Browse
Engage
Research
A new report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development looks at global consumption and the varied ways businesses can bring sustainability to the mainstream.
Global consumption patterns are not sustainable, and have already had detrimental impacts on the Earth. As the report, "Sustainable Consumption: Facts and trends from a business perspective," points out, the world is experiencing rapid population growth, and more people are consuming more, especially in emerging countries.
While survey after survey shows consumers are, on the whole, concerned about their impacts on the environment and willing to act, they do not always follow through with different behaviors. The reasons for that are numerous: some green choices aren't cost effective, it's inconvenient to give up certain things, and there is a general lack of understanding or confusion around areas like product labeling.
The role of business in moving the world towards sustainable consumption is to make sustainability commonplace. Companies must make green choices easy to make as well as easy to understand, affordable and comparable to conventional choices.
Businesses also need to innovate new products and service, harness the power of marketing and new forms of communication to influence consumer choices, and eliminate unsustainable products and services.
For many products, like cars, detergent and electronics, the biggest impacts come from their use. A company could have a LEED certified, energy efficient factory, but if the company makes laundry detergent that requires massive amounts of hot water when its used, it's still contributing to unsustainable actions, no matter how green its operations are. Making detergent that works in cold water, though, helps bring down the environmental impact of all end users.
The report is the result of a year-long study of the relationship among business activities, consumer behavior and environmental and social challenges. It includes an overview of consumption drivers, patterns and impacts.
Along with explaining the key ways in which business can play a positive role, the report shows how businesses have already make strides in those areas. For example, after Nokia found out that two-thirds of power used by cell phones is wasted as "no load" energy (energy sucked up by chargers when they're left plugged in after a phone has been removed) the company started reducing the amount of "no load" energy its chargers consumer, lowering it by 70 percent on average. And, Nokia added alerts on phones that remind users to unplug their chargers.
Old Free Market needs fixing
Unfortunately, many of the current large enterprises are based on a business model that is fundamentally unsustainable from an environmental perspective. Number one on this list is the large volume meat producers and the companies that retail their products.
Unless there is a major awakening by consumers that their daily meat intake is inherently bad for them and the planet, it's unlikely that these companies will change much. Yes, the likes of McDonald's tout their environmental concern, but it's really just scratching at the surface - they can't change the underlying fundamental facts that beef, chicken and fish production/consumption at the levels they sell at cannot be made sustainable.
The only hope for change is subsidy removal and taxation if necessary to increase prices and reduce demand, otherwise these companies will rape the environment at the consumers behest.
Sustainability
Quite true. Dr. Schumacher has shown a road up to businesses to adapt his visionnary leadership in our present day and world.
Anyway, I steel believe free market enterprise will solve the growing concerns of nations with a touch of government interventions.
Businesses have to behave socially responsible to still be able to carry happiness and the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.