Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt has made sustainability a part of its corporate culture for many years, and recently the firm received the 2011 Sustainable Law Office Leadership Award for its efforts to adopt practices along the path toward sustainability.

“Sustainability is certainly more than following a popular trend for Schwabe,” said Mark Long, Schwabe’s managing partner. “The entire firm goes to great lengths to adopt and implement programs that have a meaningful impact on our people and local communities. We are very excited and honored to receive this distinction.”

The Sustainable Law Office Leadership Award is given out by the Oregon State Bar to one firm each year. Firms that receive this award demonstrate leadership in sustainability manifested through some combination of the following: firm policy or policies, office operations, training/education programs, transportation practices, firm support of organizations or initiatives, and other comparable initiatives.

Schwabe was an early adopter and passionate supporter of sustainability initiatives in its law offices. Schwabe’s commitment to creating a sustainable workplace became a core value in 2008 when the firm conducted a sustainability assessment to gauge its environmental impact. Using this assessment the firm established several goals, including: decreasing paper usage per attorney by 10 percent; increasing by 25 percent the purchase of office supplies manufactured all or in part from recycled materials; developing an employee commuting initiative; working with vendors to change long-standing operational practices; creating energy reduction programs; and adopting a firm-wide climate change initiative.

Most recently, Schwabe expanded its sustainability efforts by cofounding and providing ongoing sponsorship of the Youth for Leaders Sustainability Camp. The camp is organized by Portland State University College of Urban and Public Affairs and Oregon State University 4-H Extension Service, and uses experiential learning to teach middle school youth about sustainability concepts.