The past few years have seen a renewed concern about the harm that misuse and overuse of natural resources cause to an increasingly fragile global environment. And let’s face it: As members of a profession that generates mountains of paperwork annually, we lawyers contribute more than our share to a serious problem. According to the latest ABA report, a single lawyer can use as many as 100,000 sheets of printer and copier paper in just one year. That’s the equivalent of a half-ton of paper.
What’s more, the life cycle of that half-ton of paper, from production to recycling, translates to the equivalent of more than four tons of greenhouse gas emissions. And if that paper is deposited in a landfill, add another ton of carbon dioxide to that leather wing-tip or Manolo Blahnik footprint.
