Sustainable Office Space for Law Firms

What does it mean to be sustainable?

There are three pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. A triple bottom line business is any company that excels in all three areas.

A successful sustainable business cuts back on waste whenever possible while creating a healthy work environment for employees. Just like they slim down on paper and electricity, they also cut back on exploiting their workforce and instead focus on maintaining a pace that will allow their employees to thrive.

Sustainability is a big topic; it feels like there is always more to do to reduce one's carbon footprint and save resources for future generations. You don't need to take drastic measures. There are many small ways to make your law firm more eco-friendly. Many will even save your law firm money and improve employee satisfaction.

How to make the office more sustainable

Reducing your carbon footprint

Your carbon footprint is a way of describing the amount of fossil fuel you consume regularly. Examples of fossil fuels include gasoline for your car, heating and cooling your office, and waste from products you purchase.

There are tons of minor lifestyle tweaks to adopt eco-conscious habits. For example, ensure all of the office's light bulbs are energy efficient and turn off the lights when you leave a room. If you have an older office building, you might find that it takes more resources to keep it hot or cold. Investing in proper insulation will save resources in the long run.

Another way to reduce emitting excess carbon in the office is to provide employees with updated computers. They don't necessarily have to be the newest model, but new laptops generally use 80% less energy than their desktop counterparts.  

Not only does this save energy, but it also improves productivity. It makes employees feel valued, creating a positive work culture.

Saving trees with legal technology

The purpose of legal technology companies is to streamline your office work, making organization and client communication simple. They can also contribute to building a sustainable office space by reducing the need for paper and pens.

When it comes to adopting legal technology solutions to manage case files and automate the follow-up process, you are reducing waste and making the client process more manageable.

If you've been a lawyer for a while, you likely have file cabinets of outdated paperwork taking up precious office space. Even for people super on top of sorting, filing, and tracking data manually, you can save yourself loads of time by switching to digital record keeping.

Every day humans cut down 80,000-160,000 trees worldwide to make paper. While it might seem like you're only using a few pieces of paper here and there, it adds up to a significant amount over time. So do yourself and the planet a favor and make sure your law firm is using modern technology.

Introducing work-from-home days

Since COVID, working from home has become fairly common. It improves employee productivity and satisfaction, resulting in positive workplace culture, and reduces carbon emissions by eliminating the commute.

Another aspect of sustainability is not about the environment but rather about sustainable practices, meaning implementing procedures that create a positive work environment.

Employees need work-life balance to stay with a company long-term. You are fostering a better atmosphere, both literally and figuratively, by allowing employees to work from home some days.

Another way to keep up morale and prevent burnout is to have fun days at the office, where you host afternoon lunches and games. Many companies also offer unlimited time off, allowing employees to take breaks when needed.

It's rare for people to abuse this, and in general keeps, everybody in a good place mentally, knowing if they need a break, they can take one without fear of using up all of their vacation or sick days.

What is next?

We know this might have been a bit of information overload, and we don't expect you to immediately become the epitome of sustainability. Instead, take a moment to write down two or three action items you find doable and can commit to regularly.

By encouraging employees to follow your lead in being more environmentally conscious, you'll increase productivity, save money in the long run, and be helping the environment. Last but not least, many of these solutions create an overall positive workplace which is priceless.

Seemingly small lifestyle tweaks make a difference over time. Let us know if you decide to implement anything you learned in this article!