Law firm makes case for energy efficiency - Milford, MA - The Milford Daily News
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Law firm makes case for energy efficiency
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By Aaron Wasserman/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted May 13, 2008 @ 09:12 PM
MEDWAY — The legal profession revolves around
offices, boardrooms and courtrooms - not the most
energy-intensive environments - but it also involves lots
and lots of paper.
"It turns out lawyers use a lot of resources," said Timothy
B. Borchers, managing partner of Borchers Ware &
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Guglielmo, P.C. "Though we sit in offices all day, we use
10 times the normal amount of paper. Because of our
'paranoia,' we like to have a copy of everything."
So Borchers' firm broke with tradition, and is now printing
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double-sided, single-spaced documents and not printing
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e-mail whenever possible. He said the firm is saving about
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a ream of paper per week.
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The firm then started buying recycled paper. It also
installed programmed thermostats and a small water
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heater underneath the sink to conserve water. And there
is a new office policy allowing employees to work from
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home one day per month - if they work an extra 15
Attorney Timothy Borchers
minutes per day the rest of the month - to encourage staff
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to drive less.
For its efforts, the firm is being honored today by the
Massachusetts Bar Association as one of four leaders in
the association's "Lawyers Eco Challenge" to run more
environmentally friendly law firms.
"You can try to do a big thing for the environment or a lot
of little things," Borchers said. "A lot of little things are
easy to do, it saves just as much in the end, and it works
for the office."
More than 50 firms have joined the challenge since the
Massachusetts Bar Association issued a set of "green
guidelines" earlier this year. Other changes made by the
three other firms being honored today include commuting
by public transportation, recycling printer cartridges, and changing to more efficient light bulbs.
"The membership has been amazingly supportive," said association President David W. White Jr. "Lawyers can be
leaders not just on legal issues, but also on social issues. People feel it's good for the image of lawyers to show we
have environmental concerns and will take steps to do something about it."
His firm, which practices personal injury law, has installed motion-detector lights, changed to more efficient bulbs
and is using recycled paper for its copier and letterhead.
http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x1192321140/Law-firm-makes-case-for-ene... 5/14/2008
Law firm makes case for energy efficiency - Milford, MA - The Milford Daily News
Page 2 of 2
Borchers, whose firm specializes in estate planning and real estate, said the changes are not hurting business.
They have been "invisible" to clients, and will eventually pay for themselves in energy savings. The biggest
obstacle was convincing his 12-person staff to change their work habits, he said, but now everyone is on board.
"There's something about the atmosphere - people are getting excited about this," Borchers said. "Everybody's
proud of it and it's helped team building."
Aaron Wasserman may be reached at 508-634-7546 or [email protected]. This and other stories about Medway
can be found at www.milforddailynews.com.
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http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x1192321140/Law-firm-makes-case-for-ene... 5/14/2008