Corporate Green Policy
Businesses globally are slowly moving towards a “green policy” within their operations. The main driver up to this point to do this has been the ethical approach standpoint in recent years.
More business entities are seeing the benefit of a sound environmental policy, as it begins to have an effect on the bottom line. “Green policies” that are managed effectively within an organisation, will show positive operational and margin growth, due to so many inherent factors in the business community that now depend on a positive environmental image and use of sustainable resources and alternate energies.
Ergonomic design of company’s internal office environment is crucial, in creating a healthy environment all round, encompassing all employees, staff and the external immediate environment.
It is also proven that employees function better, when in a well designed ergonomic environment, that is aligned to green policies. The actual manifestation of a green approach varies and can take a number of forms. A good example is the IT and Facilities policy of companies to recycle equipment that has reached the end of its productive life span. This could also include donation projects, where obsolete, yet still functioning equipment, can be donated to lower income communities and potential charity NGO’s who are able to set these up in the relevant areas. This in turn allows for individuals in these areas to learn and have the opportunity to expand their knowledge base through the use of potential IT equipment.
This leads into the point of corporate social responsibility, especially in regions such as Africa and Asia where poverty and underdevelopment is still very high. Corporate’s have the ability to engage in social activities such as sponsorships, education and development programs. This will in turn have a ripple effect, resulting in these communities having greater awareness of the environment they find themselves in as well as the impact their actions has on the long term sustainability of their surrounding environment.
In poorer communities, the environment is often driven to the brink of complete break down, due to natural resources being used extensively for basic living functions. One will for example find that in these areas, deforestation of forests, bush land and all types of sustainable plants and shrubs, results in soil erosion, causing topsoil to be washed away by rains. This is not sustainable due to no further growth being able to take place. Overgrazing by cattle is also a problem in poorer areas.
Companies have such a huge role to play here, as awareness, training, sponsorship and overall community upliftment lies in their hands.
