Social Responsibility Annual Report
Annual Report
DINSE Social Responsibility Committee
April 2011
The firm's Social Responsibility Committee has had another active year with a variety of efforts and accomplishments:
> Community Service Policy. Our firm supports community service and involvement by our employees but we hadn’t had a policy to formalize this effort. The Committee proposed, and the firm adopted, a Community Service Policy encouraging firm employees to participate in community service projects that take place during their work hours, in teams of Dinse employees, without using vacation time for that purpose.
> Plastic Cap Recycling. The firm was the first business to partner with The Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes School to participate in the “Recycle Caps with Aveda” program. Aveda is a leading brand of professional hair and skincare products for salons. Small plastic caps are recyclable in some markets but not in Vermont. The firm established a collection system for small plastic caps from the office (such as milk and cream caps, dishwasher detergent caps) and from our employees’ homes (such as milk and cream caps, laundry detergent caps) that otherwise would go into local landfills. The caps collected by our employees are delivered to The Sustainability Academy where they are first used for counting and sorting lessons and then delivered to Aveda for recycling.
> Neighborhood Blood Drives. The Committee sponsored two blood drives with the Red Cross for our firm and our business neighbors. The second blood drive was a “Law Firm Challenge” to engage another law firm in the effort. We provided snacks, lunch and a rest station for participants in our neighborhood.
> Earth Day. To commemorate Earth Day, the Committee organized one of the firm’s continuing Speaker Lunches to focus on “grow local” and “buy local” themes. We offered a lunch consisting of locally grown foods and locally produced beverages. Our invited speaker was Travis Marcotte, Executive Director of the Intervale Foundation, www.intervale.org, which plays a critical role in the local food movement.
> Toiletries Drive. The Committee organized a drive to collect toiletries for donation to Women Helping Battered Women, www.whbw.org, a vital organization supporting and providing shelter to battered men and women in the local community.
> Dismas House. The Committee organizes a group to prepare and share dinner with residents once a month at Dismas House of Vermont, http://www.dismasofvermont.org/. Dismas House is a residential program to reconcile former prisoners with society and society with former prisoners, with two residences for former prisoners in Burlington and another in Rutland.
> Indoor Bike Storage. The firm installed an indoor bike rack to supplement the covered (outdoor) bike storage area, which is especially helpful for our intrepid winter and foul-weather bike commuters in our firm and with other tenants in our building.
Recent projects of the Social Responsibility Committee have included replacing disposable plates, cups and flatware with reusable items for all office functions; composting office waste (food and paper goods); establishing a corporate membership in CarShare VT and incorporating CarShare into the firm’s transportation needs; joining the Chittenden County Transportation Authority’s SmartBusiness program; replacing delivered water in plastic bottles for water coolers with a filtration system to use city water in the office water coolers; and replacement of T-12 fluorescent bulbs with T-8 bulbs throughout the office.
The Social Responsibility Committee looks forward to another year of exciting projects! Many thanks to the firm for supporting the Committee’s efforts so enthusiastically.
Respectfully Submitted,
Leigh Cole
for the Social Responsibility Committee