Green Office: It is more than having a recycle bin

In an effort to more socially responsible, corporations are adopting ways to be more resource efficient. If a company wants to reduce their carbon footprint, then time should be spent in developing a green strategy. According to Olson, a green strategy “fundamentally helps an enterprise make decisions that have a positive impact on the environment.”[1]

 

Therefore, in developing a green strategy is much more than having a recycle bin; it involves creating a corporate culture and awareness this in turn would facilitates how business decisions are made and as result will beneficial to the bottom line.[2]

 

Building the green corporate culture is critical because without the commitment of the employees a company’s green strategy will only be a superficial maneuver. Employees could be taught conservationist practices as well as take part in activities that has a direct impact in the communities. For instance, employees volunteer to help pick up garage in residential areas and or parks.

 

By having a conservationist corporate culture, this would directly impact on how business decisions are made. For instance, companies how develop products and services that have an environmental impact. For example, in 2007, GE Money introduced their Earth Rewards Credit Card, where a portion of your net purchases go towards investing in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

For corporations to have significant environmental impact and to truly be socially responsible then they must spend the time developing and planning an all encompassing green strategy because a recycling bin in the printer room is not enough.

[1] Olson, Eric (2008) Creating an enterprise-level ‘‘green’’ strategy  Journal Of Business Strategy  vol. 29 (2) pg. 22

[2] Ibid. pg 23

The Green Façade

It is undeniable that environmental conservation practises are appearing on corporate business agendas and plans; however, are corporations’ really embracing green practices or is it just a façade? For instance, corporations may create and promote reusable shopping bags but does that make them green? It makes one wonder if corporations are just superficially embracing environmentalism only to increase their bottom line.

 

A company could create environmentally friendly products; however, is this new found sense of conservationism carried throughout all areas of the company? If corporations want to genuinely decrease their ecological footprint, then conservation practices should be implemented in all areas within the company and not just within their product line.