Environmental Impact of a Chocolate Bar - Example

Environmental Impact of a Chocolate Bar Contents Environmental Impact of a Chocolate Bar 3 Introduction. 3 Literature review 5 Impact of cocoa farming on the environment 7 Proposed solutions to the effects of cocoa farming on the environment 10 Effect of chocolate processing on the environment 12 Solutions to the detrimental effects of chocolate processing 12 Conclusion 14 Reference 16 Environmental Impact of a Chocolate Bar Introduction. With increased production of new products, there is a need to look at how our production methods will affect future generations. The methods applied should be friendly to the environment and should focus on giving the consumers the best quality product at all times. The best definition, therefore, for a sustainable development in production of goods and services is; Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to respond to their needs. Methods applied in production should ensure that they make the planet a better place for the future generations than the past generation have done for us. For this development to hold, we have to see that the main pillars of our any life holds too. The development should ensure that it incorporates the social, economic and political features (Elliot, 2011). The other bit of any sustainable development is that it should contain long and short term goals. In the manufacturing of every product, the manufacturers will have to see that they set the above objectives. In this case, the short-term goals that entails sustainable plans and taking care of the environment, will ensure the company has a substantial long term goal (Elliot 2011). In our case, which includes activities of agriculture, followed by processing, manufacturing and finally sale of the finished goods. There is a need to have sustainability because if the agricultural activities are affected, they will disturb the whole process. Agriculture is mostly affected by environment factors like rain and other climate conditions. Therefore, all parties should see that the methods of production do not affect the environment negatively. The mode of manufacturing should also be friendly to the environment since the pollution would affect the environment and the people doing the manufacturing job. The choice of chocolate as my product of research is motivated by the increasing number of daily consumers. With increased consumption, it means that there will be increased production of cocoa. Moreover, it is from this fact that a question of how this increase will affect the environment. There will be the need of vast agricultural land, in order to accommodate the demand for cocoa. This demand will lead to clearing of land, mostly fertile forests. Most of this fertile land are located in the mountain and water catchment areas, thus direct impact on the environment (Elliot, 2011). The increased production will lead to increased processing and manufacturing. The process of manufacturing is associated with numerous waste products. From this fact, a question arise; will the way of handling this waste product have any effect of the environment? The source and destination of waste product are mostly affected and thus have to be taken care of, so as to make sure that the production process is sustainable. Another question is, will the material used in the sale of the product make it viable and how will it affect the environment? In our case, cocoa as it is exported from tropical countries to Europe, will the bags used have any negative effect on the produce? The end product is sold in packaged form; mostly the material used is aluminum foils and plastics bags. We are to look at how to manage them after the product is used, in order to ascertain that they do not affect the environment negatively (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). With much effect on the environment, there have to be ways to prevent these negative effects. That why in the essay we will see the mitigation plans to evade this effects. The main tools to help as depicted in this research, are the concepts and theories brought forward by authors to educate us on sustainability of products. Literature review Sustainable development concept is a combination of research works that have been going on, since it was adopted as an overarching goal of the economic and social development, by UN agencies. They included 21 nations, many local governments, and private organizations. This concept always explains how sustainability can be achieved in production of goods and services. The focus is on the item that are produced from natural occurring raw materials using human labor and capital investments. For any process to term sustainable, it will have to exist for a long period without affecting the environment negatively, or without harming the stakeholders, in that production. There has been a growth in the authorship of research on sustainable development due to the diversity of the topic. Sustainability covers economic, social, ecology and political aspects of any product. For a product to be sustainable, it has to pass the test for all the above factors (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). For any product to be regarded as a consumable, finished good, it has to pass through various stages. This stages will have an effect on how people are to accept it in the market. When there is increased production of a product in a country, there is always increased sale. This will has a positive effect on the economy because increase in the production leads to increase in sales. The growth, thus, is derived from continued growth of consumption of a given product and a wide variety of products. If there is an increased consumption of chocolate in a country, it means that there is growth in income of the people. The growth is direct for the people dealing with production of cocoa, manufacturing of the product itself and finally its sales. When there is this increased production, it means that a lot will be taking place, unlike when the output is low. This makes sustainability very difficult in areas of high production due to the negatives effect on the environment (Welford, 2013). Increased production that, mostly, leads to economic growth is less compared to the impact of on the environment. It is also true to say that economic growth leads to an enhanced quality of life and improved human flourishing in high-income societies, while creating a problematic lifestyle, from a social science perspective. When people are living in opulence, there is a constant supply goods and services around them. This is due to the little harsh interaction they have as they try to make their end meet. In contrary, the situation is totally different from the people who live in poverty. The poor people have to disrupt the nature, as they make ends meet, and this will cause less sustainability thus initiating a short lifetime. This is true given that there is also increased production in this places since there are people living in industrialized areas. With the growth of economy in most poor residents, there comes a complex set of social and environmental costs. This explains why surveys of life satisfaction have remained largely unchanged in industrial societies, despite the increase in production and consumption (Welford, 2013). There has to be economic growth, in order to ensure that the right policies are implemented. With less growth, the policies are hard to implement and thus there is low sustainability of the already existing production methods. Therefore, the production chain needs to articulate policies that allow the sustainability, especially in high demand items such as chocolate. In this case, various factors have to be in place. Efficiency is one of the key factors that makes production sustainable. When there is efficiency, it means that the production method will utilize most of the input to get high-quality products. Efficiency also means that every waste product have a defined process of disposal. So there is no way the raw material will have an adverse impact on the environment. Efficiency also means that there is less waste of raw materials and energy, which makes sure that there are many products been manufactured. This diversification in production will ensure less exploitation of a given natural resource. Thus, there will be sustainability of the production method. For instance, we take the production of chocolate, the process have to be very efficient for it to be sustainable. Any production method has results that impact the environment in different ways. For an organization to understand the impact of their production method they have to check on the environment before the production and after production takes place. This will help in finding out the effects of chocolate production on the environment. When the change is positive, it is likely that the production is sustainable. This may be as a step taken by the organization as an obligation of environmental protection and conservation. When the environment is affected otherwise, it shows that the production method being applied has a negative impact on the environment (Welford, 2013). Environmental degradation is a wake-up call to all the stakeholders in a given production belt. Here, they have to come up with ways to protect the environment, which is only through having sustainable production method. Organizations are to carry assessment studies on the impacts of their production process on the environment, in order to ensure that they are always on the right path, in regard to environmental protection and conservation. For the chocolate to be a product, enjoyed by many, it passes through a series of processes. These processes have effects on the environment. The effect associated with this increase is deforestation and clearing of land in the mountains and water catchment areas. Impact of cocoa farming on the environment In the tropical regions, most of the land is under forest cover since the climate is warm and wet. This weather has favored forest growth and has made these areas the favorable for both human and plant life. The tropics are also very productive in agriculture. Cocoa is grown in the topic most of it coming from Ghana in Africa and neighboring countries. With the increase in demand for the product, there have been increased in need for huge land, in order to produce cocoa for exports. Most people have used the land, which was initially being used for food production, for cocoa production. However, this has not fully met the full demand. This growth has triggered the farmers and investors to move to the mountainous area, where they are clearing forest and planting cocoa trees. The escalated growth has led to hectares of land in the forest to be put under cocoa and the encroachment has resulted in diminishing forest cover (Hall et al., 2010) Despite the acceptable economic aspect, this farming is not sustainable because it is endangering the future generations. Also, it has already affected the present generation by changing the weather. When forest is been cleared it is not the climate only being endangered, but also the animals and the plants, thus, it is the whole ecosystem that feels the impacts. When there is no balance in biodiversity there tends to be animal-human conflicts. When animals are displaced in the forest, they move to look for shelter in the places, where the human are settling, and this makes them fight for survival. Animals can destroy acres of land where cocoa and other plants have been planted, which can lead to huge financial losses. These losses occur because they are no sustainability of the production process. When ecological balance is disturbed, there can also be heavy floods because the valley meant to contain water may be used for farming, and this puts the life of many people in danger. Deforestation has also led to reduced food production because the forests act as sources of food to people and animals (Benn & Griffiths, 2014). The unprecedented boom in demand for chocolate has led to unsustainable agricultural activities. Thus, there is a need for change. In order to reduce deforestation with an aim of making the process sustainable, all the stakeholders will have to come onboard to ensure there is combined effort to improve the process. The governments of the countries producing cocoa have to come up with policies which will see that the forest will be protected at all cost. Policies like water catchment policies which place water catchment areas under total control of the government. The government is to regulate the usage of such zones and activities to be carried out in those areas. When the government is in full control, it will not allow activities which will endanger the ecosystem of these areas. The government is also to come up with ways to reclaim land that was cleared for cocoa farming (Hall et al., 2010) The government is also supposed to find another land that will favor production of cocoa. This is because it has many resources thus can carry out research and identify new areas to carry out the production activities. This will offer an alternative to forest invasion. After the identification of alternative lands, the government should encourage farmers to shift to these areas, which can be done by the provision of incentives. The farmers should also invest in research on better variety of cocoa which can be planted in the forests without having to clear land. This will ensure that the farmers will benefit, and the land will also be protected (Benn & Griffiths, 2014). The countries that are importing cocoa products, such as Britain and other European countries have higher technology as compared to the producing countries. They are supposed to participate in research on cocoa species that don’t have to be planted on the cleared land. This form of intervention will help in protecting the forests and other water catchment areas. Should also be a campaign aimed at increasing tree planting, in order to cover the trees that were previous cut down. This is a way to reclaim forests that were initially under tree cover. Proposed solutions to the effects of cocoa farming on the environment Sustainability in the chocolate manufacturing is not to be achieved by protecting forests alone; the stakeholders are also supposed to play a part in environment conservation. The stakeholders are to set policies which should be upheld by all, as they move towards environmental preservation. These steps include setting up of policies like using energy that is friendly to the environment and one that will not harm the environment. They are to shun usage of forest materials, where there are alternatives (Benn & Griffiths, 2014). Where firewood is used in harvesting of cocoa and pre-processing preparations, they are should initiate ways which are sustainable like usage of solar power. This will ensure that forest is not deforested, and solar have no adverse effects on the environment. The non-governmental organizations in these parts, who are responsible for environmental conservation should lobby help and support from the international world organization like UNEP, on the fight against deforestation. With their high rate of access to cash, they are to make sure that they work toward putting more land under forest. Such a step will ensure that the whole process of cocoa production will be sustainable (Benn & Griffiths, 2014) The last player in the process of production is the farmer who should make sure they use the right methods to cultivate cocoa, in order to ensure that there is less harm to the environment. They are to make sure the farmers plant trees in areas where there is no cocoa planting activities. This step shall be aimed at compensating for the land brought under cocoa through deforestation. The methods being used are very environmentally unfriendly, and this makes the whole process unsustainable. These methods promote soil erosion, and this endanger environment conservation and the ecology at large. When carrying out farming in the mountains, and the ploughing is done on a large scale soil erosion is encouraged, and this makes the process unsustainable. The farmers should ensure they come up with methods to stop this from happening. This is through process of increasing forest cover and using Terrance. This type of farming will safeguard the fertility of the soil, and this will make the soil and place productivity be prolonged and thus achieving the goal of sustainability (Orla & Ryan, 2011). There also should be reduced machinery usage because they are known to promote erosion due to the weight that tends to destroy the soil texture and formation, which makes it loose and exposes it to the erosion. The stakeholders should set up policies which will limit the method of farming, and this should be aimed to see erosion avoided at all cost (Orla & Ryan, 2011). The usage of chemicals that enhance growth and productivity of the cocoa plant is another unsustainable practice. This is because the chemicals have negative effect on the environment, and they may end up harming the people consuming the product. The chemicals may end up being leached in the soil, and this will endanger the water sources. This is because some of this chemicals do not decompose. Therefore, the chemicals are present in the soil for a long time. This presence does not only endanger the environment, but also the whole ecology system because it will harm even the soil living organisms which play a huge role in ecology maintenance (Orla & Ryan, 2011). To mitigate this, the farmers should refrain from using chemicals in their farm if alternatives are present, this will make the product safe for everyone’s consumption and also makes the soil and the whole ecology system safe from contamination. The chemical manufacturers who are also stakeholders in the process should use modern technology to come with ways that will increase cocoa production without using many chemicals. They should also make sure that the chemicals they are manufacturing are decomposable, they can do this by using an ingredient that decomposes on the interaction with water or the soil. This will help in soil and ecology at large protection and conservation. The government is also supposed to play a role in regulating the chemicals be used. The government should use its labs to check on the quality of the chemical been used and if the chemical fails the quality test it should not be allowed in the markets (Orla & Ryan, 2011). Effect of chocolate processing on the environment The process of manufacturing chocolate from cocoa is also attributed to emission of waste materials, which have environmental effects. The waste range from water released in the rivers to the solid waste disposed of on the land. When waste is disposed of in the rivers while still untreated, it exposes the aquatic organisms to a great danger and the ecology at large. This waste is made of chemicals which, when consumed by the fish and other water living organisms, will endanger their lives. This water is also contaminated and unsafe for human consumption. Many of the homesteads may be at risk if such water find its way into the water pipe line (Victor et al., 2010). Solutions to the detrimental effects of chocolate processing The companies should work towards seeing that they treat this wastewater before releasing it to the environment, this will ensure the rivers and other water sources are safe. The manufacturers should use recyclable materials in the packaging and bags used to transport the commodity from areas of producing to manufacturing (Hall et al., 2010). Such a step will ensure that the environment is not polluted. This will reduce global warm and human-animal conflict which brought about by the invasion of the forest which acts as the home to these animals. The water can also be reused in ta factory to wash machineries and to water the flower beds with an aim of reducing the water been fetched from the rivers. This will ensure that less water is being used, and less water will be released as waste. This step mean that the quantity of water to be treated will be less and thus, it will increase the efficiency of the water treatment process. The government should formulate policies that will ensure that every chocolate manufacturing company treats its water before releasing it into the rivers. These policies should be upheld by every company and failure to do so will have a penalty of revocation of manufacturing certificate. This will encourage much company to come up with internal water management policies. Apart from water wastes there are other solid wastes that should be taken care of appropriately and not just disposed of in the environment. This wastes which are recyclable should be recycled and used in manufacturing of other products. This will ensure less waste is eliminated (Victor et al., 2010,). The factories should have disposal sites which should be well managed by the companies management team. This will ensure that they are not a threat to the environmental conservation process. The waste should be burnt in chambers which are controlled to limit the smoke released into the atmosphere. They government should also play its role in overseeing that waste from factories are well taken care of, and not just disposed of anywhere by the factories. Modern technology is also a solution to this type of waste. With modern technology, some of the waste can be converted to useful product which can even earn the factories some revenues. The waste released into the air should be treated to because it contains some gasses that endanger the life of the organisms on the planet. The factories should have air filters in the chimneys of the factories to ensure less carbon is released into the air. This will help in preventing ozone layer destruction. The government is to set policies which ensure that every factory follows suit in the gas waste management (Duku et al., 2011). The material used in packaging of chocolate should be environmentally friendly and one that can be recycled. The material should also be manageable by the users of the product. This is because after the sales, the company no longer responsible and the users should be able to manage the waste. The companies should avoid plastic bags because they are harmful to the environment. The government should oversee packaging of this product with the right material. This will make sure the company will not follow their ways but higher rules (Duku et al., 2011). Conclusion For any product to be used by a consumer, it will have to have gone through many processes. From raw material production, transportation, manufacturing in the factories and finally packaging and selling. All the process will affect the environment, economy, and social life in different ways. In order to ensure that the process of the transformation of a product is sustainable then the manufacturer and other stakeholders should have measures to regulate the how the process affect the environment. If every process is efficient in environmental conservation and protection, then the whole process will be a success and sustainable. This steps will ensure long life for the process, and the future generation will not be endangered at all. The stakeholders should always work together because the process is a collective one. One part of the process cannot make the process sustainable and thus it should be a collective role. The government should play a role in order to oversee that every stakeholder upheld the environment protection and other sustainability policies for the process to be efficient. The non-governmental organization should play a role in sustainability promotion. In the chocolate manufacturing, the farmers in the tropics are the first players in the process. They should ensure they do not endanger the forest in the search for more land for cocoa farming. They should also use environment-friendly and safe farming method, and this will ensure that they play their part in sustainability promotion. The manufacturer of the chocolate should come up with ways which will use fewer natural resources like firewood and water. This will help in ensuring that there is less disruption of the environment. They should treat their waste before releasing it to the environment, and this will ensure environmental conservation and protection. The government is to set policies which guide these companies in the sustainability motion. Failure to uphold the policies should attract so fines. This will keep the companies on pressure to achieve their goals of sustainability. The users of the product, also, have the responsibility towards sustainability of the product and the process. They should manage the packaging materials of the products. This will ensure the final product meets it purposes without endangering the environment. They should also pass information to the manufacture which they feel will improve the quality of the product. When this is done, this will make sure the whole process is sustainable and efficient. It can, therefore, be concluded that despite the demand, there are repercussions of the consumption of chocolate. In order to save the environment, all parties involved have to initiate and uphold sustainable production. Reference Elliot, S. (2011). Transdisciplinary perspectives on environmental sustainability: a resource base and framework for IT-enabled business transformation. Mis Quarterly, 35(1), 197-236. Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and stakeholder management. Cengage Learning. Welford, R. (Ed.). (2013). Hijacking Environmentalism: Corporate responses to sustainable development. Routledge. Hall, J. K., Daneke, G. A., & Lenox, M. J. (2010). 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