Sustainability Analysis

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

Although there is no formal definition for the term, individuals have tried to define sustainability according to their function or area of study. The term “sustainability,” once an obscure ecological concept, has now been adopted by many in the business world to connote the principles of social and environmental responsibility (Joseph Fiksel, Jonathan Low and Jim Thomas). Further, sustainability can be seen through the eyes of business as a way to create value. More likely than not, the term sustainability can be linked to the ability of decreasing costs, wastes and inefficiencies. According to the vice president of General Electric,

Robert Swan once said “the greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” Two companies that understand this concept are Patagonia and Nike. How they address these issues regarding sustainable business practice vary, however. Both have made it their mission to deliver excellence and make the best quality products within their industries, Patagonia focussing more on outdoor active wear, while Nike is more sports oriented. Part of this process has been developing products from sustainable sources. Patagonia, for example, actively took a stand against chemical intensive cotton in 1994, and has since switched to less harmful means of organic cotton within all their cotton-based products. They are even going the extra

Many firms are learning that being environmentally friendly and sustainable has numerous benefits. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). This could enable them to increase goodwill from various stakeholders and also save money in the long term. This will mean that they are being more efficient and less wasteful of resources, which will enable them to be more competitive by satisfying stakeholders. The CEO of

In sustainability: The New Holy Grail, Miller argues that people who question the United States ability to become more sustainable devalue American innovation. The arguments made throughout his article however seem one sided and aggressive. Millers out view on things are from a religious outlook making his points seem unreliable.

Patagonia is encouraging his customers to “reduce, repair, reuse, and recycle” the garments they brought with their company’s support. In order to reduce customer’s consumption, Patagonia promises to repair their product as many times as the customers asked. if customer decided to ‘throw’ it away, the company take it reuse it for donation or reselling. And once a product is no longer available for use, they will recycle it. By taking actions, Patagonia really emphasizes their social and environmental performances for the TBL. And hopefully, they will be able to maintain their

When I was five years old I began school. In Kindergarden we learned basic things like letters, numbers, and how not to be fully engulfed in flames. For some reason, 2004 was the height of anti-fire education in Missouri and before I knew how to tie my shoes I knew that if I ever was ablaze, to cover my face, fall to my knees, and roll back and fourth. This is what my institution placed serious value upon and because I was a student of that institution I also placed serious value upon it. The same idea must be applied to a university's teaching of environmental sustainability. This is discussed in David Orr's "What is Education For?" Through choosing a curriculum a university chooses what it places value onto, by making the environment a priority it showcases to the future generations that environmental wellness is an important responsibility for them to take ownership.

In 1993, Patagonia was the first company to make plastic soda bottles into fleece, as well as other materials. As many other brands are following in their footsteps, this new technology is a new way to make an Eco-friendly material and that is durable and well made. Patagonia has changed how people view recycling. They are focused on reducing the amount of pollution in the environment. They needed 20,000 barrels of oil to make raw materials, but as they started recycling plastic bottles there was no need for that. Now, there is space in the landfills by keeping millions of bottles out, which eliminates harmful air emissions, making the environment a better place. While Patagonia strives for environmental improvements and to make their products, sustainable, there are now expanding to other fabrics. It has been over

Just as the German National Team serves as the golden standard in futbol, Patagonia Inc. sits comfortably atop the outdoor clothing industry. Patagonia Inc. values simplicity and utility. They acknowledge that their business activity creates pollution as a by-product, and they work tirelessly to cut back on those harms. Chouinard and his team have stayed true to their core values for over three decades, and it's this focus on making the best products possible that has brought them so much success in the industry.

Patagonia strives to provide quality clothing and outdoor equipment while staying as environmentally friendly as possible. A hiking boot, for example, would need to fit strict requirements. The boot would need to be durable, comfortable, stylish, and made from environmentally friendly products. You also need to determine if there is a large enough market for the product. This would provide the means necessary to determine if the product has the highest chance of being successful. Given these strict requirements, one way to help keep the costs down is to use recycled material from older products that costumers turn in, therefore saving resources and money.

Although their unconventional business approach can in no way be exactly measured to determine the effectiveness of it, the company succeeds at making the experience of purchasing one of their products special because the consumer knows they are getting a high quality product that was made in a environmentally friendly process. This unique positioning that Patagonia has in the outdoor apparel market, allows it to sell its products two to three times the average price of their competitors like Uniqlo. What differentiates Patagonia from its main competitors, The North Face Company and Columbia Sportswear, is that Patagonia has found and connected with a niche market that wants not only a high quality product but also a product that was made in an environmentally sustainable

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

In today’s global economy sustainability is very important; from the biological aspect to the industries they all play a role on the marine environment. As world population increases the demand of fish rises causing overfishing. Certain laws have been placed to limit the amount of wild fishing to reduce the risk of endangerment. To meet the demand of the population, fish farms are introduced. Pollution and health related issues are part of the challenges of fish farming. Sustainability also affects social areas such as beaches.

Sustainability when we try to understand in the context of corporate is recognizing that the corporation’s long

Recycling is also very important part in the apparel industry. (Kunz, Karpova, & Garner, 2016) Recycling contributes to the elimination of waste through reusing clothing fibers and old clothing garments source. “For the fashion sector recycling contributes to the elimination of waste through reuse of materials and finished garments, conservation of the environment in particular reduction in landfill and pollution through redirection of waste to alternative uses and preservation of natural resources including water and natural virgin fibers through a model in which the same materials can be used over and over again.” (Kellock, 2017, page 1) The benefits of recycling in the apparel industry are similar to the benefits of recycling in the textile industry. (Kunz, Karpova, & Garner, 2016)