Sustainability is a significant priority for Faegre & Benson. We believe that environmental stewardship and effective client service are fundamentally connected. And like our clients, we are reducing consumption of natural resources in a variety of ways.

Because we can achieve more by working together, Faegre & Benson has adopted a firmwide sustainability policy covering all areas of our operations. Our commitment to sustainability encompasses our supply chain, internal operations, and service delivery. And to ensure continual improvement, a dedicated committee measures progress in key areas identified in the policy—charting successes and identifying next steps.

Our current policies and initiatives include:

• Faegre & Benson is a partner in the ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge
• All of our domestic offices participate in the EPA Energy Star program, and three of our four domestic offices have adopted Best Practices for Paper
• Three of our domestic offices—in Minneapolis, Denver and Des Moines—are located in Energy Star buildings
• Our Minneapolis office is housed in a building that has achieved a LEED-Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's Existing Building program
• We offer a mass-transit subsidy program in our Minneapolis, Denver and Boulder offices
• We encourage bicycle commuting by providing access to bike racks and shower facilities in our Minneapolis and Boulder offices
• We request and maintain information from vendors regarding environmental impact of their business activities. Vendors are informed that sustainability practices are a factor in our selection criteria
• Our printer and copier paper contains at least 30 percent post-consumer recycled content
• The Minneapolis and Denver offices have installed low-flow bathroom fixtures. In the Minneapolis office alone, this will reduce annual water usage by 1.2 million gallons each year 
• In 2009, the Minneapolis office donated 18.4 tons of of old furniture, ceiling tiles, and office equipment to charitable organizations–repurposing  99 percent of the office materials
• We have comprehensive recycling programs in our Minneapolis, Denver, and Boulder offices
• Unused food from events in our Minneapolis office is delivered to local shelters
• In 2009, we phased out the use of bottled water at firm functions, offering pitchers of water instead

In addition to these actions, we encourage lawyers and administrative staff throughout our firm to participate in green initiatives—and to propose ideas for reducing our impact on the environment. More than 500 Faegre & Benson employees have completed a sustainability pledge and promised to add three new environmentally-friendly actions to their work habits in 2010.

View the Faegre & Benson sustainability policy.

For more information about our sustainability policy, please contact Andrea Carruthers at acarruthers@faegre.com.