Environmental Responsibility of businesses
Written By Mrs Hilton
2011
– Say what you see.
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see - pollution
1) Ask your group – what do you see on this card?
2) What kinds of pollution are there, and can you give an example?

Air pollution - from cars and power stations

Chemical substances – discharge of industrial waste into rivers

Noise – roads, rail, aircraft

Visual pollution – power lines and pylons in fields
3) Why is pollution so bad?
a. Heart disease and respiratory diseases (asthma)
b. Air pollution = more co2 = greenhouse gas = global warming
c. Noise pollution can cause sleep deprivation, tinnitus, memory loss and
high blood pressure
4) What opportunities are there in business to reduce pollution? E.g. what can
businesses do that is positive?
a. Ask staff to car share or use public transport, or work from home
b. Use energy efficient machinery
c. Innovate to produce quieter and less polluting products ....Persil (see
picture)
Opportunity example: Unilever makes Persil
small and mighty which uses less packaging – and
has reduced waste per bottle by half, halved the
number of trucks required to transport it and
reduced greenhouse gas emissions per wash
compared to powder detergent.
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see.
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see – child labour
1) Ask your group – what do you see on this card?
a. Child labourers
b. Small children sewing garments or picking cotton
Now tell the group that these children are making clothes to sell in
2) Question – does
Primark.
Primark have a responsibility to make sure that no
children are used in the supply chain? What opinions do the group have?
3) Should customers boycott the shops that sell garments made by children?
Would this stop them from buying at Primark?
4) What if they knew that the children were paid 60p a day, were the only
workers in their family and the money fed the whole family, what then – is it
still OK?
5) Q. What opportunities are there for business?
a. Answer: Retailers can gain loyal customers by trading ethically and
ensuring there is no child labour in their supply chain. E.g. Body shop
Example garment where the sequins have been
sewn on by children
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see.
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see – deforestation
1) Ask your group – what do you see on this card?
a. Rain Forrest destroyed
b. Trees cut down and not replaced
2) What are the impacts of deforestation?
a. Habitat fragmentation. This disturbs the animals' habitat and may force
them to enter habitats which are already occupied.
b. Soil erosion occurs when trees and plants are removed; the rain water
washes the nutrients in the top soil away.
c. Desertification (dry, hot, arid conditions).
d. Climate change (more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere,
thus increasing the effects of global warming).
3) Why does deforestation happen?
Worldwide demand for wood, paper, land and palm oil
4) What responsibility does business have to stop it? What does your group
think?
5) What opportunities are there for business to use more renewable sources?
a. Recycling – save money
b. Reduce unnecessary packaging – saves money
c. Use sustainable resources – where one tree is planted for every tree cut
down. Planting projects can bring important economic benefits and work
to remote areas.
Nestle uses a lot of palm oil in making KitKat
– this is deforesting parts of Indonesia
which is destroying the habitat of the OranU-Tang.
Picture above is greenpeace’s campaign
against this deforestation.
Nestlé is the largest food and drinks
company in the world, and already a major
consumer of palm oil - the last three years
have seen Nestlé's use of palm oil almost
double. Perhaps considering its size and
influence, it should be setting an example
for the industry and ensuring its palm oil is
destruction free
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see.
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see – waste
1) Ask your group – what do you see on this card?
a. Large amounts of waste, landfill, computers in a dump
2) Why is waste a problem for the environment?
a. Emissions (gasses coming off the waste) from landfill are a big
contributor to global warming
b.
The majority of business waste goes to Landfill site. Each day on average 20 forty tonne trucks
take our rubbish to Landfill site this can be a 100 mile round trip in some places. This is a
considerable environmental impact.
Dealing with our rubbish by landfill is not an ideal solution. Many landfill sites are nearly full and
we are rapidly running out of suitable land, close to where the rubbish is produced, for new sites
Most importantly, when we bury or burn our rubbish we are losing valuable natural resources, the
energy and the time which have been used to make the product. The vast majority of these
resources cannot be replaced. If we carry on indefinitely we would run out of these resources.
This also creates additional environmental impacts associated with the extracting of the new
resources, its manufacture and distribution of those goods.
3) Does business have a responsibility to reduce the amount of waste that it
creates? What does your group think?
4) What opportunities are there for business if they reduce their waste?
This is the advice on waste management
from the Government’s Business advice
website – Business link:
Customers, employees and potential
investors are all becoming more aware of
environmental responsibility and failure to
take action could affect your business'
reputation and profitability.
Businesses now face rising energy and
waste disposal costs, increased legal
obligations and higher stakeholder
expectations. In some industries, producers
now have legal responsibility for the
disposal of their products, not just their
creation. Adopting a waste strategy means
that you will be better prepared for any
new legislation.
The penalties for failing to manage
environmental risks properly can also be
substantial. You could experience damage
to your reputation, disruption to your
business, or you could be prosecuted or
fined.
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see.
Environmental Responsibility of businesses
– Say what you see - overfishing
1) Ask your group what do they see on this card?
a. Large catches of fish, sharks caught in fish nets, hundreds of trawlers
2) What’s the problem with overfishing?
a. Catching too many fish; fishing so much that the fish cannot sustain
their population. The fish get fewer and fewer, until finally there are
none to catch.
b. Has an effect on the rest of the food chain that depends on fish for
food, like seals, penguins, whales and sharks.
c. Fisheries collapse leading to losses in jobs
3) Does business have a responsibility to reduce the amount it fishes, or fish
responsibly or is it down to customers to change their dinner choice?
(Demand push)
4) What are the opportunities for business if it fishes responsibly?
a. Good reputation with customers who have more information thanks o
the Internet.
b. Creates a long term fish stock that will still be there in 50 years time –
preserving the survival of many fishing industry trades.
This is the Greenpeace’s league of worst
offenders for overfishing of Tuna.
Sainsbury’s are caught using pole and line
meaning other creatures such as turtles
and dolphins are not caught in their nets.
John West is the worst because the tins
don’t tell you how the tuna was caught or
even what sort of tuna it is.