sustainablecomposing

[sustainablecomposing]

The Coca Cola Company has tried to follow Corporate Social Responsibly since 1994 and so far they have done it pretty successfully.

Although Coca Cola tries to handle all these issue the one I feel one that is morally right is trying to help the community as much as possible

“We will make a...

[sustainablecomposing]

Carrier and Michelangelo

As we all know we love our air conditioners during the heat of summer. (And in Alabama we know heat). We love to crank that air conditioning low and freeze ourselves inside while it’s 100 degrees outside.

One of the largest air conditioning manufacturing companies is Carrier. The company has been around since 1902 and they have steadily become a well-established company. Since 1994, they have led the industry in the phase-out of ozone-depleting refrigerants while introducing many of the world’s most energy-efficient heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems. They strive to make energy bills go down and customer satisfaction go up. Now they are helping globally, but not just for the average person and home.

We all know the giant, famous, ceiling painting done by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. Yes we can recognize the display of God the Father surrounded by His angels reaching out his arm and pointing his index finger. This is one of the most recognized and iconic murals known to man and Carrier helped save it.

The original frescoes were painted in the 1500s and not until 1990 were they refreshed. With this upgrade it brought in many more visitors, heat, moister, and problems. So Carrier stepped in to help the cathedral out.

A team from Italy, the US, and France were brought in to engineer a system that would control the cathedral’s temperature without damaging the murals and being basically invisible to visitors. The task took five years and Carrier delivered an outstanding system that was exactly what the chapel wanted.

Carrier used their resources to help the Sistine Chapel and to save the most famous painting of Michelangelo. This represents CSR in that Carrier wants to protect the world’s history and incredible works of art. They are willing to put in the time, effort, personnel, and resources to help ensure the safely and purity of this masterpiece. Carrier knows how important history is and making sure that it is available for years to come.  

  By Joy Funderburk

  Sources:

  www.carrier.com

[sustainablecomposing]

An APPLE a day keeps the CSR at bay

We all know about Apple: Apple computers, Steve Jobs, the iphone, "there's an app for that", etc. Apple products are found in nearly every household and in almost every teenage palm. But is Apple a sustainable company? Do they care about anything other than profit and expanding their already huge company?

https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xycaU6btO6TR0wGuzICgBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=667#q=iphone&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=5nfD3gl6xufrNM%253A%3Bg10VYleEIxPjqM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi.i.cbsi.com%252Fcnwk.1d%252Fi%252Ftim%252F2012%252F09%252F17%252F06_archimedes_35438535_620x433.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cnet.com%252Fiphone-5%252F%3B620%3B433

  According to the Apple website, they do. Apple claims to have five different pillars to their supplier responsibility plan: empowering workers, labor and human rights, health and safety, environment, and accountability.

http://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/

 Apple claims to educate their workers in order for them to understand their rights and learn new skills. According to their website, "In 2013, more than 280,000 people at 18 supplier sites took courses in a range of subjects through our free education and development program. In addition, our suppliers trained more than 1.5 million workers on their rights, bringing the total number trained since 2007 to 3.8 million" (Apple). That’s a lot of education.

"Suppliers must treat workers fairly and ethically at all times" (Apple).  Apple claims to treat all employees fairly. They also claim not to overwork their employees. Apple has implemented a 60-hour maximum workweek, and in 2013 they had 95% compliance with this rule.

https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xycaU6btO6TR0wGuzICgBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=667#q=apple+Supplier+Work-Hour+Compliance&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=2Ifz4hgY5XLXDM%253A%3BroM9SFlaihNBgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcdn2.sbnation.com%252Fassets%252F3997221%252Fapple-supplier-graph1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.theverge.com%252F2014%252F2%252F13%252F5407406%252Fapple-2014-supplier-responsibility-progress-report%3B713%3B447

  To address the shortage of EHS personnel (environment, health, safety), Apple has implemented the Apple Supplier EHS Academy. This is an 18-month program which aims to train and educate EHS employees. "In 2013, over 240 factory personnel representing factories with more than 270,000 employees enrolled in this program, which will raise the standard for EHS management in our supply chain" (Apple).

    https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xycaU6btO6TR0wGuzICgBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=667#q=Apple+supplier+EHS&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=pKtuPHAQf57EGM%253A%3Bxb4RuSq7vrlBBM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages.apple.com%252Fsupplier-responsibility%252Fimages%252Foverview_health_data.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.apple.com%252Fsupplier-responsibility%252F%3B885%3B186

  According to its website, Apple expects its suppliers to be environmentally responsible. They have launched a Clean Water Program and have goals to reduce freshwater usage by recycling and reusing water in production. According to Apple's 2014 report, they have completed over 520 site profiles to determine environmental risks, conducted 62 focuses environmental assessments, and launched their Clean Water Program with 13 supplier sites. Apple has also partnered with IPE: a nonprofit Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs. In 2013, 15 sites worked with IPE to remediate 26 violations and had their records closed through the IPE process.

  https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xycaU6btO6TR0wGuzICgBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=667#q=apple+environmental+sustainability&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=7UYokXK8x1FxOM%253A%3BJ4YZvgv75i7S7M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblogs-images.forbes.com%252Ftoddwoody%252Ffiles%252F2012%252F02%252Fapple_green_3.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.forbes.com%252Fsites%252Ftoddwoody%252F2012%252F02%252F22%252Fhow-apple-went-from-environmental-laggard-to-leader%252F%3B250%3B166

  Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct is considered one of the toughest in the electronics industry. Apple conducts hundreds of audits each year within every facet of their company to ensure compliance with this code of conduct.

  Apple is making a genuine effort to improve their CSR and keep their customers informed about their efforts. Apple used appeals to logos throughout their website to show actual numerical statistics about their sustainability efforts to demonstrate what they are doing, how they are doing it, and what the results are.

  Apple: Supplier Responsibility. Apple Inc. n.d. Web. 6 March 2014.

Katie Goodwin

[sustainablecomposing]

Feelin’ Alive With Disney

    Disney is an American based multi-international company that has been around for more than nine decades.  The company focuses on providing entertainment for every member of a family in America and everywhere across the world.  On October 16, 1923, the brothers Walt and Roy Disney first named their company as The Disney Brother’s Studio by producing a series of Alice Comedies.  The company established itself as an animation industry before it became a high in family vacation spot as we know today as the happiest place on earth. (Disney History)

  Walt Disney intended to innovate the cartoon industry by doing things that had never been done before. Walt innovated cartoons in 1928 when Steamboat Willie hit the movie screen, marking the first cartoon to ever have sound. Walt intended to bring joy to his audiences, and he did that with every innovation he achieved. (Disney History)

  From the first cartoon in color to the first Oscar won for the first feature length animated film, Walt’s audiences never ceased to be amused and impressed by his work. (Disney History)

  Even after Walt’s death in 1966 the company continued to grow and develop new ideas using Walt’s enormous legacy. (Disney History)

  In 1971 Walt Disney World themed resort opened in Orlando, FL. The Resort was a completely new idea based off the fact that it was located on 47,000 acres, making it basically a city in itself. The state of Florida was so excited about the jobs and tourism that the theme park would bring that it let Disney establish its own government system on the property. The theme park has brought unprecedented amounts of satisfied tourists over its 43 year existence. (Disney History)

  Disney’s movie department is one of the biggest animation departments in the world. The company has made billions of dollars producing movies that constantly thrill and entertain their audience. (The Walt Disney Studios)

  Just this past year their newest movie, Frozen, made over a billion dollars by itself. The film also won the Academy Award for best animated feature, the studios sixth in the last seven years. (Academy)

  Disney Parks also has some very respectable promotions that help the company’s CSR tremendously. One of these is their “Heroes Work Here” campaign. The campaign states “At Disney we recognize the hard work, dedication and loyalty it takes to serve your country honorably, no matter what point and time in your life it may be. Our veterans and their families have given so much to us, and we want to continue to give back.” The initiative started in 2004, and has been one of the most popular Disney initiatives in its almost 100 year history as a company. (Heroes)

  Forbes mentions that  “Disney is not only one of the best known companies in the world, they constantly strive to be one of the most admired companies as well–earning the respect of their consumers, their employees and their shareholders for what they create and for how they do it,” (Smith)

  Disney even says of its citizenship “Disney’s mission is to always deliver, with integrity, the most exceptional entertainment experiences for people of all ages. We hold our citizenship efforts to the same high standard. Ultimately, our goal is to be the most admired company in the world. We believe we can achieve this goal by conducting our business and creating our products in an ethical manner, and by promoting the happiness and well-being of kids and families by inspiring them to join us in creating a brighter tomorrow.” (Disney Citizenship). There is nothing that projects positive CSR more than that statement.

  In conclusion, The Walt Disney Company works hard to project positivity in its work and its result to be one of the greatest CSR companies in the world. The Joy comes from the company’s dedication to putting the consumer and business ethics first.

Alexander McCall

ENGL-1120

Professor Shields

7th March 2014

Works Cited

  "Disney History." The Walt Disney Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

  Smith, Jacquelyn. "The Companies With the Best CSR Reputations." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

  "Heroes Work Here." Disneycareers.com. Disney, n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.

  "Academy Award for Best Animated Feature." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

  "Disney Citizenship." The Walt Disney Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

  "The Walt Disney Studios." The Walt Disney Company. Disney, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

[sustainablecomposing]

The Fruits Of Our Labor - Corporate Awareness

As you are drinking that delicious orange juice or maybe taking a bite into an American-size burger topped with lettuce and tomato, the last thing you are thinking about is the personal sacrifices made by those who hand-picked these fruits and vegetables for your enjoyment.

 To better understand the situations at large hear what this ex-migrant worker has to say in this video about the environment in these agricultural farms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/farm-worker-conditions-modern-slavery-video_n_2593772.html

Workers are paid based on the quantity of product they harvest. For tomato workers a 32 pound bucket yields 50 cents a rate that has NOT changed a significant amount in nearly 50 years.

 Many migrant workers have faced the cruel reality of debt bondage, which can turn a man into a slave of the farm for the rest of his life. Debt bondage occurs when workers do not have enough money to pay for their expenses of getting to the farm, shelter, and living. The farmer then puts the migrant worker into an almost un-repayable debt which requires them to remain in the employment of the farm into an unforeseeable future.  If a migrant worker tries to flee from this “debt” they may find themselves subject to violence from the farm owner. NOW almost all tomato growers in Florida participate in the Fair Food Program, which includes a code of conduct outlawing debt bondage and requiring humane conditions of labor and a more livable wage. Many buyers have pledged to pay a penny and a half a pound extra for tomatoes and this premium is directly given to the workers.  Wendy’s fast-food company and some supermarkets, including Ahold (Stop & Shop and Giant), Kroger and Publix, have stuck their noses up to this Fair Food Program and refuse to participate

 The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been the leading force behind fighting for migrant workers rights and introduced the Fair Food Program. The organization started in 1993 as a small group of workers trying to better their community and lives. Their early efforts ended the 20 years of declining wages in the tomato industry and sparked an industry-wide raise of wages by 13-25%. Now the CIW is the leading force behind worker based human rights and modern day slavery.

According to the US department of Labor 42 percent of farmworkers were migrant workers while 72 percent of all farmworkers were foreign-born. 70 percent of these workers do not speak English well while 35 percent of the workers do not even speak English. Many of these workers live in rural areas away from support of national groups and the public eye. These farmworkers a lot of the time are deprived of correct medical attention they might need while on the job. “After ten hours laboring under a blazing July sun, 53-year-old Giumarra grape picker Asuncion Valdivia became weak, dizzy and nauseated. He couldn’t talk. He layed down in the field. The temperature was 102 degrees.” This describes a horrific situation one worker found himself in but the sickening part is how the supervisors of this farm handled this situation. 911 was called by a worker but the foreman cancelled the call to the paramedics telling his son just to take the worker home. The worker than died in the passenger seat of the car on the way to the emergency room with his son.  

 The difficulties of working in the extreme heat of Florida and other states are compounded by extreme amounts of residual agrochemicals and pesticides can lead to severe health problems. Unsafe housing conditions are also another huge issue with migrant workers.  Migrant workers are often in extremely overcrowded conditions, which poses the problem of sanitation issues and spread of diseases.

Over the past 15 years, seven separate cases of forced slavery have been successfully prosecuted in Florida freeing more than ONE THOUSAND people from slavery in the US tomato fields

While you can see that many strides have been made over the past decades to better these harvesters’ problems and lives but there is much more yet to do. There are still countless amounts of workers being exploited by farm owners and in awful working conditions we still have a ways to go. Companies owe it to the consumer and the share holder to purchase goods only obtained in humane safe ways.

 William Vahle

 Work Cited:

 "Coalition of Immokalee Workers." Coalition of Immokalee Workers.N.p., n.d. Web. 04   Mar. 2014.

 "Migrant Workers and America's Harvest of Shame | Common Dreams." Common Dreams. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

Burkhalter, Holly. "Fair Food Program Helps End the Use of Slavery in the Tomato          Fields." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 02 Sept. 2012. Web. 04 Mar.  2014.

 Wilkes-Edrington, Lindsay. "Farm Worker Conditions Likened to Modern Slavery            (VIDEO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Feb. 2013. Web. 04     Mar. 2014.

 "Fruit Growers News." » Magazine » Article » Florida Growers Don’t Have to Provide   Migrant Housing. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

[sustainablecomposing]

Is NIKE Making More Than Just Their Customers Sweat?

Nike is one of the most well known retail stores worldwide.  It is the first place that pops into the minds of many when they think of athletic wear.  With their worldwide known slogan “Just Do It” Nike has become the largest seller of athletic footwear and apparel.  This company strives for a positive message to its consumers revolving around motivation and inspiration to all athletes.  Their mission statement reads,

“Our Missions: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.  *If you have a body, you’re an athlete” (Nike, Inc.). 

However, the positive lifestyle of this company can be seen as highly hypocritical when compared to the methods that Nike has used to make this company what is it today. 

Because Nike is such a successful company, many put immediate trust in this company without further looking into the process taken that made them so successful.  I am mostly referring to the production methods that Nike has used to provide their retail items to consumers quickly and efficiently. #sweatshops

Nike has been accused of having extremely poor labor policies that have affected many third-world countries in which they have factories; these countries include Vietnam, India, China and a few others. 

Ever since the worldwide industrial revolution in the early 20th century, it has become a known corporate social responsibility for each company to treat their employees with the respect and fairness that they deserve.  This includes having a fair hourly wage, good working conditions, employee benefits, and reasonable working hours.  Nike has been known to not follow these conditions as closely as they should to generate a positive atmosphere for the manufacturing employees. 

Because these factories are based in third world countries, most of the employees do not have any other opportunities at work; therefore, they have to accept these harsh working conditions.  Jeff Ballinger who wrote an article that was published in Harper’s magazine initially brought these conditions to the media.  Following this, there were several reports of physical and mental abuse and low wages in Nike factories across the globe during the 1990s.  

Since then, Nike has been forced to create several new laws to better the working conditions in their factories; however, it is going to take several more years for all of these laws to be enforced. 

For instance, a woman anonymously told a reporter that she was once kicked in the head by a supervisor for making a small mistake during production.  She stated, “Our only choice is to stay and suffer, or to speak out and be fired” (Daily Mail Reporter).  This is just one of many woman who have chosen to anonymously speak up about these bad working environments. 

Not only has there been abuse but also the minimum wage in Vietnam was once as low as $1.60 per day when it costs at least $2.10 to eat per day.  

The goal of these reports is to get the word out about these Nike factories so that consumers can get an inside look into this company and demand for improvements for Nike to maintain a successful business. 

Nike has since taken many productive steps to better their working conditions worldwide.  In 1998 Philip Knight, the chief executive officer of Nike, owned up to these accusations and began to take action.  Some of his biggest improvements were raising the minimum age required to work in these factories, adopting the U.S. clean air act along with several other changes. #takingresponsibility

Nike has continued through the 2000s to enforce better working condition laws to help maintain a positive image to their consumers.  As proof of their good corporate social responsibility, Nike has continued to publish their standards and other commitments they have to improving their labor laws. #CSR

They have even devoted an entire webpage to explaining their sustainable business report. 

http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/report/content/chapter/labor

Through the scrutiny that Nike went through, it is very clear how corporate social responsibility can negatively and/or positively affect a company and what it takes to make things right. 

Nike is gaining the respect and success that they once obtained and will continue to achieve by changing these conditions for the better. 

 - Catherine Andrews

Work Cited

"About NIKE, Inc." NIKE, Inc. -. Nike Incorporation, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014. <http://nikeinc.com/pages/about-nike-inc>.

Reporter, Daily Mail. "Nike Workers 'kicked, Slapped and Verbally Abused' at Factories Making Converse." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 13 July 2011. Web. 05 Mar. 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2014325/Nike-workers-kicked-slapped-verbally-abused-factories-making-Converse-line-Indonesia.html>.

Spar, Debora L., and Lane T. La Mure. "The Power of Activism Assessing the Impact of NGOs on Global Business." Harvard.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2014. <http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hiscox/Spar.pdf>.

Nisen, Max. "How Nike Solved Its Sweatshop Problem." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 09 May 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. <http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nike-solved-its-sweatshop-problem-2013-5>.

[sustainablecomposing]

Dasani CSR

In 1999 Dasani purified drinking water has been a leader in the production and sale of plastic bottled water. The company is owned by the beverage giant Coca Cola. The company was founded on a mission to bring the best tasting water on the market. The company was using petrolium based plastic to make their bottles and so was everyone else in the industry. At the start of the company this was ok but little did they realize, all companies using plastic water bottles were filling up land fills all over the world along with added littering of man made non-biodegradeable substances that would forever change the environment. 

In 2009, 10 years after production began the market had completely changed. The market had moved to a much more “eco friendly” state of mind. To compensate for this change in market and to help the environment in general Dasani came out with the all-new plant bottle. The plant bottle prides itself of being made of 30 percent plant material. This change has also cut the carbon emissions of the bottle around 25 percent. The bottle is also now 100 percent recyclable. Dasani has further marketed their desire for you to recycle by changing the cap from their brand color of blue to green.

Was this just a publicity stunt to quiet the environmentalists of the world? I personally think this was completely a publicity stunt to increase the company’s clout among consumers. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with the idea that Dasani has about changing the style of their bottle to appease the market because in the end they are trying to get people to buy their produce.

The Corporate Social Responsibility that Dasani has is to improve the environment. I think that at the start of this movement the intentions were set on getting the customer to buy their product however now I believe that the company is making a difference with there new bottle design. Getting the awareness out with what started as poor intentions but finished with good results.

Dasani has greatly improved their CSR since the release of their new bottle in 2009. The company has received awards such as the 2010 DuPont Global Award for their innovative packaging, they also one the 2011 Edison award for energy and sustainable packaging. Clearly the company has made a difference in the packaging world and in the environmental world, with the different awards that were given.

The great new bottle is now considered a leading competitor I think greatly because of their new bottle campaign. People feel better about drinking Dasani knowing the new bottle uses 40 percent less plastic and is 22 percent lighter than the original bottle. The new bottle uses pathos to persuade the consumer into buying Dasani. Dasani is smart in playing to the emotions of the customer because their new ads can make the customer feel bad for not using the Dasani product. The bottle can make the customer feel guilty for not helping the environment through using the new plant bottle.

Dasani has come out with a new product that has helped their CSR. The plant bottle they created is an eco friendly product that is a step in the right direction and you can tell this from all the other companies such as Zephyr Hills spring water following Dasani and creating a new eco friendly bottle.

    http://www.dasani.com/video/plantbottle-tv/

    Work Cited

  Walker, Leon. "Environmental Leader." Environmental Leader RSS. Ed. Jennifer Hermes. Paul Nastu, 14 May 2009. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

  Brown, Adam. "DASANIDROPS™." DASANI. Kiran Chellaney, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

[sustainablecomposing]

Coca-Cola and the Philippines

What kind of company just stops its advertising campaign before the holidays? The kind of company who recognizes its community is in trouble and needs help.

In November 2013 a typhoon struck and completely devastated the islands of the Philippines. It’s estimated the typhoon caused $5.8 billion in damage.

The typhoon wrecked numerous villages and cities. In many places it just flattened vast areas leaving nothing but piles of debris behind.

After the typhoon hit the Philippines Coca-Cola stopped its advertising campaign within the Philippines. The money that was supposed to go to the campaign was donated as typhoon relief funds. Coke donated over $2.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions to support typhoon relief (Goldberg).

There were numerous benefits to cokes No-ad Campaign. First, they gave back to a community that has supported them for many years: Coca-Cola has been a mainstay in the Philippines for years due to unsanitary drinking water. Second, while Coke stopped its product ad campaign their brand name campaign sky-rocketed. This was just a side effect of donating this amount of money towards a community in need.

 “It is still an advertising move,” one Reddit user pointed out. “People will find out what they did, think they are a better company because of it, and buy their product to support it. As great as it is it still gives them advertising.”(Goldberg)

I have always been a coke drinker. It’s the only soft drink brand that I drink. When I heard of the typhoon and what it did to the Philippines, I became worried for a friend’s family. He and I have been close friends since we were in kindergarten. I have met his family that lives in the Philippines several times and have become close to them.

I found and donated to several charities that were helping the typhoon relief. I also intentionally purchased and drank more coke to help with their efforts to help the Philippines. It’s amazing how you react when you know someone directly affected by a natural disaster. You donate more than you would to another natural disaster relief and you pay more attention to how the money is being spent on clean-up efforts.

 I imagine this is why coke has donated such a large sum to the relief. Coke opened its first bottling company in the Philippines in 1912, over a hundred years ago (Methodology). Coke has always been a large part of the Philippine and will continue to be especially after the help received from the Coca-Cola Company

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/coke-ads-philippines-_n_4338746.html#slide=3121354

  Works Cited

Goldberg, Eleanor. "Coke Suspends Ad Campaign For Best Reason You Could Imagine."The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

Philippines--Typhoon. 2013. Photograph. The Huffington Post. By Getty Images. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

Untitled. 2013. Photograph. The Huffington Post. By Getty Images, Ted Aljibe, AFP. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

Untitled. 2013. Photograph. The Huffington Post. By AP Photo, Bullit Marquez. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

Untitled. 2013. Photograph. The Huffington Post. By AP Photo, Wally Santana. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

Methodology. The Coca-Cola Company 125 Years of Sharing Happiness. Seatle: Methodology, 2011.  The Coca-Cola Company, 8 May 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.

-Mitchell Agnew

[sustainablecomposing]

NIKE and CSR

   Nike has become one of those global companies targeted by a broad range of  journalists as a symbolic representation of a popular business in society. In Nike’s case, the issues are those of human rights and conditions for workers in factories in developing countries. In the face of constant accusations, Nike has developed a considered response, supported by corporate website reporting. It now has a well developed focus for its corporate responsibility on improving conditions in contracted factories, aiming for carbon neutrality, and making sports available to young people across the world. The criticism continues, however.

   The Global Alliance report on the factories in Indonesia gave the following workforce profile: 58% of them are young adults between 20 and 24 years old, and 83% are women. Few have work-related skills when they arrive at the factory. Nike has around 700 contract factories, within which around 20% of the workers are creating Nike products. Conditions for these workers has been a source of heated debate, with allegations made by campaigns of poor conditions, with constant harassment and abuse. Nike has sought to respond to these allegations by putting into place a code of conduct for all of its suppliers, and working with the Global Alliance to review around 21 of these factories, and to pick up and respond to issues.

    In Indonesia, the following was reported: 30.2% of the workers had personally experienced, and 56.8% had observed, verbal abuse. An average of 7.8% of workers reported receiving unwelcome sexual comments, and 3.3% reported being physically abused. In addition, sexual trade practices in recruitment and promotion were reported by at least two workers in each of two different factories, although a deep investigation was unable to confirm this.

    Naomi Klein, in her popular book "No Logo" deals quite extensively with Nike, accusing them of abandoning countries as they developed better pay and employment rights in favor of countries like China, where these are less of a cost. She shows a photo published in 1996 showing children in Pakistan stitching Nike footballs as an example of the use of child labor.

    Nike accuses Naomi Klein of spreading inaccurate and old information. They point out that they have not abandoned countries as she claims, and remain in Taiwan and Korea despite the higher wages and labor rights. They admit that the 1996 photo portrayed what they describe as a "large mistake" when they began to order soccer balls for the first time from a supplier in Pakistan. They now operate stitching centers where the non-use of child labor can be verified.  Nike are also troubled at how they have attained the status of lead focus in this area. “They request that people look towards their competitors and see how many of them have taken the kind of measures the company has over the last few years.”(2014)

After discovering all of this negative information portrayed of Nike, I asked myself if any corporation or company could possibly support them and their actions? This is what I concluded: It said "Upon due consideration, members of the Operating Council unanimously expressed their judgement that upon learning of the alleged violations surfaced through the Global Alliance assessment process, that Nike had acted in good faith, and developed a serious and reasonable remediation plan."(2014)

To find out for yourself visit these provided sites:

The nike business site:

http://nikebiz.com/

The critics:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nike

Nike’s ethos falls nothing but short here. One can only view them in a negative aspect upon gathering this information. Nike needs to further investigate every factory and shop that produces anything “Nike.” They need to make sure that all of their thousands of employees are lead and protected by certified officials. Nike portrays themselves to the public as a great company enhancing the health of people around the world. In doing this, they must make sure the people behind the scenes are respected and taken care of as well.

“Corporate Social Responsibility- Companies in the news-Nike.” Website. Website, 6 March. 2014. Web. 6 March. 2014. http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/CSRfiles/nike.html

-Kelsey Walker

[sustainablecomposing]

Chipotle: Food with Integrity

Everyone needs to eat, that’s a simple fact of basic human life. The only issue is sometimes its hard to find enough hours in the day to make time for a prepared, civilized meal – 3 times a day. That’s the basis for the development of the fast-food industry that dominates American society today, getting food on the go so that a busy person can keep going with their daily obligations. Companies like McDonald’s and Taco Bell thrive off the need of getting a meal “to-go”. But fast food companies are notorious for they’re negligence of what exactly they’re putting in their food and what the health results of those ingredients are, instead focusing on foods that can be prepared quickly with minimal costs to them and their customers. Over the past few years many different media sources and news outlets have come out with really disgusting facts about what you’re putting in your body when you eat at restaurants like these, which has created a market in the food industry that uses more health conscious ingredients while maintaining the convenience and ease of the fast food restaurants.

            In 1993, Steve Ellis founded Chipotle Mexican Grill with the belief that their ingredients matter, and that supporting local farming industries was an important factor for their restaurants. As the company grew into a national corporation, they’ve advanced those central concepts into their corporate philosophy of “Food with Integrity” and developed a reputation for convenient and quick meals, without the sacrifice of quality food and customer service. The company has developed a huge advantage in the industry by promoting more sustainable foods, and it has been embraced by the public, resulting in over a thousand restaurants nationwide and $1.8 billion in sales by the end of 2010.

             With some faults in their promises of integrity, and resulting protests of the company, Chipotle reestablished their commitment to their customers and sought ways to maintain their clients faith in their product. The company launched a few initiatives, all in support of a farm-to-table-to-consumer supply chain. They wanted to “change the way people think about what they eat” through usage of farm fresh ingredients free of hormones and chemical additives, while supporting smaller local farms (within 350 miles of the restaurants). Chipotle also founded the non-profit organization called Chipotle’s Cultivate Foundation, which raises and donates money to support three major causes:

1. Supporting small, family owned farms.

2. Increasing animal welfare and pasteurizing.

3. Increasing nutrition and reducing obesity in children.

The company has donated over $1.5 million in support of these causes, with percentages of their own profits from in-store promotions being used as funding. Another important part of their new campaign effort was to revamp their advertising. In 2012, Chipotle hired CAA (Creative Artists Agency), a Hollywood marketing agency, to create a two and a half minute heart-string-tugging video about a small farmer that industrializes his farm, only to realize the mistake he’s made and later tears it down, opting for a more sustainable future. The video has won many awards, including Best Integrated Campaign and Best Film for Branded Content at Cannes Film Festival, and emphasizes Chipotle’s mission of supporting small farms and sustainable food sources. The company has invested in other video campaigns as well, including a satirical miniseries titled “Farmed and Dangerous” that criticizes the industrialized agricultural industry and the way they raise their livestock. The series was featured exclusively on Hulu during its premiere, but has been released onto other sources recently.

            Chipotle as a company has chosen to put its customers first, by using “naturally raised” meats and hormone free dairy products for their gourmet burritos. Putting an emphasis on supporting family owned farms and local agricultural businesses has set them apart in their industry, along with creating a new market for restaurants focused around the same principles. Choosing quality products over higher gross profits makes them pioneers in the fast food industry, and gives the company a higher level of corporate social responsibility than almost all of their competitors.  

-Brianna Harvey

Works Cited

 Baylis, Bettina. “How Chipotle’s ‘Food with Integrity’ Strategy Can Really Succeed”. Triple Pundit. N.p. 15 October. 2012. Web. 06 March. 2014.

 Sacks, Danielle. “34_Chipotle”. Fast Company. N.d. Web. 06 March. 2014.

[sustainablecomposing]

GMO Giant Looks to Modify Laws

The Monsanto Company is a name that is synonymous with research into, and sale of, GMO’s. However, recently,what Monsanto seems to be even more interested in than producing useable, safe, crops, is producing legislation that will allow the company to operate much like large gas companies do no-a-days in the United States, with no governmental regulation. Division B, Title VII, Section 735 of the U.S. House of Representatives bill states that:

“In the event that a determination of non-regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the Plant Protection Act is or has been invalidated or vacated, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower, farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with section 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which interim conditions shall authorize the movement, introduction, continued cultivation, commercialization and other specifically enumerated activities and requirements, including measures designed to mitigate or minimize potential adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the Secretary's evaluation of the petition for non-regulated status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and carry out other authorized activities in a timely manner: Provided, That all such conditions shall be applicable only for the interim period necessary for the Secretary to complete any required analyses or consultations related to the petition for non-regulated status: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the Secretary's authority under section 411, 412 and 414 of the Plant Protection Act.”

What all of this legal jargon actually boils down to is that the Secretary of Agriculture can grant immunity from governmental regulation to large bio-tech firms such as Monsanto. Formally known at the Farmer Assurance Provision, this addition to the bill has been recently called the Monsanto Protection Act, seeing as that is almost precisely what it does.

For a company that provides food to millions of Americans, it would seem that Monsanto really doesn’t enjoy people asking questions about what it does or how it goes about doing these things. Along with it’s very tight grip on it’s patents for the RoundUp Ready crops that it engineers, Monsanto has, with the passing of this bill, moved to not only be able to stop people from doing research on their products by controlling to flow of information about the product through patent infringement lawsuits and strict control of it’s patents, but also to work outside the realm of government intervention and to do as they wish with a very high level of autonomy. This from a company that grows 80% of US corn and 93% of US soy, as well as having well over 1,000 patents to it’s name and who is now asking that citizens just take their word that what they are providing is safe.

So with the passing of this Bill, containing the aforementioned provision which was drafted by Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri as well as his supporting Lobbyists, many of which had direct ties back to Monsanto, the company can do exactly what it wants. Coming from a company like this, it’s hard to see how there could be any actually vested interest from the company towards corporate social responsibility when Monsanto is trying, with this legislation, to subvert authority and to try and make money, as was stated by Monsanto’s director of corporate communications,  "Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food ... . Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the F.D.A.'s job.”

For more about Monsanto's close relationship with governmental officials, specifically Roy Blunt, look here 

Would you be willing to trust this company? A company that is clearly only interested in itself and how much money it can make without having to pay an consequences for harm that might be done, as is expressed in the spirit of this heinous manipulation of American Democracy? Could this be a precedent for other, future bills? Although the Farmer Assurance Provision has since been struck from the bill, Monsanto, which spends almost 6 million dollars a year in lobbying alone, certainly still has governmental influence. 

James Doolittle

3/6/2014

Bibliography:

"Bill Text113th Congress (2013-2014)." Bill Text. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c113:4:./temp/~c113Wv2uLJ:e106034:>.

Carpenter, Zoë. "How Congress Just Stuck It to Monsanto | The Nation." How Congress Just Stuck It to Monsanto | The Nation. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <http://www.thenation.com/blog/176719/how-congress-just-stuck-it-monsanto#>.

Gregory, Gary. "WHAT'S IMMORAL ABOUT MONSANTO?: STRENGTHENING THE ROOTS OF THE MORAL UTILITY REQUIREMENT BY AMENDING THE U.S. PATENT ACT." Yeshiva University Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law 21 (2013): 3-5. Print.

Guergian, Noreen. "Genetically Engineered Crops, It's What's For Dinner: Monsanto Co. vs. Geertson Seed Farms." Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 44 (2011): 1263-1267. Print.

Gwyn, Madeline. "Monsanto Co. Vs Geertson Seed Farms: Irreparable Injury to the National Environmental Policy Act?." Emory Law Journal 61 (2011): 376-387. Print.

Kaldveer, Zach. "U.S. and Monsanto Dominate Global Market for GM Seeds." U.S. and Monsanto Dominate Global Market for GM Seeds. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28059.cfm>.

"Monsanto." Monsanto. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <http://www.monsanto.com/sharedmonsantologos/media-kit/monsanto.jpg>.

"Monsanto files patent for new invention: the pig." Greenpeace International. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/monsanto-pig-patent-111/>.

"The Monsanto Protection Act's Bought Republican." YouTube. YouTube, 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjZsz1RgqkY>.

[sustainablecomposing]

Toyota: creating a safer world one driver at a time

                   The automotive industry is one of the largest and most publicly accessible industries on our planet. Every day millions of Americans will wake up and jump into a car to complete their daily commute to work or to school. Cars are a very unique piece of property to most Americans. People’s automobiles are seen by many as an outward expression of ones personality, or their own projection of themselves that they can show off to the world.

              But, even though people cherish their cars, the vehicles that help people carry on the very lives we desire also take them away. In the US, 45% of adult’s deaths were directly related to automobile accidents. This statistic may seem inflated, but if we break it down, the average American will end up spending upwards of 7% of their life driving. (Just Answer) Based off of this we can see how the statistic makes more sense.

  Due to the large amounts of automobile accidents that end in either an injury or fatality, many of the industries leaders have tried to give back to the community in multiple different ways. In addition to automobile manufactures directly attempting to make their cars safer through the addition of many new airbag technologies and other accident prevention systems, car companies also are giving back through other programs.

  These Corporate Social Responsibility programs, or CSR for short, are a company’s way of giving back to both the environment and the people that their products directly and indirectly affect. Many companies have publicly stated CSR policies that list how they are going try and give back to the community. One company in particular that does a good job with this is Toyota. In addition to the companies CSR policy that is based off of their “Guiding Principle”, Toyota also has an additional policy that directly relates to biodiversity, and another on the code of conduct that is to be upheld by the company’s employees. (SOMO)

  Toyota has a massive Corporate Social Responsibility campaign, but 25% of their efforts go towards promoting the safety of their consumers. (Toyota Global) This division of their campaign is a multi faceted section that devotes its efforts towards the training and general education of everyday drivers.

  Toyota, starting in 2005, has created and held courses that directly instruct everyday drivers on ways they can decrease their risk of being involved in a traffic accident. They have two courses entitle “Comprehensive Training” and “Comprehensive Training II” where any average Joe off the street can come and go through what most people know as a defensive driving course. (Toyota)However, the way that Toyota’s program differs from other defensive driving programs is their usage of their race team drivers as instructor in their courses. These world-renowned drivers bring all their track time and behind the wheel knowledge to the classroom to help illustrate and instruct people in how to better control their safety while out on the road.

  Toyota hopes that by creating these classes, in addition to their development of innovative safety mechanics in their vehicles, will help them meet their lofty goal of having an accident free, and thus fatality free world.

  -Joseph Chandler Maxwell

    Work Cited

  "TOYOTA: News Releases." TOYOTA: News Releases. Toyota, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/05/0228.html>.

  "Toyota's CSR." Www.toyota-global.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/csr_initiatives/principle/>.

  "How Much Time Does a Person Spend Driving in Their Lifetime." JustAnswer. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://www.justanswer.com/general/0oy3c-time-does-person-spend-driving-lifetime.html>.

[sustainablecomposing]

SPREADING CSR AROUND THE GLOBE

There are not many companies that are well known around the world. A company that is not only well known globally for their technologically advanced products but is also leader in CSR and environmental sustainability is Samsung. They are an amazing company that is a leader in technology and does amazing things for humanity on many different continents.

  Samsung has such a big influence in so many countries it tries to become a great roll model for other upcoming companies. It has a multitude of programs that it promotes in countries all across the globe.

 In South Africa during March of 2011 Samsung stared a program called the Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy. The academy offers technical skills education while equipping youth for employment in the IT marketplace. Every graduate from the Samsung Electronics Academy found a job in the IT department immediately after graduation. Samsung has launched more academies in Kenya and Nigeria in February and July of 2012.

 Samsung also has created Solar-Powered Internet Schools in South Africa to help out with the routine power outages in the country. They plan to have six more Internet Schools in South Africa by 2015.

Hope for Children Lab in Egypt are labs that Samsung opened in the poverty stricken parts of Egypt and they provide the children and young adults with IT products and the opportunity to talk with the rest of the world.

Throughout Middle East Samsung Electronics has set up digital audio libraries in five locations across Iran in order to offer visually impaired children ages 5-18 opportunities to access reading materials and many other information sources on the Internet. Each digital audio library is equipped with 150 audio books and Sam- sung products such as LED TVs, home theater systems, and notebook computers.

In the U.S. Samsung created a Solve for Tomorrow which was a contest in which you have to show how science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) can help to improve your community. The winners of the competition received IT products and help with the technology in their business or building.

Over in Europe Samsung Electronics opened the Samsung Tech Institute in order to address the problem of youth unemployment in the European region. The Institute seeks to develop students’ expertise and cooperates with local universities, governments and certificated authorities to broaden qualifications in IT, engineering and business skills so that young people will be well positioned to get a job after completing their studies.

Samsung Electronics has also made a difference in Russia by donating hardware for Russian 10 to 17-year-olds with disabilities so that they might receive high quality, home-schooling online education.

The children and other residents of the Central Amazon often fail to receive a contemporary education or exposure to the benefits of modern technology. In Latin America during November 2011, Samsung Electronics completed construction on an educational complex including school buildings, libraries, dormitories and canteens in the Rio Negro area of northern Brazil. The complex, completed in collaboration with regional nonprofit Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), attempts to open a window of opportunity for the children living in the region.

Samsung has also constructed schools in rural and remote areas of China since 2005 in order to foster education. 45 schools were built during the 1st phase (2005 to 2007) and 55 schools during the 2nd phase (2008 to 2010).

By the end of 2012, Samsung Electronics had received environmental certification marks for a total of 2,926 of its product models, the highest number for any company in the global electronics industry, from the world’s top-ten environmental certification organizations in such countries as Korea, the United States, Sweden and China. Showing again that they are promoting good CSR through out all the different countries that they have an influence in.

In Asia Samsung opened the PlanetFirst Summer School for two days in July 2012 by inviting primary school students to participate in outdoor learning and eco-friendly education. Forty primary school students visited the ‘Green Tomorrow of Samsung Corporation’ located at Yongin, Gyeonggido, where they learned all about the eco-friendly Eco-home, and visited the green energy experience hall operated by the Korea Energy Management Corporation.

Trying again to help out and make a difference in the world Samsung tried to decrease the amount of waste they put out in 2012. Samsung’s waste decreased 19% as a result of separation of its LCD sector. Also, the company recycled most waste materials generated by its global workplaces (94%). Namely, Samsung recycled both wastewater processing remnants and waste incineration ash.

In 2012, Samsung Electronics’ industrial water consumption declined sharply due to the separation of the LCD sector, which accounted for 48% of the company’s entire industrial water consumption. Municipal water and groundwater consumption experienced slight increases due to added employees, cafeterias and sanitation facilities.

Samsung has all these examples of CSR plus many more and they state them all in their 2013 Sustainability Report, which can be found here in the link below. http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/sustainability/sustainabilityreports/download/2013/2013_Sustainability_Report.pdf

 - Jordan Morse

Works Cited

"Cooperate Social Responsibility." Sustainability. Samsungengineering.com, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <http://www.samsungengineering.com/sustainability/corporate/project/suView>.

"Corporate Social Responsibility." Samsung.com. Samsung Electronics, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/investor_relations/corporate_governance/corporatesocialresponsibility/>.

[sustainablecomposing]

Educating Alabama's Teens

When you hear the term “Corporate Social Responsibility”, exactly what comes to your mind? Maybe you think of scholarships, recycling programs, or even donations to charities. Have you ever thought about a company or businesses practicing Corporate Social Responsibility in terms of education? Well, the Alabama Department of Public Health is doing just that.They are practicing Corporate Social Responsibility by educating youth about the importance of abstinence and safe sex through a project called Crittenton Youth Services.   

    Did you know that in 2012 6,236 teens in Alabama were pregnant, and many others were infected by some form of STD (adph.org)? Many people complain about these statics, but what is actually being done to decrease these numbers? More importantly, at what ages are teens really being educated about abstaining from sex or having safe sex?

  I personally believe that the best time to begin educating teens about abstinence and safe sex is in middle school. When most students begin learning about abstinence and safe sex, they are usually in high school and already sexually active. By this time, they have learned things by experimentation, the media, or peers. The information they do know before being educated is usually inaccurate or generated from a myth. Because of this, I’m a big supporter of Crittenton Youth Services.  

#KeepTeensFromBecomingAnotherStatistic 

  The Alabama Department of Public Health created a project called Crittenton Youth Services (CYS). CYS offers many programs that benefit the community such as Relationship Smart Plus, a community-based summer program, and Bridging the Great Divide, a program that teaches parents how to further develop their communication skills with their teens.   

  Listed below is the link to the website that explains in greater detail about Crittenton Youth Services and their contact information: 

http://www.adph.org/teenpregnancyprevention/index.asp?id=5033

    One of the most prominent programs Crittenton provides is an educational series called Managing Pressures Before Marriage taught to seventh graders in Mobile County public schools. The series is taught over a five week timespan by high school seniors, Crittenton Youth Services Ambassadors. Prior to their teaching sessions, the ambassadors all go through a thorough training process to make sure they are very educated on the subjects they will be teaching.  Each week, two different ambassadors go to these schools and educate the seventh graders on topics such as abstinence, teen pregnancy prevention, STDs, and understanding the importance of saying “NO.”   

  Below is a photo of the 2012-2013 Ambassador shirt:  

  #YOYO #YoureOnlyYoungOnce #MakeItCount    

  What makes this program so successful is the fact that the series is taught by high school teenagers, and it is taught at an age where most of the seventh graders are not yet sexually active. The seventh graders pay attention and interact more with the ambassadors as opposed to adults because most of them are only 17 or 18.  Because the ambassadors are only a few years older than the middle school students, they can relate more to the ambassadors and are viewed as role models to the middle school students.    

The following photo is a picture of the 2012-2013 CYS Ambassadors teaching a session at Mobile County Training School:  

  I can’t necessarily guarantee that because of the Managing Pressures Before Marriage series the amount of pregnancies and STDs within teens in Alabama will decrease, but as a former CYS Ambassador I’ve seen firsthand the positive affect this program has on these seventh graders. I have even met many of the students who participated in this program years ago when they were in the seventh grade. They expressed to me how much this program impacted their lives and how much it saved them from making mistakes.       

  Through Crittenton Youth Services, The Alabama Department of Public Health is positively affecting the community by instilling in the seventh graders the knowledge to help them make better choices regarding sex and protecting themselves. This program has had and is continuing to have a great impact on Mobile County, but what about the rest of the state of Alabama? The Alabama Department of Public Health needs to provide this program, or one very similar, to all seventh graders in public schools in the state of Alabama. The best way to make progress toward decreasing the number of pregnant and STD infected teens is to educate them. 

#EducationIsKey #LetsSpreadTheKnowledge  

  -Brianna Daniels

      Work Cited:

N.P. Cys-mobile.org. Crittenton Youth Services of Mobile, Al. N.D. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.  

N.P. Cys-mobile.org/photogallery. Crittenton Youth Services of Mobile, Al. N.D. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.

N.P. Adph.org/healthstats. N.D. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.

N.P. Adph.org/teenpregnancyprevention. N.D. Web. 02 Feb. 2014. 

[sustainablecomposing]

Cocoa for a Change

In 1894, a candy confectioner by the name of Milton Hershey decided to create a company that produced chocolate for his caramel candies. The Hershey’s chocolate company grew from a small factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to a well known name and company associated with some of the most popular candies and chocolates. With selling confections to over 70 countries around the world, this company has a much larger impact on the world than helping hyperactivity everywhere, but how it has a huge influence on the world itself, with not only consumers, but producers, even in the smallest of places.

           Hershey’s has always publicized about the chocolate that they use only the finest cocoa grown by African cocoa farmers using fair labor practices. But, a there are a few things that argue that. In 2012, the Hershey’s chocolate company was sued over using ingredients that came from West African suppliers that used farms built on illegal child labor and forced labor (LA Times 1). This forced labor was also related to human trafficking since it did not abide by fair labor laws. Children were taken and forced to work on farms producing cocoa beans that Hershey’s ultimately bought and used in their chocolates. Hershey denied accusations saying that it does not purchase cocoa beans directly from West African farms, but buys processed beans from other companies. But, if Hershey’s claims the cocoa beans were bought from other companies, the accusations stands true that they cannot provide an explanation of where their chocolate comes from; therefore, whether they know the truth or not, the company is a part of unfair labor practices on African cocoa farms.

          That same year, by coincidence of course, Hershey’s launched a huge campaign on expanding responsible cocoa communities in West Africa by creating sustainable efforts to accelerate farmer and family development in West Africa where the majority of the world’s cocoa is grown. They even decided to invest $10 million dollars into West Africa by various programs such as CocaLink, a program designed to allow mobile voice and SMS text messages to inform cocoa farmers of new farming practices, and allowing the U.S to purchase cocoa products with 100 percent cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms for the FIRST time (“Hershey Expands” 1).

http://www.thehersheycompany.com/social-responsibility/hersheys-csr-video.aspx

Let’s evaluate this for a minute. The same year Hershey’s was accused of unfair labor practices in West Africa, the company launched a huge campaign on showing their corporate social responsibility, began having happy little group texts with third world farmers, and even told that the U.S was receiving chocolate from Rainforest Alliance Certified Farms for the first time ever. Now raises the question: where did it come before? Way to cover your tracks there chocolate guys. In my opinion, how about spend $10 million towards the hunger and disease epidemic also in Western Africa and completely abolishing unfair work practices.

           In the end though, whether Hershey’s company was not involved in unfair work practices concerning the growth of the cocoa beans they used in West Africa, or were guilty and therefore tried to remake their corporate social responsibility views to the public and their collaborators before it was too late and they lost business. Either way, companies have a weird way of helping people and becoming morally sound when they get caught by the public eye in the unmoral limelight. But, through it all, some good may have come about to the cocoa growers in West Africa from this limelight, and stay on them long enough for real progress to be made for the better of mankind everywhere.

According to Jay Eisenhofer [concerning the Hershey case], "That one of the world's leading confectioners -- whose primary market is children -- could exploit child laborers to meet its bottom line is an outrage." (LA Times 1)

-Written by Rebecca Anglin

  Works Cited

Hsu, Tiffany. “Hershey sued over African cocoa farm child labor               accusations.” LA Times 1 (2012): 1-1. LA Times. Web. 12 Feb. 2014

“Hershey Expands Responsible Cocoa Community Programs in West Africa.” 1 (2012): The Hershey Company. Web. 12 Feb. 2014

Hershey Logo. 2012. Hershey Co. Web. 12 Feb. 2014

“Hershey’s CSR Video.” The Hershey Company. The Hershey Company. Web. 12 Feb. 2014

#csr  #chocolate  #bethegood  #Hershey  #fairworkpractices

[sustainablecomposing]

Hewlett-Packard: Practicing What They Preach

 Everyone has heard of the name Hewlett-Packard, most notably abbreviated as HP. The company, based in Palo Alto, California, manufacture software and computer services, most notably printers and laptops.

  Something that most people probably do not know, however, is HP’s stance on the environment. As a matter of fact, Hewlett-Packard is one of the most green-oriented companies in existence today. And it’s not all greenwash like a lot of companies out there; they’re actually doing what they say.

One of HP’s mottos is “Go Green,” which is something they are urging consumers as well as their competition to do in order to preserve our environment. HP says that not only is going green good practice in that it helps our environment which in turn helps us, but that it is also good business in that being environmentally friendly it can attract consumers as well as potential partners

Now, all of this talk about being green is one thing. But does HP actually back it up? The answer is yes. All of Hewlett-Packard’s ink cartridges for their printers are made with the environment in mind, in that they are made out of 100% recycled plastic and they are fully recyclable after use. Also, many of their printers are made of recycled plastic as well.

But making products from environmentally friendly materials isn’t where Hewlett-Packard is stopping. Besides those efforts, they are also cutting down on energy use at their plants as well as data centers.

  Since HP’s inception, they’ve been ecologically minded in that they have their servers and data storage centers do whatever it takes to save power. While this definitely helps HP out as a company by reducing energy costs, it also helps out the environment by consuming less energy, thus helping slow things such as global warming.

  And if that wasn’t enough proof of the good things HP is doing, they have been Energy Star certified for many years, and they have received many other awards from environmental agencies over years past. 

Hewlett-Packard constantly is atop lists of green and environmentally friendly companies, however, they remain strong in the fact that more can be done. They are constantly educating themselves on the environment and the new things that can be done to improve it, and they are relaying this information on to and supporting their suppliers and sellers. They are also constantly coming up with new ways to help consumers, both in the technical world and the environmental world.

   Hewlett-Packard’s main concern for the environment doesn’t stem from wanting to look good and sell their products. Although being green does help here, their primary concern has been, is, and always will be to preservation and longevity of our ecosystem. 

-Jerred Pope

                                                                  Works Cited

Fleischer, Deborah. "Hewlett-Packard: What Does It Take to        Be #1?" Green Impact. WordPress, 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Gonsalves, Antone. "HP Launches Green Initiative For    Printing." InformationWeek. UBM Tech, 22 May 2008. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

"HP Awards & Honors." HP Newsroom. Hewlett-Packard, n.d. Web. 26  Feb. 2014.

Preimesberger, Chris. "HP Practicing What It Preaches with Internal  Green IT Initiatives." HP Practicing What It Preaches with Internal Green IT Initiatives. Quinstreet Enterprise, 21 Oct. 2008. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Wong, Kristine. "News." GreenBiz.com. N.p., 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Feb.  2014.

[sustainablecomposing]

      BP Making Amends to the Gulf 

bp as we all know is the company that was responsible for the 2010 oil spill in the gulf.  And how the economy was crippled in the gulf coastal areas because of the drop in tourism, along with the environment and the wildlife getting hit hard as well.

              According to bp’s official website,  http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/gulf-of-mexico-restoration/committed-to-the-gulf.html, they have fully funded the $20 billion dollar trust that they set up for the gulf back in 2010. The money bp is funding the gulf coast with goes to pay for mainly three different things.

                        The first, bp is paying for claims made by local businesses, local governments, and individuals for property and economic damages caused by the oil spill, aka the Deepwater Horizon Accident. 

  The total amount bp paid on settlements is just under 13 billion dollars.

            The third is, working with environmental organizations to try and restore the wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico and its coastal animals. Bp has put in the effort and the resources in order to restore the environment back to how it was before the oil spill. But, people will always remember that bp is responsible for one of the worst disasters in the Gulf of Mexico other than some of the devastating hurricanes.

  Bp knows that they are responsible for the oil spill and they also feel responsible which is helping their public image in America. They are basically repenting, by trying to repair the damages from the oil spill, and asking for forgiveness. And people are noticing what bp is trying to do and support them. Bp also has been donating money to charity along with direct reparations to the gulf area.

              Bp has made it there mission to be committed to the Gulf when it comes not only to restoring the gulf but also trying to improve it from its state from before the oil spill by investing, bringing jobs to the Gulf, and doing research to better their work in handling future oil spills because no body is perfect and accidents happen.  Since, bp is bettering themselves and the gulf area, which is improving their image with the public.

              Bp is research is also trying to figure out a sustainable energy source, which could lead to a better world with less pollution. People like the idea of green energy. But, people according to poles by a mass majority rated the federal government’s response and bp’s response to be poor. As time passes and people see how much bp is putting into restoring the gulf they will begin to trust bp again.

              The media has also come down hard on bp. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill On Wikipedia an editorial made by USA Today claimed that the cause of the explosion leading to the spill was the cutting of corners by bp. Also Ted Turner stated that we should just abandon our reliance on coal and oil and focus on solar and wind power, which is a good idea but is not cost efficient enough yet due to lack of research and it is new technology.

                        In conclusion bp is one hundred percent responsible for all the economic and environmental damages cause by the oil spill, aka the Deepwater Horizon Accident, in the Gulf of Mexico. Bp also knows that they are accountable for their mistake as well. Bp has spent twenty billion dollars on restoring the gulf and probably will have to spend even more to completely restore the gulf. They are trying to repair their public image in America by compensating as much as they can for the local businesses, local governments, and individuals of the Gulf coast. But, they are fighting an up hill battle, which will take a long time to dig them out of this hole. People after the first year felt that bp handle this poorly but, they are doing what they can and it is a long process for one company to cover all the expenses at once of such a large area.

  -Alex Priest

            Work Cited

  "Gulf of Mexico | BP Global." bp. N.p.. Web. 21 Feb 2014. <http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/gulf-of-mexico-restoration.html>.

  "Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill." Wikipedia. N.p.. Web. 21 Feb 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill>.