Environment

We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of delivering our legal services, and growing and developing our firm in a sustainable way.

As greenhouse gas levels continue to climb, climate change is happening even faster than anticipated. The effects are evident worldwide. We see climate change exacerbating storms and disasters. We see threats to food supply and water scarcity.

There are actions we can all take to help address climate change. Let’s make tomorrow better than today.

Our Environment Committee leads the design and implementation of a programme of continual improvement in our environmental performance. We are taking action across all our offices and are encouraging everyone to get involved when working in the office or at home.

Environment

Our message

“Supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals by taking meaningful steps to protect our environment is a core responsibility of all businesses.

I’m really proud to chair our new Environment Committee and bring my personal passion for creating a more sustainable future into the workplace.

Like many, I became invested in supporting environmental causes as a result of the heightened public awareness of marine plastic pollution and the effect of carbon dioxide on climate change. This has perhaps been brought into even sharper focus for me with the birth of my son in 2019 and the legacy we are leaving for his generation and those that come after him.

Law firms traditionally use large amounts of paper, as well as consume energy in heating and lighting their offices and travelling to clients. We have already taken significant steps to reduce paper use and our energy consumption, and are committed to more ambitious change. We are taking an honest view of how Greenwoods currently performs and focusing on initiatives with the greatest impact that align with our business strategy.”

Sarah Lidgett, Environment Committee Chair

We are working on:

Maximising recycling and reducing waste
Reducing printing and paper use
Buying recycled content paper and pens
Operating a Cycle to Work scheme
Recycling printer toner cartridges
Buying fair trade and local products

Using ultra-low energy bulbs
Programming IT equipment to go into energy save mode
Automatically switching off lights and air conditioning in unoccupied rooms
Providing old office furniture to reuse charities
Recycling redundant IT equipment with WEEE accredited services
Promoting campaigns internally such as Earth Hour and The Canopy Project