World Environment Day 2025: Personal and professional ways to support a healthier planet.

This World Environment Day (5 June 2025), the Sustainability Committee is proud to shine a light on the small but meaningful ways we’re each making a difference, whether that is at home, at work, or across the legal profession.

This year’s global theme is ending plastic pollution, but we know sustainability is a broad and constantly evolving challenge. From reducing waste and saving energy to promoting climate-competent practices in our firms and organisations, every step counts. That’s why we’ve gathered a collection of “top tips” from some of our committee members; to share personal and professional actions that support a healthier planet.

These ideas aren’t just theoretical; they reflect real life choices and changes that are working for us. We hope they’ll offer inspiration, spark conversation, and demonstrate our committee’s shared commitment to embedding sustainability into our personal lives and business decisions.

Kirsty Mitchell, Legal Manager at Opportunity Green, shares that “a simple but impactful change we can make is to choose the train over flying – especially when travelling between Scottish cities and London, which are well connected. The environmental case for doing so is clear: travelling by rail between London and Edinburgh has been found to emit 13 times less carbon emissions than by plane. But as someone who travels regularly on this route, I can also vouch for how smooth the journey is: just as fast (if not faster) than flying, takes you directly to and from city centres, and allows you to be productive during the journey if travelling for work. Plus, there are beautiful coastal sea views along the way! For all these reasons, I’d also advocate for firms to adopt policies where rail is designated as the default option (vs flying) for UK travel.”

Did you know that while three in four people own a reuseable cup, only of a third of us use them once a month? Inspired by the initiative Borrow Cup (which allows you to take a reuseable cup from over 50 coffee locations in Glasgow, including Tinderbox, Costa and Café Nero, and return to another chain at a later date) Hannah Gardner, Legal Counsel, Outsourcing, Technology & IP at NatWest, wonders whether this is something that more larger firms or organisations could offer staff. It’s a small change but could encourage, and help staff to cut down on single-use plastics!

Like Hannah, several committee members have found success in tackling single-use plastics, both personally and professionally.

Lisa Sivori, Environmental Manager at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, says “a simple habit that’s helped me dramatically cut down on single-use plastic at home and support local businesses at the same time is to switch to refillable cleaning and toiletry products — I use a local refill shop to avoid buying new plastic each time."

Similarly, Peter Brash, Partner at Grigor & Young, shares how using greener cleaning products and therefore producing less plastic waste makes good business sense. “In your small business, you may feel that you could improve your impact on the environment with the cleaning materials you use and how you organise them”. He acknowledges that “reusing plastic bottles can require a bit of a mindset shift for everyone in the office. We have found that our learned inclination is to throw out empty washing up and bleach bottles. It’s a good idea to put an informational sticker on end-user bottles, so there’s a clear plan of action which avoids bottles being binned rather than reused.”

Vikki Henderson-Fawns, Director, Property and Infrastructure at Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP says “what started off as a simple swap to create less waste on my son’s weaning journey has also impacted my own habits.  Early on I bought some reusable food pouches so I could easily transport homemade food around for my son.  As well as being perfect for baby weaning and toddler snacks (with the bonus of being freezer and dishwasher safe), I’ve also been able to introduce them to my own lunchtime routine.  Instead of buying individual yogurts and creating lots of small pieces of waste throughout the week, I now buy a bigger tub of yogurt and decant into the reusable pouches, saving a bit of money and creating less waste.  It also leads to some amused looks in the office kitchen at lunchtimes when colleagues spot my brightly coloured pouch with cartoon animals printed on it!”

Sustainability is not about perfection, but it is about progress. These tips reflect our committee’s commitment to doing what we can, where we can, to create a more sustainable future.

As legal professionals, we have a unique platform to influence positive change. Whether it’s reducing waste, cutting emissions, or promoting environmental responsibility through our work, every action counts.

Anne Littlejohn, Partner at Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace LLP, summarises “I think the most useful tip that I have from within work is to find like-minded individuals and form a team to help implement sustainable practices in the workplace. It helps with morale and can drive change.”

This World Environment Day, we hope you’ll be inspired to take your own steps, big or small, on your sustainability journey.

The Law Society of Scotland has furthered its commitment to sustainability by partnering with the global climate network, the Legal Sustainability Alliance (LSA).

Find out more about World Environment Day 2025 and take the LSA's pledge