Protecting the Environment at Martin Searle Solicitors
As the firm’s Environmental Champions, Lily Grunwell and I have implemented a new environmental strategy to reduce waste and increase our engagement with our local community.
Lily feels strongly about animal welfare protection and the relationship this has with the environment. This is because the low standards of animal welfare and health in agriculture are causing further environmental degradation is a factor in causing future health pandemics.
I enjoy finding creative solutions to waste and energy problems. Further, I believe it is important to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of climate change as this is a collective problem. Only collective action can change environmentally-unfriendly behaviours.
One of our new initiatives at our firm is the expansion of our recycling and waste collections. Aside from collecting regular plastic, tins, cardboard and glass, we are also collecting used, disposable PPE from our staff in response to the environmental challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. We also recycle empty make-up and beauty product containers through our local Body Shop store.
Similarly, we collect used stamps in our reception area which are then donated to Against Breast Cancer, a charity based in Oxfordshire. They recycle the stamps which raises funds to support breast cancer research.
As it is also important that we support our local community, we have set up a staff recycling collection for crisp packets. These are donated to the Crisp Packet Project, an organisation based in Hastings. The Crisp Packet Project use the empty packets to create life-saving sleeping bags and survival sheets for people who are homeless.
Recognising that recycling alone does not go far enough, we also ensure that we source ethical and local suppliers, such as the Ethical Superstore. This means we can buy sustainable products for our staff which are more environmentally-friendly.
We also actively encourage staff to reduce energy usage by switching off appliances when they are not in use, turning off lights when leaving rooms and reducing the number of internal emails sent.
Although these actions may seem small, in combination they can have a significant impact on lowering our firm’s carbon footprint. As Environmental Champions we are constantly raising the consciousness of all staff and looking to improve our green strategy.
Contact us today on 01273 609911, or email info@ms-solicitors.co.uk.
