The year is 2018 and companies all across the world are looking to live and do business more sustainably.
With newer movies like Wall-E, Happy Feet, Avatar and Over the Hedge showing on film the dangers that our consumerism can impose on the Earth and the environment around us, it’s no wonder that consumers are beginning to ask more of their business operations and governments regarding recycling.
However, it’s not just recycling at the forefront of consumers’ minds; many are looking broadly at a range of conservation efforts and asking their governments to help them achieve a more sustainable way of living.
Even in our own state, Memphis officials have considered adding a tax to plastic, single-use grocery bags, in order to cut back on waste, according to the Commercial Appeal.
With all of these changes around us and hundreds of viral videos depicting injured turtles, entire countries that live sustainably and the horrors of production pollution, it might be time to take note of and commend the companies who are making the extra effort to show how much they love planet Earth by their green practices.
Forbes ranks Estee Lauder, Intel, Texas Instruments, Eaton and Acccenture as the top five best companies for recycling. They recycle more than 85 percent of their waste and hold certifications acknowledging their sustainability efforts.
Being a green company is not simply part of being a good corporate citizen; it directly affects the world around the company, the consumers and the overall ability of the company to continue business into the future. In other words, recycling or green living should be a necessity for good business.
Looking at a few other big businesses who love planet Earth, it’s nearly impossible to ignore box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, which, though specializing in large-quantity production, do not offer plastic, single-use bags at all. In the same category, we find local stores like Ruler Foods and Aldi, which charge customers for their bags. This practice, though not necessarily established for the green side of mind, still gets purchasers to consider how they are shopping and what practices could change within their daily walk.
Kroger Company announced in August that by the year 2025 they will phase out all single-use, plastic grocery bags among all of their stores, including Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Food 4 Less, Pick ‘n Save and more. This comes following numbers released by the Environmental Protection Agency that show the U.S. as using over 380 billion plastic bags per year, a number that requires over 12 million barrels of oil to create. That number, when compared to the plastic usage of the entire world, is staggering.
When thinking about living more sustainably it’s easy to say that the lifestyle is inconvenient. Maybe it is; I know several of my friends sure think so. But it’s the small changes in your lifestyle that can make all the difference.
During my junior year at UTM, I decided that I wanted to cut down on the number of plastic bags I use, so I started keeping free tote bags and reusable grocery bags in the front seat of my car. By keeping them in my front seat, I usually don’t forget them, and they help me cut back on plastic use. I already had these bags lying around my house anyway and was able to give several to my roommates, too.
Just as sustainability changes are coming to Kroger, processes are in the works for McDonald’s consumer waste products as well. McDonald’s has released, on its corporate website, that the company is working to swap consumer packaging products to more easily recyclable materials, and that it hopes to have recycling bins in every location by the end of 2025.
These steps may seem small, but if we can reduce waste by even 1 ton per year, then we are doing something that counts as a step in the right direction.
Change begins on the smallest levels. Have you ever asked the department chairs in your college how much of their waste is recycled? Have you ever noticed how many non-recyclable materials end up in the recycling bins on campus? Do we know for certain that the contents of the blue bins on campus are actually recycled, or are they just combined with waste?
Start asking questions of the authority figures in your world. Ask for more of your companies. Remember that there is only this one Earth here for us; we sure don’t want to end up with a future where Wall-E has to try to save our planet.
Photo Credit / Wikimedia Commons
