Welcome to part ten of our blog series on Going Green, dedicated to helping attorneys practice law in a more environmentally friendly way.  Last week we discussed how reusable water bottles and coffee mugs can cut down on the waste that your practice produces.  This week we will focus on educating and rewarding employees to encourage them to buy into the environmental standards you set.

Let’s face it, the human condition is to go with the status quo, especially when there is no incentive to change your ways.  Just because you implement a set of Green initiatives to help your practice become more environmentally friendly, does not mean that people want to adhere to them.  Sure, you can threaten them with punishments, but that will lower morale and only force people to try just so hard.

A better way to deal with the situation is to make it more exciting.  Just like any other system that you implement, going green will take a group effort.  Set up contests and rewards for following the new guidelines and going above and beyond the expectations.  The person who is most environmentally friendly each month gets a small cash bonus, however you want to measure that.

Also, take one day a week, or twice a month, and plan a “green education” event.  Invite guest speakers to present new ideas on how people can be more efficient and work better to help the environment.  These can be fun and informative, and help spread the idea of environmentalism around the office.

If you are serious about going green at the office, these are two steps that you can take to insure that the others at the office are on board as well.  The most important idea to take out of this is when people are excited about something, it is much easier to move forward with it.  Create a workplace that encourages this type of enthusiasm about going green and you will be much more likely to inspire real change. 

Past Installments in this Series
Part One – An Introduction to Going Green
Part Two – Cut Electricity Costs, Just Flip the Switch
Part Three – Forget Paper, Go Digital
Part Four – Travel Together, Travel Less
Part Five – We Recycle
Part Six – Natural Lighting
Part Seven – Know Your Gadgets
Part Eight – Setting Goals
Part Nine – Reusable Bottles and Mugs