In the first place, it is necessary to clarify what environmental sustainability is. Environmental sustainability is the standards of renewable resource utilization, pollution creation, and exhaustion of non-renewable resources. If these resources cannot be continued indefinitely then they cannot be considered as sustainable. In other words, environmental sustainability is the maintenance of the factors and practices that contribute to the quality of environment on a long-term basis (Business Dictionary 2011). It involves the process of making decisions that are in the interests of protecting the environment and bringing them into action. In this case a particular emphasis is made on preserving the capability of the natural world to support human life.
Why is the issue of environmental sustainability so crucial nowadays?
It is an issue of fundamental importance as of today, as people are realizing all the consequences that businesses and individuals can bring on the environment. Environmental sustainability is aimed at low-level utilization of materials and energy. In fact, such usage of resources should be as minimal as possible. But at the same time, taking into consideration rational usage of energy and materials in the production process of products and securing low emissions, one should remember that it also should be in accord with the aim of achieving maximum possible level of profit, which is in point of fact the chief objective of any business activity.
Businesses and environmental sustainability: true commitment to create a better world or pursuit of goodwill and public image?
The idea of sustainable world came into its being as a result of critical and essential concerns about the contravolitional economic, environmental, and social effects of rapid economic growth, increment of population, and consumption of our natural resources. Therefore, amid rising awareness of the impact businesses can have on the environment, companies of every size and type have begun introducing and maintaining environmental sustainability initiatives (University of San Francisco 2012). But what are companies doing in reality in order to prove their commitment to create a better world? Many organizations, for example, have introduced and forced into application recycling programs and made every endeavor to reduce their carbon emissions. By taking such steps they were trying to diminish the harmful effects of their business activity. Nevertheless, recycling programs and carbon emissions reduction are not the only approaches that business companies can take within the frameworks of environmental sustainability strategy. There are many business organizations and institutions that are taking more complex steps by analyzing every stage of their product lifecycle and applying green supply chain management practices across the board (University of San Francisco 2012). As a matter of fact, there are many creative – and coincidentally simple – methods of embracing environmental sustainability. The main thing is that organizations should learn how to use them to their best advantage. Of course, one may wonder what aims an organization might pursue when it spends vast sums of money on the programs regarding environmental sustainability but does not profit by such programs.
The value of business and environmental sustainability: are these two categories interrelated?
In my opinion, the most logical argument is that the increasing number of companies now recognize that corporate social responsibility has a significant impact on the value of their business. For this reason, the expansion of projects of social and environmental focus in the business strategies of small and big companies is gaining momentum by the day. Goodwill of any company is becoming increasingly dependent on its problem-solution-approach regarding the environmental issues. A new trend in business, which makes strong emphasis on environmental responsibility, becomes apparent to more and more companies, beginning to follow a systematic environmentally-friendly policy. Many aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR), namely regarding the environmental sustainability, are closely associated with the goodwill of the company which in its turn is a determinant factor in instituting the value of the brand. Accordingly, the protection and development of a brand goodwill claim companies' careful attention to the parties concerned and their questions.
The very efforts of one company to make a change
As for the companies deeply concerned with the issue of environmental sustainability, there are several of them which have achieved prominent results in this sphere. One of such companies is Diageo plc. The achievements of Diageo are based on two key principles. The first one is the company's perception of the world they are functioning in. They realize that the majority of natural resources, their business activity relies on, are scarce and non-renewable. And the second fundamental approach of the company is its aspiration to minimize the impact of any business operations on the environment. Therefore, the company's actions are aimed at the development and enhancement of environmental standards all over the world. As population increases and the impacts of climate change continue to constrain the availability natural resources, analyzing and managing the environmental impact of the company is not only important for the planet, it is essential for the financial sustainability of the supply chain and business as a whole. Diageo is committed to minimizing the environmental impact across the full range of company's operations (Diageo Sustainability & Responsibility 2014). For example, in 2013 Diageo reduced the absolute amount of water used by almost 1 million cubic meters.
Works cited
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