Sustainability and Business

Sustainability is more than a description of actions. It is a lifestyle, social movement, and the mother of all business opportunities, according to the documentary "So right So Smart." The world's businesses and industries have a chance to lead the way in positive lifestyle changes like they have never had before. The economic models have to change because if human life becomes unsustainable, businesses will undoubtedly see a decline in consumers' need for goods and services. These three areas could impact the much-needed global changes in the industry, social awareness, and Government policies. There is no clear-cut answer to achieve the needed level of change in the world today, and all three of the key points need to be addressed, with a focus on the United States.

Businesses operate to maximize profits for their shareholders, which is done by providing goods or services in exchange for money. There are several ways companies could change how they operate to lessen the environmental impact. They could change pay scales to retain employees while lowering operation hours by one day a week and reducing the number of people traveling one day a week, plus saving on operations cost for the one day. Much like Sweden has done earlier this week. They could lease the function of their products instead of selling the product for profit to the consumer and retain all rights to the precious metals inside the product. The most common approach to modern business is to work with resource management and close the loop by reducing waste during production and transportation. Some companies are investing in renewable energies like wind and solar to reduce production costs and environmental impacts. These businesses and industries implementing the right policies can help social change through different practices in the business environment. These should carry over to employees' personal lives, at least in the United States, due to the amount of time they spend on the job.

Social change is more difficult in the United States because so many in the public and the Government policy makes do not entirely buy into the idea of climate change. Even with this doubt, there are ways to get people on board with the concept of overcoming climate change, and one way is to constantly bomb bard them with the information. Start a publicity campaign by picking a poster boy for the cause, let's say, for the sake of argument Leonardo DiCaprio. Then link a symbol to the grounds, like a picture of the Earth, with a simple phrase like "my life matters" written around it, and connect the information to a website. Then have him or the picture everywhere, like milk cartons, beer cans, TV ads, billboards, cameos in movies, or even backgrounds in video games, almost like the old Uncle Sam posters in WWII. Then develop a phone app where people can track climate change and highlight companies that are changing policies to give them some publicity or even possibly boycott the companies that are anti-productive to the cause. Even though some companies have been making progress in their policies, there seems to be a great deal lacking in the publicity department. Increasing public awareness is an essential strategy to get the general public to voice their desire for change and to get the politicians and Governments moving on policies that can facilitate the needed changes to shift the current trends in climate change.       

Governmental policies are put into place by publicly elected officials, who represent the wishes of the general public, or at least that was the intent. Elected officials have been doing what they want for some time now, and this will not change until the general public makes enough noise to get their attention. This can vary by implementing policies like term limits on elected officials in the Senate and Congress or more substantial constraints that hold every elected official accountable for their decisions. A balanced Government can create policies and pass laws like the carbon tax, or they could take them a step further and support the leasing of product ideas by only allowing companies right's to a limited amount of precious metals. The companies are not allowed any more precious metals than the allotment, and if these metals are not managed well, the company runs out of materials and is out of business. The focus on the United States is due to the enormous amount of resources wasted in their current production policies, and overcoming climate will take a lifestyle change.

      A lifestyle change will come from the mixture of all three points business, social awareness, and Government policies. The good news in the climate change scenario is the openness to the possibilities in innovation on all levels. Plenty of technology can aid in achieving the needed goals from energy production, transportation, building efficiency, and food production to provide the lifestyle change required to overcome the effects of climate change. The negatives of the newer technology can be cleaned up through higher levels of production coupled with research and development. This makes it essential to get the right policies in place and the general public's support to drive the needed changes in all forms of business and industry.