Beveridge & Diamond--On the Leading Edge of Sustainability

One of the goals of GWG is to share information about what works.  We’ve made a point to spotlight organizations and law offices that have achieved successes on the greening journey.  By doing so, I hope you will find inspiration for replicating good ideas and advocate for implementing green business practices with confidence.  Also, I’ve found that the websites and reports of other offices serve up wonderful examples for writing about our office’s accomplishments and future plans. 

Beveridge and Diamond (B&D) is a law firm that specializes in environmental law and litigation.  The firm was established in Washington, DC in 1974 and has offices in New York, Boston, Austin, San Francisco, Baltimore and Englewood, New Jersey.  B&D is recognized as one of the best environmental firms in the country, and more recently has received notice for its sustainable business practices, too. 

When I reviewed the Sustainability pages on their website, I noticed that B&D has done a lot of small things right.  It picked the low-hanging fruit, so to speak, on the road to greener practices.  This includes buying recycled content paper, adopting two-sided printing as standard business practice for drafts and internal documents, boosting recycling efforts, issuing reminders to shut off lights and appliances when not in use, and swapping out incandescent light bulbs for greener alternatives.  Too often, we overlook the simple, everyday things, and B&D reminds us these steps are essential and important to a successful sustainability program. 

Beveridge & Diamond has also taken some big steps to reducing its environmental impact.  It is the first law firm in the nation to commit to all three components of the ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge.  In fact, two B&D attorneys oversaw the design and implementation of the program through their leadership in the ABA Section on Environment, Energy and Resources.

Beveridge & Diamond is a member of EPA’s Green Power Partnership and participates at the highest level in the program.  The Firm has entered into an agreement to purchase 1,875 mWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually for wind-generated electricity.  This purchase of low-carbon RECs reflects 100 percent of the firm’s nationwide energy usage, helps to encourage the development of the renewable energy sector, and will result in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.