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“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We merely borrow it from out children.” - Native Indian saying The resources available on our planet are finite and our need for them, infinite. Today, in spite of scattered attempts at sustainability, we continue to by and large use what’s left of the earth’s natural resources as if there was no tomorrow. The most intelligent minds in the world are engaged in engineers, producing and selling products and services in our increasingly globalised world, forgetting that the ‘globe’ represented in this word is in dire need of rehabilitation. Today, the climate change crisis and the looming issue of good, safe usable water coupled with our unsustainable city life is posing one of the largest problems to our continued take-and-not-give policy with the earth. Recent research has shown that among the top 100 entities the world over, 51 are corporations. If we are to meet the needs of humanity while taking care of the needs of the planet that serves it, it is clear that corporations need to lead the way with sustainable initiatives. Here are four simple sustainable initiatives that corporations can promote and work on, to enable a world that goes beyond supply and demand, to incorporate lasting sustainability. Ecologically, a corporation needs to minimize its internal footprint on waste, water and energy. Businesses will have to rapidly reinvent themselves to increase efficiency and reduce their dependence on limited natural resources. Recycling water by using sewage treatment plants for landscaping and sanitization, launching biodiversity programs and aiming to convert their campuses into biodiversity zones and reliable rainwater harvesting are great ways to get started on the road to ecological responsibility. Responsible workplace initiatives like promoting employee diversity and facilitating continuous learning and growth opportunities will go a long way in reducing social inequity in the workplace. Several businesses are already shifting their focus to employing a greater percentage of women and non-natives in their workforce along with encouraging the employment of people with disabilities, in order to have a more inclusive structure. Businesses need to enable customer stewardship by providing products and services that allow them to become greener. Businesses will need to increasingly create products and services that are energy efficient and that enable greenhouse gas reductions. Striving towards a paperless office, water and energy management and the establishment of sustainability advisory are great ways of leading by example. Collaborating with suppliers to help them become more sustainable is another way to engage with a more inclusive sustainability program. For starters, it is best to follow a business policy of working only with ethical, ecological, responsible and local suppliers. A company should expect its suppliers to adhere to similar ethics and standards as it does, in order to collaborate with the most ideal partners. Suppliers should at least meet the same environmental standards and strive towards a similar program of ecological sustainability. A business should strive to work with suppliers who have the same principles with regard to human rights, employee welfare, health and safety, minimum wages and maximum working hours. Finally encouraging local supplier not only enables the setting of higher standards for a local community, it also plays a big role in reducing a company’s carbon footprint. Albert Einstein famously said, "We cannot solve problems with the same level of thinking that created them". If we can remove the cliché-value attached to the term “thinking big” and actually take these sustainability initiatives, the globe and the global economy will improve hand-in-hand. Get more information on: Sustainability Initiatives & Sustainable Healthcare
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