The Sustainability of the Environment - Essay Example

The Sustainability of the Environment The sustainability of the environment is a liability which ought to be shared not only by those who utilize the natural resources for raw materials but also of the consumers and product end users alike. While it is logical to point that the use if these natural resources is taken up much by the manufacturing industry, the law on supply and demand dictates that the uptake of these raw materials does not cease until profitability restrains the company to pursue its operation. However, for as long as the need for these products is present, manufacturing remains and the cycle goes on and can only be disrupted or halted once the end users deny this product’s consumption, mitigating the abuse toward the environment. The paradigm whereby the natural environment is the fundamental transforming force of a business advocates re-conceptualization strategies fostering effective management as the core element of sustainability. In that if a business effectively manages ecological sustainability by balancing the aspect of input versus the output, the degradation of such resource is thus prevented ensuring ample availability (Sharma, 2003). This is very same paradigm that encapsulates most vision mission statement of companies like 3M Among the vast programs of 3M that is paralleled to the promotion and restoration of the environment, focuses on the proliferation of clean air and water, minimization of solid waste through recycling as well as the reduction of green house gas and other volatile organic air emissions. Through ECO efficiency, 3M’s sustainability development is carried out thereby proving credibility of their goal in meeting current needs of the customers today while respecting the ability of the future generation to meet theirs1. Employing various strategic program to eliminate the further degradation of the environment consequential to their use, 3M advanced their environmental sustainability program through Environment Management System and the very famous 3P, where by among the salient result appreciated so much by the US government is the strong energy consumption owing to the reduce emission of air pollutants as categorized as Toxic Release under TRI category by EPA2. Similarly, these programs are also being practiced by 3M’s competitor Johnson and Johnson, whereby along with all the other programs implemented by both companies, whereby their most strategic method of insuring compliance to government regulations is obtaining ISO certification 14001. However, J&J expounded their Energy Efficiency program by specifically conquering almost every inexhaustible means of reducing consumption, among which includes solar, biomass and geothermal power source. They also intensified their water management system by ensuring a cooling tower water treatment system that effectively decreases waste water discharge3. Considerably though, both companies have extended quite a handful of community support project wherein they help foster and enhance wildlife and preserve biodiversity. This is done through affiliations with several non government agencies aimed at promoting better future for the generation by taking a more active role. As a consumer and a citizen myself, I see these programs as beneficial and effective, but I cannot deny an opinion that these programs are seemingly too superficial in the sense that these programs does not actuality address the very core of the issue-which is environmental exploitation. In as much as I see these projects as ideal and corporately driven, financially allocated sincere move to address a potentially severe dilemma, it is never a far fetched idea that this could be another angle of marketing strategy, in a way that will make their position in the market admirable and less likely to cause harm to the end users. Surprisingly enough, we see there vision mission statement as congruent to what they are doing to the environment in respect to the products they create. We can not also discount the fact that because they have been in the market for quite sometime, the effect that they have contributed to the environment long before these projects were conceived could have been the very foundation of their intent in restoring the very source of their raw materials, call it guilt perhaps but nevertheless, these programs being there is better than none at all. In conclusion, I think what these companies are trying to achieve is minimizing their risk at an early stage. By submitting to a standardized program called ISO14001, there are gearing themselves up for a step higher than the other manufacturers who are yet to prove competence in their respective category. They could have just allocated a more profound financial support aimed at educating or creating innovative means of reusing the by-products. By creating and implementing the environment management program, they convey the message to their consumer that they not only care for revenue, but with everybody’s future as well. It may be difficult to believe that they have complied and passed all the parameters that the EPA indicated, since the data reflected in their website could be bias. We can only gauge the effectiveness of this programs once proven that each and every product of these companies will not be publish in a magazine and branded as toxic or hazardous, but is this all? I can not help but infer on the iota that while the environment is continuously used and utilized for the production of items or services commercially available, there will still be the unending question of, “when will this cycle end?”. With this said, I do not imply the termination of patronage to those product that continuously utilizes our natural resources as raw materials, direct or indirect. I am simply endorsing the schema of equally taking an active role in respect with recycling or waste segregation. Even in less sublime ways, we can simply be heroes to our future generation. Works Cited Sharma, S. and Starik, M. Research in Corporate Sustainability: The Evolving Theory and Practice of Organizations in the Natural Environment. UK: Elgar Publishing. 2003 The 3M USA Home Page 2006. Sustainability. Site Accessed on: 27 Apr. 2006. The Johnson and Johnson. Home Page 15 Mar. 2005. Environment. Site Accessed on: 27 Apr. 2006. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Home Page 27 Apr. 2006. Industry Partnership. Site Accessed on: 27 Apr. 2006. Read More