Environmental Issues Faced by Business and Society - Term Paper Example

The paper "Environmental Issues Faced by Business and Society" is a brilliant example of a term paper on environmental studies. Businesses do not operate in isolation. Secure interaction with the environment is one of the key responsibilities of businesses. By violating the environmental laws and ethical implications, many businesses have experienced a slump in their sales and profits. Therefore, nowadays, almost every other company is involved in safe interaction with the environment. As a result of increased industrialization, there are innumerable environmental issues that businesses and societies have to encounter with. Some of them include waste management, emissions, sustainable utilization and development of raw material.

As per the Canadian Environmental Grantmaker’s Network, there are several urban environmental issues persist in almost every other country. Some major of these include transportation dependency, infrastructure deficit, air quality, drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater, energy, and climate change, solid waste and consumption, etc (Tomalty, 2005). Some of the most widely known issues are discussed in the subsequent sections of this paper.

Waste and Waste Management

Businesses operating as a manufacturing concern always create waste. Good environmental citizenship and environmental laws oblige the unsystematic dumping of byproducts resulting in the manufacturing process. Therefore, business owners have to fix how to dispense with it in a better way. Many businesses nowadays have started recycling programs so as to effectively utilize the waste products. Others sell the waste to other manufacturers who utilize it in their own production process as raw material.

Emissions

Manufacturing entities often release harmful and toxic chemicals or air/water as a result of production processes. These byproducts need to be handled and disposed of very carefully in order to avoid any unpleasant situation or harm to the environment. Environment protection laws oblige the business entities to protect the environment from getting exposed to these harmful emissions. The businesses are using several approaches so as to deal with the issue of emissions in a socially responsible manner. For this purpose, businesses are now using remedial processes such as filtering wastewater, placing screens on the gauges releasing smoke, lining the ponds retention with poly liners and clay. These measures usually result as costly for businesses that is why those businesses which want to reduce their cost avoid spending on these expenditures. It must be borne in mind that these expenditures must be made a vital part of every business because a lack of proper handling of toxic chemicals can cause loss of precious life as well as time and money. It can also hamper the reputation of the company.   

Strategies of Businesses and NGOs for dealing with Environmental Issues

Municipal and Federal regulatory bodies are co-operating with the business entities in order to suggest them with the possible approaches which can be implemented to overcome these issues.

1. Going Green Approach

To a certain extent, many companies have now commenced the concept of ‘going green’. Some of them include BP, Panasonic, Coca-cola, Toyota, etc. when these giant companies convey the message of going green, it not only encourages their competitors but also small companies to start adopting this concept which leads to more and more companies joining this campaign.        

2. Environmental Friendly Products

Apart from the going green strategies, companies are also utilizing the approach of producing and selling those products which are environmentally friendly, also called as eco-friendly products. By this, environmentally concerned consumers get inspired and purchase the products from such companies. Some examples of such products include green towel and tissues, reusable or recyclable products, energy start dishwasher, eco-friendly glass, and metal cleaners, etc.