviewing several resources in more detail to provide additional ways to be more green. In the meantime, get started. You might even want to get the jump on your clients. Tell them about your plans to go green and invite them to join in. There’s nothing like peer pressure to get things done!