Alston & Bird’s sustainability efforts have been featured in a piece appearing in The Environmental Forum entitled “The Sustainable Firm.” The article discusses the legal industry’s relatively recent—yet vigorous—embrace of the precepts of environmental responsibility through formal programs. Alston & Bird, which has had a historical dedication to sustainable practices, was featured in the article as a leader in this realm.
The firm was lauded for the “ground up” way that it began advancing its sustainability initiatives: “Alston & Bird LLP initiated its sustainability program by first seeking to empower employees on an individual basis,” the article notes. “[I]ts Personal Sustainability Program focused on grassroots initiatives and challenged all employees to adopt sustainable practices that they were motivated to pursue. The process helped identify internal champions who have subsequently become leaders of the firm’s more traditional sustainability program.”
Alston & Bird was also noted for its “greenmail” email address, which distributes and receives sustainability messages firm-wide, as well as those initiatives that help the bottom line, which have earned the efforts of its Sustainability Committee respect throughout the firm. “Demonstrating to firm leadership that double-sided printing had saved the firm over $160,000 in paper costs over two years generated significant support for the committee’s broader efforts,” the article mentions as one example.
“The Sustainable Firm,” which appears in The Environmental Forum, the policy journal of the Environmental Law Institute, can be found here.