Why are companies not being pressured into being 'Greener'?

Question

There is a big thing about saving the planet, being 'Green', recycling, using less electricity, reducing pollution, etc at the moment. There is alot of pressure on individuals to do their bit at home but what about companies? Where i work is very wastefull but there doesnt seem to be anyone going on at them about it! They produce alot more waste that could be recycled, for example then i ever could!

I understand the companies side, why they would not want to. Cost, effort....

and i know some companies are doing stuff because it is in their interest.

Its just as an individual im getting it shoved in my face all the time, its everywhere and its effort and cost on my part but i have no choice it.
For example every house has a blue recycle box which the council collect once a fortnight. Which comes out of my council tax but i can't not pay it! As i live in flats i dont even have a box!!!

Answer 1

True to the core! I accept your arguement.

But, we have to see a problem in a maximum number of perspectives before coming to a conclusion.

The industries and factories form the major contributors to the nation's economy, besides agriculture. This becomes a great constraint for the government itself for not imposing more and more restraints on the industries, to make them greener & greener. So, its the companies, who must take up the job of greenifying themselves.

The scientists could contribute by inventing newer & cheaper methods for recycling wastes...!

Answer 2

I think you are sort of generalizing about companies not being green? I'm sure there are many companies out there that practice green measures. Do you have specific companies in mind, that you've researched, that aren't as "green" as you'd like them to be? For instance, I've noticed on all of my cereal boxes, tea boxes, etc. are made of 100% recycled paper board. Isn't that a step in the right direction? Recently a new Walmart was built in my town and it is full of skylights. Sure they have regular lights but use those new eco bulbs that are out. Is that a step in the right direction? I guess you question can't really be answered except for on a company by company basis and if you know how that company is doing green wise!

Answer 3

I think there are some pollution laws out there, companies need to meet a certain emission standard or they can get fined and have to reach a certain standard by a certain date. This is more for factories and stuff though.

Companies just have to realize that they can save money by being green. Buy in bulk when getting office supplies or kitchen supplies. Instead of individual creamers buy a litre. If they are charged for garbage removal then they can reduce their garbage by recycling. If they encourage customers to use reusable bags they save on buying plastic bags and can pass savings on to the customer.

Sometimes investing in green up front is expensive but can pay for itself over a matter of a few years.

Answer 4

Because it's not their responsibility to be "Greener". There are only two social responsiblilities agents in a corporation have.

Maximize shareholder wealth and conduct business honestly (I want to add that by honesty I also mean a firm should follow all laws and regulations as well).

Any other responsiblility comes under these. The only reasons a firm should try to be greener is to gain a competitive advantage in its market (this would increase shareholder wealth).

Typically, reducing waste is good for businesses because you maximize the resources being used or increase the assets effeciency (good for shareholders).

Now if you can reduce the waste at your work by maximizing resource use or increase an assests effeciency then by all means do it. As an agent of the firm it's your responsibility to do it.

Individually it's always your choice but firms shouldn't be forced to be greener. Greener firms should be that way by choice of the agents in the firm to gain an advantage in the market. It's byproduct is a better environment.

Answer 5

a Good question! I feel companies should be restricted with their packaging, although i enjoy recycling and utilise new bins well, so many food products are unnessessarily packaged with plastics etc that regardless of how much we all recycle our rubbish, there remains too much. The companies need to take action and whilst the government resricts what the general public can do all the time it should put it's power to good use for a change!

Answer 6

I work for a company in Halifax and we would all like to recycle and @ do our bit, but there is no easy way of doing it. It costs a fortune! The council don't want to know either. At home i have a huge grey wheelie bin for paper which i struggle to half fill in a month, i could easily fill it every couple of days at work! But if we want a bin for paper it would cost us to hire the bin and then we would be charged every time it is emptied. As a relatively small company, the costs would be really high and it is therefore cheaper to put everything in one big skip and we then pay for it to be emptied and sorted before going to landfill. We know it isn't the best solution but lack of space also means that we would be restricted on what we could recycle anyway. If there is anybody who would like to collect and weigh in recyclable waste, i would give it to them for free!!!

Answer 7

Because the comsumer still does not as a large buying group buy fron the companies that are greener. There is not enough Green preasure for the NZ consumer for the Companies to be made to want to change. As long as they can still sell what they have to us and we will still buy it without asking or looking into them then they WILL not change.

Supply and Demand is what the world what it is and we need to demand better recycling and quality control from the companies so they start being more interested in supplying us Greener Products.

Good luck to us all in encouraging the NZ companies out there in making them look at green business.

Answer 8

Corporate leaders have the primary task of maximizing shareholder (or owner) value. If conservation and green technologies can do that, great. If not, it is not commercially responsible to go green.

Some conservation is very cost effective, but some technologies like photovoltaics have a long way to go.

Note that some corporations, like Timberland, use conservation and renewables as a marketing tool, greatly increasing their value to the company.

Answer 9

Two points, firstly, green habits are, um, habitual. It is only a matter of time before this filters up to the commercial arena.

Secondly, companys are there to make money. sooner or later 'green' principles will increase profit in all sectors of business. Perhaps you could think about ways in which your company could 'go green' and save or make a bit of money, don't sit on it, take it to your boss.

Answer 10

They are pressured into being green, as a supermarket worker, I know that our carrier bags are one of our biggest problems, not only do we collect plastic bags for our customers to recyle in store, we encourage other recycling theres recyle centre on our car park, and we have a zero waste target because we sell our loaves at 10p and 5p instead of throwing them out and we always recycle our cardboard and plastic.