James & Wells cleans up for Sustainable Coastlines

By Wright Communications

From partners to PAs, more than 30 staff from across the IP law firm's Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Christchurch offices gave up their Saturday morning lie-in to descend on Long Bay for the clean-up.

The clean-ups are the result of James & Wells Intellectual Property's recent silver level sponsorship of Sustainable Coastlines, and have resulted in them collecting a total of more than 222 kg of waste this year alone. The other two clean-ups were at Ruapuke, near Raglan and Milford Creek on Auckland's North Shore.

The partnership is a key component of James & Wells' drive towards corporate responsibility, particularly in the sustainability space. Staff who attended were incentivised with 'sustainable' spot prizes including bottles of wine from Yealands, a carboNZero certified winery, and Kokako hot chocolate packs, a fair trade organic product.

Senior associate Jonathan Lucas, leader of the firm's Sustainable Business Committee, took part in the clean up and said it was not only a fun day out for staff, but made an important difference to the coastline.

"We are lucky to be living in a country with such spectacular coastlines, but these clean-ups have highlighted just how much rubbish they contain. We are proud to have come on board as silver sponsors, and proud to be improving the environment for all Kiwis."

Sam Judd, co-founder and events director of Sustainable Coastlines, said the results from the three clean-ups highlight just how important they are.

"We are extremely happy with James & Wells' commitment to Sustainable Coastlines, and the results of their efforts show there is a huge amount of work required to re-dress and reverse the amount of rubbish that is discarded in the environment."

As part of James & Wells' commitment to Sustainable Coastlines, the firm is also donating to them five per cent of professional fees received from clients who are members of either the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) or the Sustainable Business Council, or are CEMARS® or carboNZero™ certified organisations.

The firm plans to participate in several more clean-ups next summer, said Jonathan Lucas.

"This is a long term commitment, and fits well with our sustainability strategy, complementing our recent achievement of becoming the first IP firm on the world to achieve CEMARS certification."

Ends

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