Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Monday, June 25, 2012
Week 3 Reflection
This
past week I learned a lot about corporate and some of its dirty little secrets.
I learned a lot about corporates relationships to politicians and how they seem
to get pass certain regulations needing to be put into place and also about
corporations misleading consumers about their so called “green” products that
aren’t so green at all. The most important or interesting thing that I learned
this past week was the “green washing” trend that has been going on with many
well-known companies around the world. This has been such a big issue because
consumers have been buying into this idea that corporations are going above and
beyond to protect the environment, but in reality they are doing the least
amount of work in protect it. This is very useful to me because I am now more
aware of what is really going on and instead of relying on or trusting a
company for what is on the label, I instead do my on research on a product to
see how sustainable it really is. I will also continue to do this in my future
and spread the word as much as possible about this issue. I will also do
everything in my effort to make sure that the future company that I work for
does not reflect any part of “green washing”. I will work to show that we are
true to our word, our community, and environment. Knowing what I know now, I
would love to know more about strategies and practices that companies are
taking to prevent “green washing” from taking place. Maybe this will take the
government stepping in and getting this issue under control, but I would love
to see what the future holds for better regulation so that consumers won’t be
the ones falling victim to this approach.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Corporate Sustainability
“What’s the use of a
house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
This was said by
Henry David Thoreau. Today in Corporate America there are three company categories
involving the environmental concerns, they are The Sustainable Company, The “Greenwashing”
Company, and The Unresponsive Company. While
corporations seem to have more power in their hands than anyone should deserve,
we as consumers tend to underestimate the power we have to change that. In my argument
on this issue I will answer 3 important questions on helping consumers become
more aware of what’s going on in Corporate America involving our environment.
·
Why do corporations have so much power?
·
What is corporate responsibility to the
environment and community?
·
What is it that we as consumers can do to get
more Corporations on “Team Green”?
It has been a growing
issue of the degree of power that corporations have in the palm of their hands.
It has led to many unethical decisions regarding our world that we live in. As
the government has a responsibility to its citizens for issues like the
environment, corporations have a responsibility only to their shareholders
which main interest is profit. An article titled Corporate Responsibility and
the Environment by Rowland Benjamin states, “Corporations are required by law
to always act in the best interests of their shareholders, and that is almost
always interpreted as keeping profits and the share price high”. In The
Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability Ann Thorpe writes about corporations freedom
and how they have little responsibility to their communities, workers, or
general public. Ann Thorpe states, “The attention of money above all else,
combined with the power and freedom of large corporations, makes it even more
difficult to capture a wide range of social and ecological values in the design
process of the private sector”. Many corporations tend to spend millions of
dollars on political donations causing them to have a strong influence on
politicians and bureaucrats. Rowland Benjamin writes about lobbyists and how
many of them are ex politicians or people who are closely connected to
politicians. When politicians are not re-elected, many of them become lobbyist,
which means working in high level positions in corporate. Because of
corporations political influence, they seem to get away with serious environmental
damage around our world.
Corporates’ responsibility
to the environment and communities is a large task but easily reachable with
good ethical decision-making. Rowland Benjamin says that for a corporation to succeed,
it has to have healthy consumers and a great deal of resources to use, both of
these have to come about through environmental sustainability. In Rachel Chains’
article, Making The Shift: From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate
Sustainability, she talks about how successful companies incorporate Corporate
Social Responsibility or “Corporate Sustainability” into their business
practices. Corporate Sustainability is a
good way for companies to ensure long-term growth by taking an fair approach
regarding profit, people, and the planet. Sustainable companies will have
long-term growth if they are continuous in their practices. These companies
must have a core purpose that sets the vision, the values, the brand promise,
and behavior of senior management. Rachel Chain states that “Organizations that
put purpose at the heart of what they do give meaning to and establish strong
emotional connections with their employees and customers alike”. I love this
statement from her because it is so true that we as consumers love to see
organizations that have true purpose, rather it is involving the environment,
communities, or any cause at heart. When we see organizations really going out
of their way to make a positive statement about themselves it draws us in to
want to support whatever their mission is. Unlike Sustainable Companies, “Greenwashing”
Companies are described as companies that do the least amount of good for the
environment but try’s to put on an environmentally responsible public image. It
is said that many companies actually spend more on environmental public relations
than on actually building sustainability. But of course, the Greenwashing
companies are still better companies than the companies that are just completely
unresponsive to the environmental concerns we are facing. In The Designer’s
Atlas of Sustainability, Ann Thorpe writes about the common sets of need we as
humans must receive to achieve well-being. Those are: subsistence, protection,
affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity, and
freedom. If corporations and consumers could truly acknowledge this and help
meet these needs for the world, we could surely save our planet.
So how can we as
consumers get corporate to hear us out and hopefully in our strive get them on
Team Green? Well just by being informed about these environmental as a consumer
is the very first step towards a sustainable world. Know your companies, where
you shop at, who makes your favorite products, who are you the most invested
in, etc. We as consumers can also start by buying our foods from local farmers
markets, this can help reduce fossil fuels used to transport foods from all
around the world. Writing companies who are not practicing sustainability
asking them questions concerning the worlds health and the planets conditions
is another great way for us as consumers to engage in getting corporates
attention, showing them that we do know what is going on and we know that they
are not taking the necessary actions that they are needing to take. Supporting
information for action or even activist groups are major was for taking a stand
regarding this issue.
Though many
corporations out there may not be doing their part in helping our environment
become more sustainable, there are many companies who are going above and
beyond to make a difference and taking action involving our economy. Companies
like Nike, Looptworks, Patagonia, and many more who are making a difference in
the way they do business to make this world a better and safer place for us all
to live in. Now it is time for us as consumers to do our part.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Reflection on Week 2
In this past week alone, I have learned more about
sustainability than ever before. I learned about upcycling and downcycling, how
downcycling is basically a different word for recycling and still beneficial to
all humankind, but does not give back or “feed” the environment, which is why
upcycling is highly recommended in new sustainable practices. I also learned
about the process involving pesticides on animals, which leads to pesticides
being on the foods that we eat. This made me very uncomfortable and a little
uneasy, and led me to finding ways around consuming these pesticides when
buying foods. I also enjoyed learning about technical metabolism from the
reading of C2C. The most important thing I learned this week was about
upcycling, this was also my favorite. Upcycling can be described as a recycled
new product that is worth as much or more than the original product. I enjoyed
learning about the new sustainable ways upcycling is being used in the apparel
industry and how it can be practiced by consumers from home. To me upcycling is
very useful and relevant to my lifestyle because so many things I can do with
this new practice straight from home like building a TV stand out of large
wooden totes that’s been in my mom’s garage for years by just painting them
neutral colors, or by sewing old scarves together that I do not want anymore
and making them into an intriguing couch cover. What I learned this past week
will prepare me in the future for whatever company I work for. And now, not
only will I be looking to work for a company that has shown growth in sales and
number of new store openings, but now I will also be looking for a company that
shows sustainability through their practices within their organization. Now
that I have learned why companies are Going Green and their wonderful reasons
why everyone should, I would like to learn more about the reasons why many
companies are refusing to go along with sustainable practices in their
companies.
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