You probably heard about all the fuss related to environmental issues during the past few years. Many celebrities and influential people started to focus their attention on the environmental impacts around the world, thus making their audience think about the consequences of their actions. Important highlights like deforestation, energy generation, water pollution and waste, the usage of plastic and other toxic materials became worrying signs for all people, reason why most businesses started to pay more attention to the environment. Today, business giants are working against environmental destruction by investing in certain sectors of their companies. Since big brands chose to make these changes, their example was followed by smaller companies, which eventually led to a drastic reduction of the negative impact they had on the environment. Starting with minor changes, such as hiring the right waste disposal company, to bigger changes, such as putting a lot of money and effort into green investments.
Several companies such IKEA, Panasonic, IBM, Adobe or even Nike, became aware of the environmental implications that the process of making their own products have. Because they had the resources and the motivation to stop the consequences from happening, they started modifying the way they deal with certain processes. IKEA, for instance, is energy-friendly, using almost 1 million solar panels to power their stores. Considering their need for cotton and wood, they also implemented a new policy for purchasing these materials. Talking about energy, Panasonic managed to reduce their carbon footprint and deal with waste in an environmental-friendly manner. Panasonic invested in a sustainable smart-town project along with other partners in Japan. IBM focused on water resource management and waste disposal, while Adobe was awarded as the greenest IT company in 2014. Their fixtures included changes in the way employees use water and net-zero energy consumption. Finally, Nike adopted recycling used materials to create new ones. The company works with NASA to a project that improves transforming raw materials into actual goods, no pollution involved.
Considering all these examples, smaller companies have all the reasons in the world to start protecting the environment. Even small steps that are genuinely environmental-friendly can lead to improvements. If you’re wondering why this aspect is so urgent in the business world, keep reading this article.
Energy generation is the key
The purpose of any business should be including renewable energy in their production processes. Because the global energy demand is continuously growing, it became very dangerous for the environment. As it is growing, the carbon dioxide emissions are increasing as well. Energy is the fuel behind everything, considering that, without it, people would sit in complete darkness and prosperity will soon fall. The good news is that most businesses are now aware of these implications, and they started making investments in renewable energy. Besides the fact it raises the number of job positions in a company, renewable energy can have a positive impact on the business itself, not only on the environment. There are four main modalities to make good use of renewable energy: wind power, solar power, hydropower, and bioenergy.
For instance, Brazil produces most of the country’s energy through hydroelectric dams. Solar energy can be used in homes too. As technology is developing, more and more solutions come to light. Denmark produces a part of its energy through wind power, and specialists say that in 20 years from now on, wind energy could provide almost 10% of the total electricity on earth. Biomass and geothermal power are also reliable sources of renewable energy. The future is promising as long as businesses decide to take advantage of the multiple options they have.
Water and deforestation
Water pollution and deforestation are the main issues that environment is facing at the moment. Water can be defined as the lifeblood of the Earth’s ecosystem, so what happens if it gets compromised? Even people are not aware of it, water pollution directly affects their health. Oils, mercury, nitrates, petrochemicals, and phosphates (that usually come from colossus companies and their production processes) reach into seas and oceans, eventually causing severe consequences for both marine life and humans. Besides hormonal and reproductive problems, nervous system damage and other organs damage, such substances can be the main cause of an early installation of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or even heart diseases.
As for deforestation, the main effect of it is represented by the loss of biodiversity. Different species are on the verge of extinction because of the loss of genetic diversity. Deforestation also leads to a temperature rise in the whole world. Climate change is a direct consequence of deforestation, even though it might seem unreal. Over 10 000 species of plants disappeared in the past few years. Global sustainability is entirely based on responsibly using resources. That’s why any company should thoroughly research where their materials come from.
Waste
Most businesses are not familiarized with recycling and reusing. Aluminum cans and plastic water bottles are not the only items that damage the environment. Think about what your company is wasting – food, computers and other electronics, batteries, glass, fire extinguishers, lots and lots of paper. The steps to a greener office include investing in proper waste management. Personal action is sometimes less productive compared to hiring a company that’s specialized in recycling. For example, Mil-tek helps their clients with quality and efficient waste disposal services. Businesses are not required to do everything on their own. The only thing they have to do is raise awareness of environmental issues and invest money, effort or other resources to make the situation better.
Helping the Earth
The final goal is to help the Earth. All the measurements taken are oriented to the well-being of all living beings on the planet, regardless of their species. Damaging the environment represents one way to condemn ourselves to death, so why sticking with old habits instead of doing something beneficial for all? Take a look around and give yourself a minute to think what the best solution is. You will shortly realize that the environment is screaming for help and we are the only ones who can offer it, by modifying our actions.