Looking towards a greener future
Over recent years many businesses have been negotiating the economic landscape with stretched profit margins, lean budgets and a keen focus on survival. Investment in the green agenda has, perhaps understandably, taken a back seat for many and its resurgence is surely a sign of recovery.
A recent office move by Morrish Solicitors LLP saw the introduction of low energy lighting, recycling of old hardware from the previous site and company policies refreshed to acknowledge the environment. Perhaps the biggest move towards a greener operation though, is evident in the practice’s print and copy strategy.
Recently Morrish renewed a contract with Arena Group Ltd to replace its printers and copiers with upgraded machines. New Toshiba models were chosen for their low energy consumption and for the fact that they are carbon offset. This means that the CO2 produced in their manufacture and transport, and the estimated print and copy output for the contract period, has been offset with a contribution towards a carbon reduction initiative. In this case, it funds energy efficient cooking stoves in Africa under a scheme coordinated by carbon offsetting expert, co2balance. Through this process the emissions are balanced to become “Carbon Zero” with no detrimental effect on the environment. Morrish went a step further, purchasing additional credits from co2balance to carbon neutralise its Kyocera machines under the same scheme.
Paul Scholey, Partner at Morrish Solicitors, comments; “every business has a responsibility to keep its carbon footprint to a minimum. To really walk the walk you need to look at all of your buying decisions with that in mind – it’s an approach we’re trying to adopt across the board, and we’re sure that our clients approve. It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to be proactive with your CSR policies.”
The output of the machines has also been considered from an environmental perspective. Defaults on the printers are set to reduce wasteful and unnecessary print practices, limiting colour output and one-sided pages. This minimises paper consumption and ensures economic use of toner whilst preventing Morrish’s recycling bins from over-flowing. This is not only environmentally aware but has a positive impact on the financial cost of running the machines.
Jaime Lockwood, IT Manager at Morrish adds; “In today’s economic and environmental climate, just being good at what we do is not enough. It’s our social responsibility to ensure that we are also as environmentally aware as possible. Our clients understand that everyone needs to try that little bit harder and they want to work with firms that are also looking to make a difference. Fortunately, Arena is like-minded and through working with them we have managed to deliver a solution that provides the best of all worlds – a fast and efficient quality print solution that is also carbon neutral.”
Looking to the future, Paul Scholey says that Morrish is currently considering an environmental audit of its entire operation with a view to reducing its carbon footprint even further.
