Ray Anderson Considered A Crime

Sustainability from a strategic business perspective is the potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities, as mutually beneficial interactions among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). Business sustainably is often defined as managing the triple bottom line – a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities. These three impacts are sometimes referred to as profits, people and planet. (Business sustainability definition from financial times lexicon, no date). This essay will discuss the idea of sustainability being an important element within a businesses and its core strategies and the importance of it within different businesses. Secondly, this study will look at how different stakeholders are affected and influenced by sustainability as this could be seen as a catalyst to improving the environment as a whole and. Then this study will look at how businesses not focusing

Bertrand Piccard quotes, “In the 21st century, the heroes will be the people who will improve the quality of life, fight poverty and introduce more sustainability. This is a powerful message, it sums up the concepts discussed throughout the course. Additionally, the case studies such as the New Belgium Brewery, SC Johnson and The Kimberly Clarke organization have been proven to practice this philosophy. As society progresses in its efforts to provide a more sustainable future, there is a fundamental foundation of principles that must be followed to ensure success. Sustainable business development takes into account the application of business operations as it relates to the three pillars of sustainability, which is a dynamic yet integrative place to begin this journey. DesJardins, (2006) calls for a re-imagination of the future to create a vibrant sustainable model; which forms similar beliefs to Piccard. In addition, organizations are more inclined to create sustainable practices based on consumer demand and the willingness of leadership to participate in sustainability programs.

Human desire for affluence over the course of modern history has proven to be a driving force in the detriment of the natural world, demonstrating the apathetic outlook humans have towards our . Richard Louv’s Last Child argument describes the loosening of interest in our current generation; it has built a wall that one day may cut our ropes from earthly surroundings. Although this passage was written with incontrovertible accuracy about humans in the present, the author’s bias outlook, which reflects in the tone of his writing,makes this piece undeniably one sided, which not only takes credibility away from the author’s argument, but also creates this controversial idea of modern technology serving as an unhealthy focus in today’s society that only distracts humans away from the environment.

Have you ever wondered what our future will be like when we are old and grey, when we have grandchildren of our own? In Chip Ward’s letter to his grandchildren “We screwed up” (2012), he writes about how wasteful, greedy, and self-centered he and his generation is when they were younger. Ward’s generation did not stop to think once about how incompetent they were about using non-renewable resources such as coal, oil, gasoline, etc. They also forgot to keep in mind how being piggish with these materials would pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink today. Chip Wards generation was the most avaricious, wasteful and egotistical generations of all.

The only way he could make this possible was by doing it on his own terms. As he made sure his employees were able to come to work when they wanted and dress however they pleased, he also wanted to help the deterioration of the natural world. “I saw the deterioration first with my own eyes, when I returned to climb or surf or fish in places I knew, like Nepal, Africa or Polynesia, and saw what had happened in the few years since I’d last been there” (Sustainability 344). One way he knew that he could reduce this problem, was through the company.

Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2015). Business cases and corporate engagement with sustainability: Differentiating ethical motivations. Journal of Business 147(2), 241-259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2938-0

He shows how both points of view have sound foundations as well as unavoidable flaws, mostly economic and environmental in nature. He states that nothing short of “a changed culture” will solve the world’s waste issues (264).

Additionally, I came to realize that people don’t fully understand, or simply don’t care about the repercussions of what their actions may or have caused to the surrounding ecosystem. The desire for wealth has made individuals numb to the extent of their actions, as long as their actions are beneficial for themselves. By this I mean that individuals will essentially destroy the planet in order to get rich, without thinking about what their actions will cause to the local ecosystem. This search for raw materials in many ways is a double-edged sword, by this I mean that the gold rush has made California into what it is today, but it has also caused irreducible damage to the environment. This means of using raw materials can be applied to any location, in which individuals have no other means to provide for their family, whether their occupation is drilling for oil, mining for ore, or deforesting for farming. It saddens me to watch most of the world to search for wealth, rather than preserving the environment for future generations. Moreover, I understand why people in developing countries destroy the local environment for money, but when the natural recourses ultimately diminish, what will they be left with? The way the environment is currently being destructed makes me think of WALL-E, the Earth looked after all the natural recourses were gone and how no life could even be sustained, aside from a

“A Letter from the Future” by Richard Heinberg describes to readers of a not too distant future (2101) an Earth in which its resources have been squandered and is facing an irreversible environmental meltdown caused by human’s greediness and mismanagement. Heinberg writes from the future to try and educate past civilization on what is happening in the future and how if their actions don’t change in how they treat their natural resources their future will irrefutably be destroyed for all mankind. Heinberg wrote this letter in order to explain just how dangerously high our current use of resources are and how it will impact the future.

He came with a vision of environmental sustainability.” Tyler explained that the company was wasting so much and was not an environmentally friendly corporation (para.1). Elm is now vice president of corporate and business sustainability. He stated, “Sustainability is strategy” (para.2). “Under the banner of corporate social responsibility (CSR)- the notion that business should have a moral conscience on social issues, and a concern for the needs of future generations when it comes to the environment” (para. 4).

Strategies within a business environment are crucial for the current and future success of the company. Understanding the processes involved help create the proper operations needed to be successful within a industry. I have chosen the manufacturing and retail industry mainly surrounding Walmart’s current sustainability efforts. According to Collier and Evens (2015), “Sustainability refers to an organizations ability to strategically address current business needs and successfully develop a long-term strategy that embraces opportunities and manages risk for all products, systems, supply chains and processes to preserve resources for future generations”. Sustainability is compiled of three distinct categories Environmental, Social and Economic sustainability.

Companies around the world are focussing on incorporating sustainability policy and practices in their supply chain (Ageron et al, 2011). The topic of sustainability has been of great interest for the last decade and businesses have adopted a certain level of commitment towards sustainability practices (Hassini et al, 2012), yet some business tycoons suffer in developing an effective supply chain model.

In the coming decades, business leaders must heed a call to sustainable growth and value creation that meets a triple bottom line – good for the environment, good for people and good for business, all at the same time.

Michelle Maloney argues that the Earth’s natural resources are being depleted at a rate that is not sustainable. Consequently, she argues that the ‘overshoot’ of development and depletion of our natural resources will lead to a ‘collapse’ of our global system. She goes on to demonstrate that this theory is being shown through evidence of global warming, acidification of the oceans and deforestation. Maloney argues a solution to these issues through the adoption of Earth Jurisprudence theory, also known as wild law. She argues that the underpinning problem surrounding ecological destruction and unsustainability is linked back to the fundamental concept of anthropocentrism , whereby, we humans believe that we are above or separate from the natural world. Additionally, it follows that the natural world is ‘our property’ and it exists solely for our benefit. Maloney affectively argues that according to Earth Jurisprudence, this underpinning societal concept is incorrect and rather we should see the environment as being at an equal level, where we are not above or superior to the natural world. Maloney does address the barriers of living within our limits, however does draw the problems back to anthropocentrism and the belief of unlimited economic growth. Further, it is proposed that government systems are required to change in order to assist society in living within our ecological limits.

Certainly, we are sure that you have heard the boiler plate language that this statement reflects the management and corporate values of our company. What is very different about the Greening Corporation is that we are a recycling company. Because of this, it is our business and our profits that are wrapped around the recycling and renewables business. For this reason, we realize that the planning for our company's future requires a strong commitment to the environmental movement and to the maximum reduction of our carbon footprint.