Joseph R. Desjardins Views On Sustainability And Ethics

When talking about sustainability numerous people associate it with just protecting the environment. Sustainability is far more than going green, but it is a principle that many companies have adopted and have worked persistently to improve over the last several years. Sustainability is defined as the ability to continue a behavior indeterminately, but it also includes improving human life overall. Sustainable development is broken down into three pillars: economic, social, and environmental (Harich & Bangerter, 2014). Economics is the study of how people use resources, which correlates to the goal of sustainable development by using resources to their full potential (Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N., 2011, p. 60). Economic sustainable development allows companies to give their customers what they want without overusing mutual resources. Social development combines the social world with the physical realm to provide a good quality of life (Benoit, 2010, p. 7). Social sustainability focuses on the well-being of people and their communities. Environmental development, the most recognizable, includes protecting the environment by reducing pollution, recycling, switching of electronic devices when not in use, etc. All three of these pillars make up what is known as sustainable development. In this paper, I researched a company and their involvement in sustainability and how it applies to the

Sustainability has become a relevant word in the vocabulary of many organizations, governments and individuals. More than just a word, sustainability relates to the ability of institutions to continue executing their functions without forgetting the effects on the environment and taking into consideration the fair treatment of their employees and the human rights of society. Although sustainability is a widely used term by many individuals, the understanding of this term is not as clear as its popularity. When discussing the ideas of sustainability, most people automatically associate the term with the human impact on the environment. Others relate sustainability to the ability to cut costs and inefficiencies within the organization. A few individuals believe that sustainability is a matter of human rights. So what exactly is sustainability?

Many believe that business entities should have an ethical duty to be socially responsible, to work towards increasing its positive effects on society while decreasing its negative effects. Many organizations look for opportunities to be socially responsible while also creating shareholder wealth.

The expectation that businesses behave responsibly and positively contribute to society all while pursuing their economic goals is one that holds firm through all generations. Stakeholders, both market and nonmarket, expect businesses to be socially responsible. Many companies have responded to this by including this growing expectation as part of their overall business operations. There are companies in existence today whose sole purpose is to socially benefit society alongside businesses who simply combine social benefits with their economic goals as their company mission. These changes in societal expectations and thus company purpose we’ve seen in the business community over time often blurs the line of what it means to be socially

It is apparent that in David Orr’s essay, “Two Meanings of Sustainability,” his views of technological sustainability and ecological sustainability fall beneath two distinct archetypes, as defined by Robert Vos in “Defining sustainability: A conceptual orientation”. Textual evidence outlining Orr’s views and beliefs in regard to each type of sustainability can be found in both the assigned reading and additional works written by him. This evidence allows for a direct connection to be made between his views and one of the archetypes of Vos’ Matrix. His views on technological sustainability fall beneath the thin version of the archetype “role of technology” whilst his beliefs in regard to ecological sustainability fall beneath the thick

The ethics of sustainability has become increasingly relevant as more and more countries acknowledge global climate change and the subsequent environmental crisis. Recent evidence strongly suggests that the vast majority of environmental crises, including climate change, are caused and perpetuated by humans. Perhaps the silver lining to the fact that environmental crises are anthropogenic is that we, as a species, have the opportunity to control the problem by changing our behaviors. This paper explores different analyses and applications of Immanuel Kant and Aldo Leopold’s ethics regarding sustainability and personal obligation, and seeks to answer the question: what is the best way to foster a sense of environmental ethics and awareness in humans? I have concluded that perhaps the best way to protect the environment is for each person to take minute steps towards living a sustainable lifestyle. These steps, such as reducing trash or modifying our diets, are not time consuming or expensive and can be undertaken by anyone. Although these lifestyle changes may seem insignificant, if everyone reduced their trash output or ate less meat, there would be huge changes in our collective output. In order for this method to work, however, each person must first feel a moral responsibility to play his or her part in protecting the environment. In fact, a sense of personal responsibility may be the single most important factor in creating and implementing more sustainable practices.

Sustainability is defined as the ability to endure.(1) Though the idea of sustainability can be applied to most anything from a sustainable ecosystem that has survived thousands of years to a sustainable workplace that uses green technologies. Paul Hawken captured today’s connotation of sustainability in saying “Sustainability is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between earth’s two most complex systems—human culture and the living world.” (2) There are countless ways to live, work, and produce sustainably. Sustainability not only needs to be practiced by citizens, but businesses need to join the green movement as well. Without creating, following, and enforcing green policies, negative effects will be evident and innumerable

is suboptimal and that much action is to be taken to avoid our planet to be

The truth is, corporations, regardless of size and power, need the support of their customers and shareholders to stay in business; so of course the concerns held by these individuals will always be considered important. Therefore, in voicing worries and opinions, issues often overlooked, such as the need for a greater sense of Corporate Social Responsibility will indeed be re-discussed and decided upon. Modifications in the past have only really been made as a response to constant public scrutiny and criticism from larger political and activist groups alike. So without enough pressure from the consumer for more of these environmentally friendly policy alterations, they may never feel the need to

All consumers should make every effort to make ethical purchases. This involves evaluating their morals and values in order to make sound decisions on their purchases. This also includes setting priorities and examining what is really important to the consumer. If a consumer cares about the wrongdoings of employees and expresses their concerns through purchases, then companies who do the right things would gain a large share of the market. However, consumers cannot change the world or fix social injustices totally through their purchases, some things are never seen by the consumer because companies have become great at hiding the unethical parts of business. Sometimes consumers have to make tough decisions because a sustainable brand may be too expensive and be a lower quality than other less sustainable brands.

Another argument often used against sustainable entrepreneurship is the price increase of products. Opponents claim that customers will choose for a low price instead of for a more expensive, though sustainable and green product or service. And of course this assumption may apply to some products; on the other hand, opponents seem to completely ignore the increasing awareness of new values of the modern educated customer. It is not enough any more for a product or service to just meet traditional business criteria, such as functionality, quality, fashion and price. Nowadays, people who can afford it in the developed world expect at least a basic level of sustainability of the products they buy as well as of their manufacturers. Research shows that almost 75 percent of the customers indicate that there is too little background information about products and services (Lageweg et al., par.5). Providing reliable and clear information about sustainability maywill benefit for the competitiveness of many organizations. I believe tThe market for sustainable products and services will continue to grow and someoon customers will simply refuse to purchase things ifof which the origin is not known as education increases across the world.

The Australian government is active in its move to promote and push for sustainable business practices, one of their more recent resolutions is the Clean Energy Legislation, which is made of individual bills covering levys on green house gases and fuel tax, this enforces corporations to oblige and making a move towards being green (Griffiths, 2012). However this means that certain organisations will do the bare minimum of what is required of them by law and nothing more. There are other initiatives in place to encourage sustainable business practices which are not legally binding, such as Sustainable Business Australia, who provide policy recommendations and resources for sustainability challenges (SBA, n.d). Companies who become members with SBA are held in high regards by their stakeholders as they abide by the recommendations regarding carbon action and resource solutions. There is also an emphasis on the people, and their crucial role in creating business value. Previously people were satisfied with just their basic needs being fulfilled, but no longer, we now see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs triangle unravelling as people require more to feel satisfied with themselves and what they do in their work space (Kiel, 1999). With encouragement from government and local communities, Australia is making an effort with great determination towards having the best sustainable business

There are three pillars that make up overall sustainability: social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Social sustainability focuses on all human needs being met and a society functioning properly indefinitely. Economic sustainability is achieving a certain level of economic success indefinitely. It also involves having an extremely low percent of people living below the poverty line, which relates to social sustainability. Environmental sustainability is described as, “the rates of renewable resource harvest, pollution creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014) Achieving environmental sustainability will positively affect the social and economic aspects. These three categories are directly related to each other, and to truly reach complete sustainability each of the group’s needs must be met. There are many ways for individuals, groups, companies, and societies to help make a difference in reaching this goal. Environmental issues are currently very prominent in the US and other countries. There are countless activists and researchers doing everything they can to make a difference. Most businesses, like

Sustainability development has three components: environment, society, and economy. If you consider the three to be overlapping circles of the same size, the area of overlap in the center is human well-being. As the environment, society, and economy become more aligned, the area of overlap increases, and so does human well-being. Therefore, education for sustainable development (ESD) is the use of education as a tool to achieve sustainability. Simply put, ESD is a way to make the world a safer, healthier, and more livable place for us and future generations (McKeown, 2002, pgs 7-9).

This research is compiled to explain how good ethical practices and good values in business can yield sustainability within the business and the society as a whole and in order to do this the concept of ethical business practice and values have to be understood.