Business and the environment

It is often said that we live in a consumer society: We consider it important to buy products and

services Companies need to be aware of the impact of

this on the environment, the natural world around us

Many companies use packaging (boxes, bottles...) which has been recycled (made using old materials).

Pollution, such as smoke in the air, can be reduced if companies use trains instead of road transport

Business in the environment:

Inspires companies to work towards a development which is sustainable in the environment. This is seen as a strategy and a mainstream business issue.

Environmental strategy represents a fundamental progression which intergrates environment into business planning and decision-making.

This integration must be done in the way that meets business needs and improves a company’s impact on the environment.

Work must be done with companies:

The companies must recognise the benefits of effective environmental management and improved performance which protects the nature

For example: sustainable water and sewerage business depends on operations which respect the environment

Unfortunately, the biggest progress in this sector is done after some companies are punished or even shut down for not complying with the newest policies

The power of big companies can be used to protect the environment: Companies with a global presence have an

opportunity to shift the impact of their activities from environmental harm to ecological leadership.

As business gains more influence worldwide and public support grows, companies are discovering new ways of showing environmental leadership.

Some world companies are joined in the effort of creating solutions to critical global environmental problems in which industry plays an important role

These companies work on two levels-global and local.

There are global dialogues to create best practices within key industries in the world and promote effective solutions (for example global climate change).

At the same time they are doing their best to test their ideas and see how they work in biodiversity and wilderness

Both approaches are equally essential to ensure that these solutions are viable on all levels

What are some strategies?

They have a vision of a world in which business is a positive force for biodiversity conservation. In order to realise this vision the companies must:

Integrate biodiversity conservation into business practices: they help some corporations to involve these attitudes into existing business and to develop new tools that apply conservation principles

Support conservation policy and planning: they encourage industry leaders, organisations and governments to formulate plans that protect priority areas

Invest in biodiversity conservation: they offer companies a variety of methods to invest financial and other resources in biodiversity conservation

Planning the conservation:

Very often development goals and conservation goals are in conflict. This happens because of poor planning and communication.

The companies who promote environmental leadership encourage industry leaders and governments to construct plans that protect the highest priority areas, while allowing carefully managed development to proceed in other areas.

In this way the conflict can be minimized and positive results can come.

An example: Patagonia

Patagonia is an outdoor clothing firm with a strong commitment to environmental causes.

It sells its products through retail outlets and by mail order.

Patagonia is renowned for its spectacular catalogs which are filled with unusual and dramatic photos (all taken by customers) displaying the clothing in exciting ways.

They also contain detailed product descriptions which include definitions of materials and explanations of manufacturing processes.

The company makes jackets from recycled plastic bottles and produces clothing from organic materials. It offers courses to its employees on non-violent demonstrations and even pays bail for employees who get arrested.

It also donates money to environmental groups and generally supports efforts that empower consumers to take action.

Patagonia’s strategy isn’t just to give away money to good causes but to pioneer new, long-term practices of sustainability in business, prove their economic viability and persuade other businesses to follow.

Word building

Expressing contrast / The passive

With some words it is possible to create several new words by adding suffixes: Use the following suffixes to create as many words as you can:

-ate -ism -ity -ist -at

environment to produce to manage to direct progress active

What suffixes can you add to these words?

develop _________________________commit _________________________sustain _________________________employ _________________________

Expressing contrast:

There are several ways of expressing contrast in English:

although

even though + subject + verb

thoughHe enjoys his job, although he would like

more responsibility.

despite + noun or

in spite of + verb + -ingDespite the recession, we achieved

record profits.I haven’t finished that report yet, despite

working overtime last night.

Join the pairs of sentences using an expression of contrast:

Young people are concerned about the environment. They can’t always afford environmentally-friendly products.

Patagonia makes efforts to convince other companies to use organically-grown cotton. Many companies resist because it costs more.

Pollution is rising in Paris. People still prefer to take their cars to work.

Many countries organise separate waste collections for glass, paper, metal and plastic. Many others don’t.

Most beauty products carry the label “against animal testing”. Some of the components may have been tested on animals.

Complete the following passage with the appropriate passive forms of the verbs in brackets: A new campaign ______ (launch) earlier this

year by the UK government which aims to reduce the amount of domestic waste.

Households ________ (encourage) to recycle certain waste products and to sort and prepare others for collection at specific sites.

From there they ________ (take) to special waste treatment plants where special machinery will process them for reuse as recycled material.

In Britain today, when the contents of the average household dustbin _________ (analyse), we find that, in terms of weight, 35% of the total _______ (compose) of paper and cardboard, 22% of kitchen waste, 12% of plastic with glass, dust and ashes each representing a further 10%.

There are in fact only a few items of domestic waste that cannot _________ (recycle).

One common example is disposable nappies which, as their name suggests, ________ (design) to be thrown away after use.

However, a lot of progress could _______ (make) to reduce the amount of kitchen waste most of which can _________ (transform) into a useful garder fertiliser.