Sustainability & green consciousness at theocharidou & associates LLC

Sustainability & Green consciousness at THEOCHARIDOU & ASSOCIATES LLC

As one of the country’s leading environmental law firms, it is inevitable that Theocharidou & Associates Llc would take a leadership role in the field of sustainability, for law office management. In our offices, located in Nicosia and Paphos, Theocharidou & Associates Llc is interpreting its values into action, improving the Firm’s sustainability and reducing its environmental impacts.

Below are some of the steps taken to date by Theocharidou & Associates Llc to improve the Firm’s environmental sustainability, and the results we have achieved:

  • In all of our offices, the corporation is utilizing paper containing at least 30 percent post-consumer recycled content for all standard in-house printing and copying. Some offices are utilizing paper with 100 percent post-consumer recycled content.
  • Firm personnel are regularly encouraged to properly separate recyclable products and make full use of available recycling, including not only paper but toner cartridges, cardboard, plastics, batteries and other materials where possible.
  • The Firm has instituted a policy of double-sided copying and printing for drafts and internal documents with a goal of ensuring that at least half of all printing and copying in each office is double-sided.
  • The Nicosia office has achieved a 25% energy savings by replacing light fixtures and bulbs with more efficient alternatives
  • The Firm purchases computer equipment and appliances that are Energy Star compliant, meeting efficiency standards set by the European Union. All of the Firm’s old computer and/or electrical equipment is donated for reuse or recycling.
  • The Firm’s computer monitors and hard drives are programmed to go into sleep mode after 30 minutes of inactivity, and printers do so after five minutes of inactivity.
  • The Firm holds sustainability-themed contests, clean-ups or other events to commemorate Earth Day each year.
  • Theocharidou & Associates Llc developed a close cooperation with the country’s Government Environmental Department, in an attempt to promote green consciousness and principles in the Nicosia and Paphos District area.
  • The Firm also has a policy to maintain the extensive lighting systems for the building and externally to ensure timers shut off lighting appropriately to keep energy usage to a minimum. Sensors in the open plan areas of the building automatically shut off lighting when motion is no longer detected. The only lighting that remains on in the building overnight is lighting that is required in accordance with health and safety regulations.
  • Any water that is left in the water bottles after meetings is collected and used by our internal landscaping supplier to water the plants that are in the building.
  • In addition, to improve the volumes of recycled waste collected, all desk waste bins were changed from collecting general waste to collecting recyclable waste.

All in all, we do believe that we have made some great progress towards our main targets, but we’re not complacent. However, it’s important to remember that the initial wins are easy. In an attempt to continue to make a difference and thus improve on targets, that requires commitment to effecting cultural change and creating a climate in which each individual believes that he or she can make a difference and is encouraged to do so.