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.

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.

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.

From Waste to WANT

It seems like the older we get the more we want and the more we want, the more we don’t want. The more products that we seem to grow tired of very quickly are the products that are polluting our world because of the ineffective methods we use for disposing waste.  Though recycling or “down-cycling” is a step up from how we have been doing things in the past, and a very effective method, it is still not really beneficial to feeding and giving back to the planet. My argument is not to go against down-cycling but to encourage more consumers and companies to get more involved and take action in up-cycling ideas and alternatives.

Humans have taken substances from earth’s crust and have turned them into huge quantities of material that cannot be safely put back into the earth. The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability by Ann Thorpe talks about nature’s design becoming overwhelmed by human designs and states, “All living systems are in decline. Losing their ability to recreate themselves, plant and animal populations are decreasing.” My research on pesticides from AAFA, showed that this too contribute to the decrease of plant and animal population. Pesticides are chemicals used to eliminate or control a variety of agricultural pest. These chemicals are also harmful to humans because of these chemicals being put directly onto the skin, fur, and feathers of the animals, but still the Environmental Protection Agency approve of the use of pesticides. It is recommended by the Sustainable Table, that the best way to avoid consuming pesticides in your food is to just buy organic produce meat and dairy products. With organic products, they are not as harmful to the earth as the other products are.

From the book Cradle2Cradle in chapter 4, it talks about a design called “Technical Metabolism”, it is basically a material or product that is designed to go back into the technical cycle from which it came. It talked about ways consumers could utilize what we have without digging into more harmful materials. One example was consumers paying for a time period of television watched and after the time of consumption of over, the consumer returns the TV back to the manufacture, and the lifecycle continues in this form. Another example that I enjoyed reading about from C2C was about the automobile manufacturers having their customers return their cars back to them after use of them, this way the automobile company could regain valuable industrial nutrients while developing long-lasting relationships with their customers. The advantages of the Technical Metabolism system, from C2C says “It would produce no useless and potentially dangerous waste; it would save manufacturers billions of dollars in valuable materials overtime; and because nutrients for new products are constantly circulated, it would diminish the extraction of raw materials and the manufacture of potentially disruptive materials.” To me, this is what up-cycling is all about.

For many of us creating new things are fun, but it is creating something new out of something old that we must catch onto in order to save on planet. Few retailers are now practicing the up-cycling method for sustainability. From viewing the video on apparel retailer Patagonia, I learned that they too are participating up-cycling methods within their company. Patagonia have customers return their old apparel after its use and the company then creates new apparel out of the old products, they are taking responsibility for their apparel at the end of its life. Another company that is also practicing sustainability through up-cycling is Looptworks, by turning scraps into clothes. Fast Company’s article titled, Looptworks Upcycles Textile Scraps Into Clothing talks about Looptworks Limited Edition Clothing and informing readers about how Americans throughout 11million tons of textile waste each year. The article also stated that Looptworks is, “the first clothing line to exclusively use textile waste that would otherwise end up in the garbage.” From Ecouterre article titled,  Topshop Introduces Upcycled “Reclaim to Wear” Collection for Summer it talked about the company Topshop launching its new line of apparel products made from discarded textile, the company’s goal is to create a “zero waste” design collection and they are taking steps to achieve that.

With the few companies that are getting involved with up-cycling and doing their part regarding sustainability, I can only hope to see other companies following in their footstep with this amazing method. C2C states, “To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things – products, packaging, and systems- from the very beginning on the understanding that waste does not exist.”

CREATING A SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

Many apparel companies have little to no knowledge as to how their products are being made or what kind of damage it is doing to our world? According to an article from Green Biz titled How The Fashion Industry can avoid its own Foxconn, there has been over 6,000 water pollution violations from apparel factories in China, and many of those factories are making apparel for well-known brands and retailers that we love to wear and shop at. Though many companies are taking steps towards Going Green, they are still avoiding their responsibilities involving doing business with places or factories that are in chronic non-compliance with environmental laws.  Many of us taking this course are upper classmen preparing to go out into the fashion industry and make our marks in this world. After doing all of the research and readings for this week and learning more and more about the environmental issues that are going on in our world, I have finally decided who’s side I will be on. Have you? I feel as though it is time to acknowledge the Pink Elephant in the room, but I also feel that consumerism can be better dealt with after finding a solution for the main core of the issue, which are international businesses of factories around the world. I know you are probably thinking in what ways could you possibly help in this area of the environmental issues going on with polluted factories all around the world. Like I mentioned before, we are all preparing to go out into the fashion world and make it better than before and my argument is to get you thinking about ways we can influence people in this world and in the fashion industry where we will be working side by side along with other people who may or may not share the same beliefs regarding sustainable practices as we do. To achieve sustainability in this world that we live in, I think that it begins with the top levels of management, meaning Corporate America. And believe it or not, many of us will be working in top levels of management very soon.

Sustainable development is development that cultivates environmental and social conditions that will support human well-being indefinitely. Sustainable development begins with designers and retailers taking a stand towards Industrial Ecology, and Corporate America leading their companies into the direction of environmentally friendly practices. Starting with top levels of management, Corporate needs to conduct a paradigm that involves taking specific steps towards safety procedures and environmental problems within their factories, in hope of a paradigm shift occurring if successful. Factories where more of the serious pollution problems are happening is where any multinational apparel corporate responsibility programs needs to focus on.  From reading Shifting the New Dominant Social Paradigm in the Apparel Industry… by Armstrong and LeHew, I found some sustainable approaches that I believe Corporate have the ability and power to adjust, such as the materials and energy used to create their products, replacing existing products with environmentally friendly ones, and inventing new ways for consumers to be able to receive satisfaction with their products. Top management is the voice of their company and they are the leaders in the industry, so who better to lead in the changes toward sustainability than corporate.

There have been many companies working towards sustainability with new projects, designs, etc. While reading the article called, Sustainable Apparel Coalition Plans Industry – Wide Eco- Index, I was informed that The Sustainable Apparel Coalition created the Sustainable Apparel Index. This tool is designed to keep database of scores assigned to all the workers in the life cycle of a garment. Any apparel company could benefit from this Index by selecting materials and suppliers, while computing an overall sustainable score based on the industry standards. Another program recently designed to clean up the environment is called “Clean by Design”, from an article titled Threaded: Cleaning Up The Fashion Industry From The Top Down. This new project focuses on ways to produce clothing more sustainable by cutting water waste, energy waste, and reducing pollution. This program has many big companies jumping on board like Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penny, The Gap, etc.

I believe that if corporate gets involved and more hands on with what is going on throughout the supply chain, it could really help us towards our goal with “Going Green”. My message to readers of this blog, is basically just awareness of what is going on and where the solution of the issue is aimed at. Yes the Pink Elephant in the room is another issue involving consumers and how unaware they are with efforts they could be taking to help the environment too, but if we start at the top where the leaders of this world give direction on where the economy is headed, then the message will soon spread to the consumers and they will follow.