Strategies That Global Solutions Can Employ in Order to Go Green
Introduction
Background
Companies rank as the most important sources of environmental pollutants in most places. Some manufacturing and processing companies directly emit noxious gasses into the atmosphere; liquid and semi-solid waste into water sources and solid wastes onto land, causing land and soil pollution (Kronrod, Grinstein, & Wathieu, 2012). Even those companies that do not manufacture or process goods for example Global Solutions are still on the forefront of causing environmental pollution. Waste paper is the chief pollutant that such companies emit into the environment. As Spoon, Hobolt, and Vries (2014) argue, most types of paper are non-biodegradable; those which are biodegradable undergo biodegradation extremely slowly, hence, fostering build-up of waste paper in the environment. Waste paper is an important soil, land, and air pollutant via fumes that are emitted when burning paper (Spoon, Hobolt, & Vries, 2014).
Environmental pollution eventually disrupts the ecosystem thus leading to the destruction of plants. Use of non-environment friendly machines is the other way in which companies like Global Solutions foster environmental pollution. These machines emit gaseous and solid wastes that can be toxic to the environment (Spoon, Hobolt, & Vries, 2014). Continued use of disposable gadgets and accessories eventually fosters pollution. Moreover, not being keen on recycling of products worsens environmental pollution that comes with use of disposable gadgets and accessories (Spoon, Hobolt, & Vries, 2014). In order to encourage thriving of the ecosystem and a green environment, companies need to control environmental pollution.
The concept of greening and green companies is a relatively old concept having been conceived for the first time in America in early twentieth century. Over the years, a lot of research has been done on the same and numerous papers written. Ofreneo (2012) identifies the environmental challenges that the Philippines has faced due to industrialization. The author sets the basis for discussing the need for the Philippines to join the green revolution. Ofreneo proposes the renewal of environment and the complete overhaul of development strategies so as to enable the green revolution (2012).
In their paper, Dangelico and Pujari (2010) identify the three key environmental dimensions of green revolution: energy minimization, pollution prevention, and material reduction. The paper also provides good insights into the implications of the green revolution for academia and the companies’ top management in the study’s locations, which included Canada and Italy.
Being green fosters numerous public and cooperate benefits. Green revolution can help companies utilize resources better and have a competitive advantage especially by having their products eco-labelled (Orsato, 2006). There are many competitive environmental strategies whose utility varies for various companies. As, Albino, Balice and Dangelico (2009) suggest, green processing and product development are important ways of achieving a green economy. Thus understanding the need to increase initiatives to help protect the environment should b the focus of all organizations.
Statement of Purpose
Thus, this research proposes a plan, which Global Solutions can use to reduce their carbon footprint and, thus, contribute to thriving of a green environment. This proposal will include the proposed solutions and the environmental and economic benefits of each of the proposed strategies.
Sources and Methodology
The method for this research will include the collection of relevant data from secondary sources and in-depth analysis of this data. The use of secondary data is useful in this case as many researchers have already done extensive research on environmental protection and its inherent solutions. The researcher focuses on the use of keywords such as green solution, recycling, environmental pollution, global warming, and greening. The researcher focuses on credible sources including books, journals, and government publications as key sources for this research.
Report Organization
This report will discuss the various strategies that can be employed by Global Solutions to ensure a green economy. The main strategies that are proposed are the use of paperless documents, use of environmentally friendly machines, recycling of various substances, and natural lighting.
Discussion
Solutions and Benefits
Use of paperless documents. The daily running of any given company includes numerous communication and interactions between departments and between individuals. For these communications and interactions to be effected, numerous printed paper documents are utilized. Moreover, paper documents can also be used for communicating with customers and the general public. Among the most frequently used paper documents in any company are invoices, statements, quotes, and W-9 forms (Singhal, 2014).
Global Solutions must take different initiatives to ensure that they use as little paper as possible. First, use of data management software with online backup could reduce the need to print and file documents (Singhal, 2014). Second, adjustment of software settings to make printing more rigorous could be helpful. Having employees who are competent in the creation of PDF documents rather than printing can also aid in this. Moreover, default printer settings such as double-sided printing will not only reduce the amount of paper used but also the amount of printer ink used (Singhal, 2014). Thirdly, computer settings can be adjusted to ensure that all staff finds reading on computer screens comfortable hence eliminating the need for printing. Fourth, processing of orders, invoices, and statements electronically and online banking can help the company reduce paper flow from vendors, banks, and customers (Singhal, 2014).
Apart from the obvious reason that reduce paper output by a company will reduce environmental pollution and destruction, minimizing paper output has several other advantages. First, paperless documents do not cost a dime hence helping the company to save (Huish, 2009). Secondly, use of paperless documents can help in giving a product a competitive advantage.
Recycling. There are many things that a company can recycle – the most notable of these being paper, plastic, and polythene. Recycling strategies will involve the collection of the materials to be recycled and handing them to a company which is able to recycle them (Albino, Balice, & Dangelico, 2012). Recycling has many benefits. First, it removes non-biodegradable materials from the environment hence reducing pollution and contributing to green revolution (Huish, 2009). Secondly, recycling is cost effective. It reduces the need for the company to purchase new goods (Walker, 2010). Collected material can also be sold to recycling companies as their raw materials. Recycling will essentially cost the company nothing at all unless the company does the recycling by themselves.
Natural lighting. Natural lighting can help a company to reduce their energy consumption hence the utilization of fossil fuels (Walker, 2010). For a company to make good utility of natural light, they need to have a building with a good architecture that can allow a good amount of light to penetrate in. This method can be costly at first in terms of building structures with a rather complex architecture that will allow penetration of natural light. However, the saved due to reduced use of energy makes the strategy cost-effective.
Use of environment-friendly machines. Environment-friendly machines include all machines that can be utilized in a company that tends to consume less energy and emit less environmentally hazardous wastes (Huish, 2009). The most efficient way of reducing environmental pollution by use of environment-friendly machines is the use of hybrid vehicles for delivery and sales. Telecommuting is the other way.
Apart from reducing the noxious substances that these machines could release into the environment, the machines are also cost-friendly (Walker, 2010). Telecommuting will obviously reduce the amount of cash used for fueling transport means and the time required for staff to commute from their places of residence to their place of work. Energy effective machines also reduce the need for use of fossil fuels hence reducing pollution.
Figure 1: Feed-in Price Versus Electricity Marketing Price (Source: UNEP 2016, http://www.unep.org/environmentalgovernance/Portals/8/publications/UN-Environment-Guide.pdf)
Cost
The table below is a summary of the costs versus benefits of owning a 2013 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid over a usual Mercedes Benz:
Table1
Costs Versus Benefits of Owning a 2013 Mercedes Benz S400 Hybrid over a Usual Mercedes
| MERCEDEZ BENZ HYBRID | USUAL MERCEDEZ BENZ | |
| Price of Purchasing | $2650 more | Usual price of Mercedes |
| Insurance | Discounted premiums | Normal premiums |
| Repair and Batteries | Parts available at favorable costs | Parts available at favorable costs |
| Fuel utilization | 45 mpg in all roads | 35 or less mpg in all roads |
From Table 1, it is clearly evident that using hybrid vehicles is very cost-effective. In terms of cost, it might be costly to purchase this kind of machines at first. However, considering their numerous benefits and their ability to cut down on the cost of running a company in the long-term, they are worth purchasing.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, the go green initiative will greatly enhance office performance and greatly improve the working environment for our staff. Most importantly, the go green initiative will see us contribute to the conservation of environment apart from helping us run a cost-effective company. I would recommend the strategies proposed above to the management. The strategies have been utilized and proved elsewhere, it is time Global Solutions tried them.
References
Albino, V., Balice, A., & Dangelico, R. M. (2009). Environmental strategies and green product development: an overview on sustainability‐driven companies. Business Strategy and the Environment, 18(2), 83-96.
Dangelico, R. M., & Pujari, D. (2010). Mainstreaming green product innovation: Why and how companies integrate environmental sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(3), 471-486.
Huish, K. H., & American Society for Training and Development. (2009). Lead the green evolution. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development.
Kronrod, A., Grinstein, A., & Wathieu, L. (2012). Go green! Should environmental messages be so assertive? Journal of Marketing, 76(1), 95-102.
Ofreneo, R. E. (2012). Towards an inclusive, sustainable and green Philippine economy. Economy of Tomorrow. 1-41. Retrieved from http://www.fes-asia.org/media/publication/2012_TowardsAnInclusiveSustainableAndGreenPhilippineEconomy_FES-EoT_Study_Ofreneo.pdf
Orsato, R. J. (2006). Competitive environmental strategies: when does it pay to be green? California management review, 48(2), 127-143.
Singhal, K. (2014). Green banking: An overview. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2(6), 196-200.
Spoon, J. J., Hobolt, S. B., & Vries, C. E. (2014). Going green: Explaining issue competition on the environment. European Journal of Political Research, 53(2), 363-380.
Walker, L. (2010). Choosing a sustainable future: Ideas and inspiration from Ithaca, NY. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
