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.