Question

Write an essay on

Measures taken by any 5 corporate companies to achieve environmental sustainability

You will need to:

a) Give an introduction about the company

b) Explain the measures taken by them to incorporate practices in order to achieve environmental sustainability.

Answer 1

ANSWER-

1. Panasonic-

When you think about green businesses, Japanese electronics company Panasonic probably isn’t the first company to pop into your head. In fact, in 2014, Fortune found that Panasonic suffered the largest perception gap between the actions the company’s taken and what people think it’s done.

Sustainability is a key part of the company’s corporate citizenship activities and has influenced everything from energy-saving production improvements to the adoption of recycling-oriented manufacturing.

One of the coolest ways Panasonic is walking the walk is with its new North American headquarters. Historically located in suburban Secaucus, NJ, the company moved to a prime location in downtown Newark in 2013. The move was hailed as a key way to revitalize the struggling city, but for Panasonic, it fulfilled a sustainability mission.The company built a new LEED certified tower (gold exteriors, platinum interiors) just blocks from Newark Penn Station, a key transit node for both local and regional transit. This connectivity and transit accessibility has led to a nearly 50 percent drop in the number of workers commuting to work by car alone from 88 to 36 percent. Panasonic’s VP for corporate communications estimates that the move has taken 500 cars off the road every day.

2. New Belgium Brewing Company-

Brewing beer can have a lot of environmental downsides, from the energy required to superheat mash to the disposal of spent grain and other waste. Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing Company, the third-largest craft brewery in the United States, is proving that you don’t need to harm the environment to make it big.

Being eco-friendly is part of the company’s culture and brand, and it’s made an astonishing number of environmental investments. Solar panels help power the bottling plant; an anaerobic digester processes industrial wastewater into energy to power the brewing process; company-issued bicycles help employees get around the 50-acre brewery site.

Beyond its operations, New Belgium has taken a political stand on sustainability too. It was the twentieth company—and the first brewery—to join Ceres’ Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy coalition in 2011. Today, 19 breweries have joined to sign the Brewery Climate Declaration in support of reducing carbon pollution.

3. Walmart-

At first blush, you may balk at the inclusion of Walmart on this list about environmentally-friendly companies. But the mega-retailer has made some key sustainable choices that, thanks to its large market share, can have huge ripple effects.

Walmart’s 2014 decision to stock products from organic supplier Wild Oats garnered attention and praise for expanding access to organic foods at more affordable prices. That followed a 2013 update to its chemicals policy, which focused on both improving ingredient disclosure and replacing 10 hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. Even earlier, Walmart committed to exclusively selling sustainable seafood.

In addition to the direct impact of increasing sales of organic foods (as of April 2015, Wild Oats organic products were available in more than 3,800 Walmart stores) and reducing sales of products with dangerous chemicals, these policies all directly impact Walmart’s suppliers. Walmart’s support of organic food buoys the industry and creates more demand and sales opportunities for organic farmers. The company’s chemical policy provides a strong incentive for suppliers to adhere to stricter standards or risk losing access to Walmart customers.

4. Apple-

Apple has a reputation for being cutting edge, a reputation that holds when it comes to going green. Apple’s $848 million energy deal with a solar farm in California enabled the company to power all its operations with renewable energy. A few months later it committed to getting 100 percent of its paper packaging from sustainable sources to protect the world’s remaining virgin forests.

Like Panasonic, it too has invested in ways to help employees reduce their commute emissions, with 10,000 employees using the company’s transit subsidy and 2,700 carpooling in commuter buses.

Apple’s rejection of climate denialism can’t go unmentioned. In 2009, the company loudly and publicly quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its stance on climate change. Its 2015 Environmental Responsibility Report opens with the line: “We don’t want to debate climate change. We want to stop it.” This bold stance from a globally-renowned company helps bolster support for climate action and sustainable business practices.

5. Ikea-

In June 2015, Ikea announced it would invest €1 billion in sustainability efforts, including buying renewable energy to power its stores and offices, and implementing sustainable manufacturing. As The Telegraph points out, “The figure dwarfs the amounts pledged by some countries to the UN Green Climate Fund. Germany, one of the biggest donors, pledged €750m.”

This is just the latest step in a long history of eco-friendly investments the Swedish furniture giant has made. The installation of rooftop solar to power the company’s new St. Louis, MO, store is the 42nd such installation in the United States, and the company has also entered the residential solar market.

In addition to buildings, Ikea has greened many of the products it sells. It introduced a vegan version of its famous Swedish meatballs, a nod to opposers of the environmentally intensive meat industry. In September 2015, Ikea announced its plan to sell only certified seafood. That same month was the first that 100 percent of its cotton was sustainably sourced from farmers who use less water, chemicals, and fertilizers. All that’s just the tip of the company’s green efforts.