Today our environment is degrading rapidly and profusely due to urbanization, industrialization, agriculture and the extensive use of resources. Water resources like the rivers and ground water are polluted to a large extent mainly because of sewage outflows & waste. The air is extremely polluted because of hazardous gas emissions that occur due to various industrial processes. Pollution rate has risen beyond the manageable capacity of nature. Land that is eroded and robbed of its fertility is at an alarming 50%. Renewable & non-renewable resources are used extensively, leaving no room for the development of these resources in a way in which everyone is going to benefit from them. People who have the power to utilize these resources exploit it, not keeping in mind that there are limited resources in the economy and we need to leave some of it for our future generations also. Due to the ever increasing population and the pressure that comes with it, our resources are getting depleted to a large extent.
Therefore “Greening” the environment is the need of the hour. Even though we face environment degradation, a lot of organizations, NGO’s and individuals themselves are doing their bit to preserve the environment and are leaving no stone unturned to conserve the environment. Greening the environment or environment conservation as it is also called is at its peak now, since many organizations perform green activities in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Meeting the needs of present generations without compromising on the needs of future generations is the fulcrum of sustainable businesses.
It is heartening to see how businesses are doing their little bit to preserve the environment and give back to society. I was speaking to the General Manager of a well-known company and he told me about the initiatives that HR as a function was taking to reduce carbon footprints across the globe. Lot of companies are resorting to meetings through video conferencing to avoid the fuel cost of flying delegates across. Companies are encouraging ‘Car Pooling’ where employees travelling through the same routes are asked to travel together to avoid air pollution. Corporates are conducting training programmes for their employees specifically to sensitize them to the environment. I came across a college in India which is using solar panels to generate electricity for the library and computer centres.
Looking forward to come across more innovative ways businesses are adopting to reduce their carbon footprints.
Comments
* might have been 7%, it was a while ago I read this!
My employer makes a lot of effort to limit its impact on the environment. For example I know that the company has managed to reduce the fuel consumption of its wagons significantly and recycles a large part of its waste materials. However I wonder what difference we can hope to make when we source many of our goods from places like China and India, who are by far the biggest polluters. I think my numbers are a little out of date now, but I read that Europe as a whole creates only 0.7% of the worlds CO2 emissions. Surely the biggest impact we can have on this issue as businesses and customers is to source locally?
Interesting post Neelam thanks for sharing.
There is great emphasis on reducing costs currently as belts are tightened and budgets cuts. Individuals, teams and organisations need to re-learn how to work as travel is the first to go when budgets are tightened. Whilst face to face meetings add value do we really need people in the same room to work effectively together, with today's technology I would argue not. I do appreciate being a green business is more than holding a few virtual meetings but it's a start.
Can anyone share any other example of green business and HR leading the way?