Victoria Chen AE4

Should business take responsibility for the environment?

In recent centuries, the way that companies have dealt with their business has become increasingly
complex. More things now are involved rather than only the simple way o selling products. !hese
things are adapted to the development o the society. !his development had created many
responsibilities or companies. "ne o this responsibility is about the environment. !his brought
many debates about whether companies really have to care about the environment. !his essay will
argue that business should ta#e responsibility or the environment due to good results such as
economic beneits, good or the own environmental resource and great reputation.
!he irst argument or why business should ta#e responsibility or the environment is the existence
o a great deal o the economic beneits rom this action. $irstly, when companies implant a policy
which cares about the environment they can reduce signiicantly some costs they have. "ne
example o this is the reduction o waste. According to %herman&'((4) the reason that can ma#e
business reduce waste is the possibility o saving a signiicant amount o money on materials.
*inter at al.&'((+) reports the example o ,ohnson - ,ohnson started developing its waste
reduction program in ./00. !his company reduced its pac#aging by '12( tons per year until
nowadays. "nly two years ater the program, the ,ohnson - ,ohnson saved an estimated 3'.0
million in material costs. It is possible to see the economic importance or the company when it
cares about the environment. %econdly, there is other way to get economic beneits o caring about
the environment it is reusing waste material. 4eusing products in their original orm can be an
eicient way o saving money. It is commonly cheaper to clean products or ix them up than to buy
new ones&%herman '((4). $or example, rom recycling the 5rown and %harpe Manuacturing
Company, in our years, cut costs with papers in 6( percent with this program the company now
saves over 3.',((( a year in disposal as well as several thousand dollars in annual purchasing
costs&*inter et al. '((+). !o illustrate comments it is evident that companies may be worried with
the environment and at the same time to earn money with. !hereore, reduction o waste and
recycling help the environment the environment as well as companies.
!he second argument or why business should ta#e responsibility or the environment is because is
good or the own environmental resources. $irst o all, it is about energy used by business. !here is
no doubt that the world will pass or a big crisis o power resource. !he main energy used by the
human being today comes rom the ossil source. It is a not clean energy and as well as this #ind o
power will end so soon it can imagine &7arnall, 8onting and Va9:ue9;5rust '(.'). According to
<argrave&'(.+) the solution or this is the use o renewable energy such as biomass. "ne example
o this is biomass has made a huge positive impact on the 5attlesteads <otel in <exham,
=orthumberland. It had been dependent on electricity, but now showers and heating room
consumption have been reduced by hal. It is possible to see that methods to reduce impacts on the
environment had come beneits or companies. %econdly, the air has been another big concern or
companies today. Carbon emission comes industry had been a big problem in big cities currently.
!hese cities are increasingly growing at a disorderly pace causing many negative impacts or people
who live in there&7arnall, 8onting and Va9:ue9;5rust '(.'). $or this reason Morris&'(.+) states
that investing more time and resource into developing corporate responsibility, that is a company or
business showing that it cares or the community, its employees and the environment. !his is a great
way or businesses to reduce their impact on the environment and in doing so will also create better
business and increase potential consumers. !o illustrate this =ovex, one o the >ower Mainland?s
largest couriers, planed on converting its entire leet o cars, vans and truc#s to low;emission
vehicles, with this this company reduced in +( percent the amount o carbon that it had been putting
into the air &*inter et al. '((+). !o sum up, energy and air pollution have been more concerned by
companies and they have reali9ed that they can gain beneits creating great strategies or them.
!he third argument or why business should ta#e responsibility or the environment is reputation
gained rom this. !he irst type o reputation is one that comes rom other companies. !his is
possible because companies that are involved in environmental issues tend to earn attention rom
the mar#et around them. According to %herman&'((4), this is simple because business today are
trying to be more environmentally responsible in view o this is gaining value in the mar#et,
companies that do this are earning more money and reputation. !o demonstrate this, in the @%A, a
company called College 8art# 5icycles has earned lots o partners in its business due to how this
company manges its products and how to sell them. !he shop oers pri9es to the children who
dropped o the most cans at the store, eventually collecting a total o +4,((( cans or recycling. !he
shop has received two awards rom a county;sponsored civic group interested in promoting
responsible solid waste management or its role in sponsoring the contest. It is clear that this
example, showed how good or the companies visibility when they care about the environment and
when this has impacted direct on the society&*inter et al. '((+). !he other type o reputation is the
one which is related to the inal client. !he so amous philosophy called Abuying greenB that is to
buy products do not preCudice the environment. 7arnall, 8onting and Va9:ue9;5rust&'(..) state that
increasingly, consumers are becoming more #nowledgeable about the environment and relecting
this #nowledge in their decisions to buy green products. !o illustrate this, Dris#evicius&'(.()
reports that the !oyota 8rius that uses concepts o green product increased sales o !oyota around
1.2E, that is a considerable number or the amount o cars sold by this company. In brie, It is clear
that both o type o visibility such created or inal clients or other companies are good reasons or
business should care about the environment.
In conclusion, the environment should be ta#en responsibility by business. !his is due to many
economic beneits drawn rom action such as reducing o waste o costs as well as the reuse o
materials. In addiction, this is also good or the environment because companies can use alternatives
o energy and decrease the amount o air pollution made by themselves. Moreover, the reputation
o the company which cares or the environment may be improved in terms o other companies and
their inal clients. It is evident that both the environment and business can be beneited, thereore
companies should invest together with governments and civic society in polices able to lead good
practices or the environment.
Word count: ..2'
References
Darnall, N, Ponting, C, & Vazquez-Brust, DA 2012, `Why onsu!ers "uy green`, In Green growth: Managing
the transition to a sustainable economy, #ie$e% 2& 'une 201(, ))* 2+,--0+*
.ris/e#iius, V, 0y"ur, '1, & Van %en Bergh, B 2010, `.oing green to "e seen2 status, re)utation, an%
ons)iuous onser#ation`, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, #ol* &+, no* -, ))* -&2,
3htt)244$$$*arlsonshool*u!n*e%u4assets41(055(*)%67*
8argra#e, 9 201-, `:sing rene$a"le energies to )o$er your "usiness !ore e66iiently`, The Guardian,
#ie$e% 2& 'une 201(, 3htt)244$$$*theguar%ian*o!4s!all-"usiness-net$or/4201-4ot4224rene$a"le-energy-
)o$er-"usiness7*
1orris, 8 201-, `;e%uing your ar"on 6oot)rint "ene6its you an% the en#iron!ent`, Environmental Leader,
#ie$e% 2& 'une 201(, 3htt)244$$$*en#iron!entallea%er*o!4201-40,4014re%uing-your-ar"on-6oot)rint-
"ene6its-you-an%-the-en#iron!ent47*
9her!an, ; 200(, `8o$ your "usiness an ut osts "y re%uing $aste`, orth !arolina !oo"erative
E#tension Service, #ie$e% 2& 'une 201(, 3htt)s244$$$*"ae*nsu*e%u4to)i4#er!io!)osting4)u"s4ag(,--10-
"us-ut-osts*ht!l7*
Winter, ', Bro$n, <, =re#ert, <, & =ein"erg, > 200-, `Business gui%e 6or re%uing soli% $aste`, $I%E
Publishing, #ie$e% 2& 'une 201(, 3htt)244$$$*e)a*go#4soli%$aste4nonhaz4!unii)al4)u"s4"us-
gui%4in%e?*ht!7*