Great Change Is Necessary In Our Society And The Natural World

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 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.

As society expands, it is critical to seek ways to lessen humans’ environmental impact. A key aspect of practicing sustainability is efficiently using resources, and one of such resources is food. In America alone, about 40% of food goes uneaten, and as the population increases, pressures on managing this waste will only increase further (Buzby, et al. 499). With many Americans lacking a secure supply of food, the need for an improved ability to manage food waste is essential. Furthermore, food waste places a severe strain on the environment. In an article by Buzby, Hyman, Stewart, and Wells, they state, “Food loss at the retail and consumer levels represents significant amounts of money and other resources invested in food production, including land, fresh water, labor, energy, agricultural chemicals (e.g., fertilizer, pesticides) and other inputs to produce food that does not ultimately meet its intended purpose of feeding people” (Buzby, et al. 492). It is clear that the problems with food waste are immense, ranging from environmental to economic.

Sustainable development recognizes the importance of economic wealth, environmental integrity, and social balance (Gladwin et al. 1995, cited in Gao and Bansal,2013). Environmental integrity recognizes the value and the limits of natural resources and social balance is distributed impartially across individuals and social orders to meet fundamental human needs (Bansal, 2005 cited in Gao and Bansal, 2013). Barbier (1987) has stated the purpose of sustainability is to maximize simultaneously the goals that should be met, such as trying to meet all the basic necessities for all individuals and to increase the utility of goods and service for all people in the economy (as cited in Gao and Bansal, 2013). Also, Salzmann integrated business sustainability into their business policies for a better outcome (Salzmann et al, 2005, cited in Sjors, Walter, Jacqueline). Another thing is the corporate social responsibility, that has been characterized in a wide range of ways, as its most fundamental level, CSR is about business assuming responsibility for the

This essay will discuss the impacts of social and environmental determinants of health on the well-being of an older person named Bill. Per The Ministry of Health (2016), The Healthy Aging Strategy takes a life-course approach that ultimately seeks to improve the health and well-being for all older people. Bill lives in a rest-home, which as an environmental determinant, positively affects his well-being. This helps Bill to manage his health-related issues by surrounding him with adequate health services. The social determinant that negatively affects Bill’s well-being is his lack of social support. This means that Bill feels lonely, and ultimately suffers from chronic depression. Both the social and the environmental determinants of

‘Sustainability’, a word which everyone is coming across more often than ever before in today’s world. Yet, when it comes to defining and understanding this word, we observe various definitions and interpretations across people of various backgrounds. The question ‘What is sustainability?’ can be compared with the question ‘What is life?’. For some, life is a physical entity between birth and death, for others it the a non physical entity of way of living and so on. Similarly, Engineers, Architects, Doctors, Businessmen, Economists, Investors, Citizens, Politics, Environmentalists and people from various other domains have different interpretations and meanings of the word ‘Sustainability’. Not only does it depend on profession or area of

Sustainable development is a vehicle to permute many and varied corporate and institutional interest whilst giving impression of adherence to and observation of environmentally sound principles (David and Santillo 2007)

Sustainability and business are not always looked as a good functioning pair. Businesses often struggle to implement sustainability measures, as they think that it is costing money to shareholders/investors. However, due to increasing pressure from the public, businesses are being forced to reconsidering at adopting sustainability and good business practice. In today's interconnected global economy, the long-term goals and success of business are inevitably connected by embedding the environmental, social and governance issues into corporate management, operations and supply chain. While corporate sustainability recognizes that, though the corporate growth and profitability are vital, it also requires the corporation to pursue societal goals, particularly those relating to sustainable development like; safeguarding environmental, social equality and economic development.

Economic development is one perspective which plays a huge role in sustainability and the environment we live in. Unfortunately, many people do not reap the benefits of a prosperous economy, and in fact, the relationship between economy and the environment play a pivotal influence regarding ineffective sustainability currently throughout the world. Michael Carley and Phillipe Spapens write in their book ‘Sharing

My first lifestyle behavior that has an impact on the environment is the overuse of bottled water and plastic bags. In our modern society using plastic bags and bottled water became a necessity in our everyday life which is completely unnecessary. I, personally depend on stuff made of plastic for my basic needs. I usually every time doing some shopping every time using new plastic bags. Sometimes these bags gathered in my house that I just throw them into the trash. I use plastic zippers to store food and other things. No doubt it is very convenient to cover the table with a plastic cover sheet before dinner and just take and throw away without a second thought. It is cheap and convenient, I don’t have to spend a couple of minutes to clean it and reuse next time. Unfortunately, the higher prices for our lazy life is paying our environment with global warming.

Societal concern for sustainability has grown over the last few decades as leaders of major corporations have been tasked with meeting expectations of a broad range of shareholders while providing a return on profits (Eccles et al., 2012). Economic structures and policies of a business set the stage for operations (Santa-Barbara Family Foundation, 2003). Impacts from these operations can affect the environment, workers and economic well-being of the company and their future. Common sense tells us, to preserve our future we must invest in ways that protect, conserve, renew and regenerate our natural resources to allow our economy to be sustainable over time (Ikerd, 2006). Business acumen tells us this may not be economically feasible for a company to be ecologically and socially sustainable at the same time, citing the inability to compete on the world scale if they are forced to operate under rules that ensure ecological and social integrity (Ikerd, 2006). Creating a culture of sustainability

Sustainable development was first defined in a report by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 and accepted by the UN General Assembly in 1992. It is defined as development that ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ (Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). There are three important elements of sustainable development, social development, environmental protection and economic development. All three elements are necessary in ensuring that development is long term and meets the needs of the people in all parts of life.

In the article the authors address that sustainability is a word becoming increasingly more popular each day. The definition of this word depends on the context and the discipline in which it is used as well as temporal and spatial scales. Furthermore it is possible to approach it in terms of triple bottom line;

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the