5/6/2016
BUS213
Blog 1
The Green Choice:
Decision Making Based on Sustainability
Today we live in the ‘Information
Age’; data is more accessible than ever.
Yet, this does not necessarily guarantee better informed decision-making
results by people, companies, or government agencies. Society is rapidly developing better tools to
store, analyze, and publish the available data; in particular we are gaining a
better understanding of the state of the man-made and natural world around us
known more broadly as the ‘environment’.
There exists a connection between public health, the health of the
environment, and future of the global climate trends, to the choices we make as
individual consumers. In the past,
consumers highly valued price and performance when purchasing office supplies now
more consumers are choosing to incorporate a product’s environmental impact or
footprint into their decision making equation now than ever before. Environmental variables, such as ability for
the product to be recycled, contained recycled content, chemical content, deforestation
or otherwise conservation status, amount of pollution generated, impact on
local wildlife, and many other variables are increasing highly valued by most
consumers. There arises an issue when
the producer does not provide this information or provides false or misleading
information. An example of an
application of environmental decision making can be found in the relationship
between a business and the office supplies purchased by their employees. Chatham University uses many office supplies
but purchases them all from one place, Office Depot. Therefore if Office Depot is able to provide information
on the sustainability of its products then Chatham University will be able to
make better informed decisions.
Managing the environmental
footprint of office supplies purchased is a relatively easy way to achieve
greater sustainability goals for the school.
Potential sustainability criteria could be the source of the raw
materials such as the trees from which the paper purchased is derived from,
were the trees sustainably harvested? As
well as the manufacturing process of the paper, were there chemicals used which
are difficult to dispose of sustainably, such as carcinogens or radioactive
material. The consumer, Chatham University,
may also want to know the distance the paper had to travel in its lifetime and
how many units of fossil fuels were used in the process or greenhouse gases
emitted. Chatham University is also
committed to make choses which will satisfy their target market of donors,
prospective, and current students. Given
the broad audience, with varying opinions and values, a more expansive set of
sustainability features would be favored over a specific focus, such as
recycling. Therefore the most relevant
information for Office Depot to provide would be certifications promising high
performance on overall sustainability standards for their products. Chatham University could then increase public
opinion from their audience by marketing the information records of their green
business transactions.
See Also: responsiblepurchasing.org
