Carbon footprint

Simply operating a business solely on the objective of earning a profit can potentially come back to bite you in the end. There are true cost and risk associated with the way we do business. Some companies operate with the mindset they can do whatever they want right now. "I'll be gone" or "You'll be gone" when the bill comes due (Friedman, 2009). In respect to our future generation that effect Is going to be global climate change. We will begin to see increased health risks, decline in fresh water, rising sea levels, displaced people. Companies will see effects related to agriculture, tourism, and Insurance related costs.

The potential outcome of global climate change can be compared to the collapse of GIG. Alga failed because they discounted to zero the very small, remote risk of simultaneous defaults in their investment or insurance portfolios (Friedman, 2009). The risk in fact was probably less than one percent, perhaps a great deal less - but it happened nonetheless (Friedman, 2009). In this case Alga had the benefit of being bailed out by the government. Our planet is not so lucky and will have to be offset by he way this generation and future generations conduct business.

One way In which a business can strive to become more green is by setting a goal to become carbon neutral by a specified date. This could be added to their Nilsson statement and be clearly defined, measurable, and executable (Adulators, 2011). Evaluation of their strategic planning process is also necessary. In a rapidly changing environment the steps of the planning process can be going on simultaneously. For example the cost and risk of developing a new product have to be evaluated ecologically, competitively, economically, socially, politically, and legally.

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A company in the pursuit of more sustainable products can help benefit the environment and the companies bottom-line. McDonald's in an attempt to address waste management switched to a new wrapper that was less bulky, cheaper, required less energy to produce, and discharged less pollution (Adulators, 2011). This strategy helped reduce waste and pollution while simultaneously lowering McDonald's production costs (Adulators, 2011). Some companies are already operating in a lean state, but are still leaving a carbon ND employee car-pooling can be promoted throughout the organization.

Also companies can reduce their footprint by purchasing carbon offsets. These can be geared toward reforestation, methane digester, or wind farms for example. The fact of the matter is that a change needs to begin now. The consequences of taking no action are fare too great. We can take a page out of Denmark book. They made it a priority in 1985 to focus on energy efficiencies and renewable energy. Sixteen percent of their total energy consumption comes from wind and solar, this reared a whole new export industry (Friedman, 2009).

Today Denmark does not rely at all on energy from the Middle East. A world off sustainable environment is a world of freedom. If climate change and environmental degradation ever get the better of our planet we will have to ration where we live, how we live, and how much we can use (Friedman, 2009). Now is the time to start reducing our carbon footprint. Astronomical Adulators, R (2011). Green Marketing Management. Mason: South-Western Coinage Learning. Friedman, T, L (2009). Hot, Flat, and Crowded. New York: Picador

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