The Ecology Of Commerce By Environmentalist Paul Hawken

In "Natural Capitalism," Paul Hawkins replaces the world's economy to its respectful position within the larger economy of natural resources and ecosystem services that sustain us. This is done simply by giving value to things not normally found on , from human intelligence and cultures to hydrocarbons, minerals, trees, and microscopic fungi.

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.

The environment is among some of the top issues to be looked upon by the human population in the world today. Sustainability is a word often times used when speaking of this subject. This is a concept represented in the articles “Sustainability” by Christian R. Weisser and “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” by Robert Paarlberg. Each author addresses the issue in different ways; one giving examples of this issue and the other clearly defining it. Each author is writing to spread awareness of this issue. As overlapping topics, each article has similarities and differences to the other.

Instead of focusing on the individual, “ecological economics invites us to picture ourselves not as isolated individuals but as housemates” (McFague 132). This model has two goals striving for sustainability and distributive justice which will allow for the earth’s resources to be sustained for future generations. McFague feels that the ecological economic system will provide an efficient system that will suit and support the needs of the world.

The Author further gives an example of the historic floods in Calgary in 2013 that forced the head office to close down and send its workers home. Klein begins to write her book by expressing the fears of what really happens in the world today. Special emphasis is also made to people who lost their factory jobs in Juarez and Windsor or where employers built a perimeter wall to imprison their workers who might be tempted to jump, where they forget that calamities such as wall collapsing on their employees have been, reported but what drives them in the greed for money and profits. The dumping of toxic wastes on the rivers forced the Chinese to drink contaminated water or kids from Beijing and Shanghai who forced their kids to stay indoors due to air pollution caused by the coal plants. However the author concludes that what really matters for these multi-national companies is money generated from their business irrespective of the harm caused to the environment. The author further gives advice on how this problem can be counter attacked by suggesting that to avoid climate change is to consider the needs of humanity and the uses of its resources. This is the only way that the laws of nature can be

If customers refuse to buy products from organization that do not value the environment, organizations will change to customer’s needs. Along with not buying products, customers should not invest with companies who do not value the environment and communities. “Economists incorporate the triple bottom line into their models of business decision making by assuming that many individuals will buy shares in companies that achieve the triple bottom line outcomes they want and will sell shares in companies that do not” (Douglas, 2012. Pg. 7).

Sustainability has achieved a more ecological tone in the past few decades in terms of a business model, but it originally derives from the concept that a business is successful due to the interconnected areas of economics, culture and ecology. Sustainability is now becoming a somewhat fad and thus it is understandable that it could be misconstrued by some as a form of “greenwashing”. Greenwashing is the idea that a company markets their “green” or environmentally friendly changes in policy and values, despite no actual concrete changes in these areas, for example some argue that Fiji Water greenwasher in terms of their marketing as an environmentally friendly water company despite their little effort to actually go carbon-neutral. Many companies are seeing the

Therefore, it is unethical for businesses to refuse this opportunity. An article titled “Large And Dirty' Companies Adopting Greener Strategies To Earn More Green”, published by ScienceDaily, offers a look at a development in corporate policies. In the article, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Baltimore named Phillip H. Phan presents a new trend in business strategies. When referring to formerly wasteful companies, Phan states, “Now they view concern for the environment as an opportunity to embed innovations that save production costs in the long term and that also improve their standing as good corporate citizens in the public mind” (qtd. in “Large And Dirty'” 1). Phan is insisting that many companies are now adopting environmentally friendly policies. Most see these strategies as an advantage in the end. In turn, the economy continues to grow while corporations maintain conservation. The question remains, why implement environmental regulations? As the evidence has shown, more businesses have begun to use environmentally friendly policies. While this is a positive change, other companies have yet to embrace these strategies. For this reason, the point is not to drive a stake between conservation and business but to find mutual benefits. Above all, governments must set better standards based on the

However, when examining environmental sustainability, it does not seem to be the case. When people are faced with knowledge in relation to natural resources that may be sold for personal capital, people are quick to exploit the resource without taking the environment into consideration. For example, it can be presumed that if people did not have knowledge of the abundance of cod in Newfoundland in the 1960’s, the environment would have been thriving in that area to this day. Similarly, a notion that was present in Davis’ article is the tragedy of the commons. This plays a key role when looking at the environment today, in a capitalist world. Furthermore, people are often too caught up in extending their own enterprises to even consider the potential effects that certain acts can have on the environment. On the other hand, there are people who obtain knowledge on something that is harming the environment, yet they do not act on that knowledge or do anything to mitigate the damage. In the modern world and especially western society, people will easily put their needs above the environment from which we live. Therefore, from a sustainability point of view, knowledge is not

Magdoff and Foster’s book ‘What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism’ aims to motivate people to start critically thinking of solutions outside of capitalism by means of exploring the role of the capitalist system in causing mass environmental degradation as planetary boundaries are pushed. They seek to explain how another social, economic, and political system is essential for solving the current ecological (and economic crises). The capitalist system is driven by profit and expansion, so no matter how ‘green’ the system can try to become, the environment will not survive its constant exploitation. New technologies and zero-growth economies are not the answer to the environmental destruction, but maybe an

One positive implication capitalism has to the natural environment is industrial ecology, a system of chain production and consumption, serving to the lowest environmental impacts in a most environmentally sustainable economy as the main goal of operation (Richards & Pearson, 1998). The Companies in a like to operate in such way because of four major reasons. The most important factor is known as the corporate well-being, for it is determined by higher profits and growth provided by innovations in an industry. Profits are increased from recognizing the production ineffiency costs that comes from wasted inputs and energy losses; this allowing cost savings to increase and ineffiency to decrease. compliance with cleaner technology alternatives such as ones that produce less waste and less energy will provide long term savings which are both beneficial to the environment and the business at hand. A real world example freight company changes their salvaged driving equipment to hybrid vehicles. Money is temporarily lost, but the gasoline and maintenances cost savings will compensate in a long run period of time.

The economy today runs on an antiquated ritual of exploiting, plundering, devastation, and manipulation of land for material wealth, profiting the wealthy and condemning the poor. This mindset is no more sophisticated than feudalism, a system so bad it had to be outlawed along with witchcraft. The idea that exploitation of land is justified has brought plastics to the ocean and leveled rainforests. Large corporations have grown larger by manufacturing and production, depleting the planet’s resources in the process. Now, companies must make a combined effort to put the environment first, before profit. Because of their harmful practices, consumers have the right to know where products come from, how they’re made, and the impact on the environment. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the large corporations to change their harmful practices, to make strides towards ending climate change and use clean, sustainable methods.

In a culture based on consumption and consumerism businesses are the forefront of society providing every good and service imaginable. Although, in today’s society there has been an increase in significant issues concerning the ecology of our planet that have come along with this consumer culture. With issues such a lack of clean water, lack of food, lack of energy and a rapid decline in biodiversity. This rapid decline in natural resources is due to mostly to the over consumption and alteration of the planet and its resources. Where do we start though in the process to protect and preserve our resources? It starts with the very businesses that we all buy from; a major part of our everyday lives and the largest consumers of resources businesses can play a large role in sustainability and climate action. Increasing pressure is being put on businesses to create a more sustainable society, this is being done through many business sustainable business efforts.

Intro: This report will aim to define responsible business, in relation to the vast range of topics such as Corporate social Responsibility/Corporate Citizenship, sustainability, whilst comparing these through academia and their different meanings relating to Responsible Business. Furthermore, this report will also aim to critically analyse climate change and its effect in relation to making Business more responsible as well as the drawbacks/opportunities this holds for business. Finally, this report will exploit the relation between government and Business; identify possible barriers for businesses through government via academic views and evidential impacts on businesses and how government supports business to create a more sustainable world, through incentives such as the climate change Act 2008.