Local Law Blogs

Save some paper, save some trees

We all know that each one of us can make a difference in our country's need to free itself of its dependence on foreign oil, and to slow the effects of carbon emissions.  Stark & Stark’s community association group is beginning to do its part. Did you know that......

• Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water
• One fifth of all wood harvested in the world ends up in paper
• It takes 2 to 3.5 tons of trees to make one ton of paper
• In the United States, paper accounts for nearly 40 percent of all municipal solid waste
• Making paper uses more water per ton than any other product in the world

To reduce the amount of paper we use, we are experimenting with filing legal briefs and other legal paper using both sides of a sheet of paper.  We are revising and altering the forms of various legal documents to lower the amount of paper used.   Large documents will be scanned and emailed, instead of mailed and/or faxed.  The firm hopes to have software perfected shortly to permit the creation, and dissemination, of invoices for legal services, electronically, with the preparation and/or revisions to those invoices done electronically as well.  A goal for 2009 is to file all collections complaints and collection-related pleadings via the court system's electronic filing program, eliminating paper filings altogether.  We already manage our collection practice via OCATS - Online Community Association Tracking System.  Via OCATS, monthly status reports - often several pages long - can be received, reviewed and shared with boards, all electronically.  Management can refer new collection matters to us via OCATS, without faxes or mailings, as account histories and other information can be shared electronically.  Also, we post governing documents, debtor correspondence, payment plans, etc. on OCATS, so our clients need not print them; they are viewable via the internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

 
For additional information on helping your community go green, please contact David J. Byrne at (609) 895-7365, or dbyrne@stark-stark.com.

Full post as published by New Jersey Law Blog on September 15, 2008 (boomark / email).