IMAGINE GLOBAL FOUNDATION
Organisation for Research Analysis Nd Global Epowerment - ORANGE
Sustainable Business Practices
Sustainable Business Practice
​
Over the past decades, a growing awareness of resource scarcity and climate change has raised the importance of sustainable agriculture. It is now top of mind for consumers, customers, suppliers and their communities, as well as for millennial generation employees, who are demanding that their employers demonstrate sustainable practices.
​
Sustainability and other environmental issues are increasingly impossible to ignore. The FAO estimates that more than 40% of the world’s rural population now lives in water-scarce regions. Even traditional agricultural centers in developed markets like California face water constraints. In a recent case, the months-long haze over Southeast Asia, caused by Indonesian farmers burning their land, cost that country’s economy an estimated $50 billion. Companies need to factor environmental costs into their business equations, especially as governments prepare to impose taxes on carbon usage and other environmental stressors.
Indeed, governments are swiftly enacting legislation aimed at requiring sustainable products. Many European countries now only allow certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) in their stores, for example. And as a result, CSPO sales have grown by an annual 24% since 2009. In the years ahead, sustainability will become a must to play in several crops.
​
Some agribusinesses have already learned how to make sustainability a core part of their strategies, even using it as an opportunity to create differentiated value and competitive advantages. Consider the enduring benefits achieved by New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL) after the company opted to construct its business model around CSPO and embed sustainability into its operations. (A core element of how NBPOL achieved this was by reaching out proactively and working closely with leading environmental organizations.)
​
NBPOL entered into long-term contacts with customers seeking sustainable palm oil. Linking its brand with CSPO has positioned the company to grow its customer base when the market completely demands the sustainable product. NBPOL was recently acquired by Sime Darby, a large Malaysian palm oil company, at an 85% premium—paid in part because of the company’s unique expertise in CSPO.
​
Indeed, when done right, sustainability can be a source of significant value. But it doesn’t happen by accident. Truly embedding sustainability requires making it a top corporate priority and communicating its importance throughout the organization. It also requires setting the right key performance indicators and factoring the cost of sustainability into project assessment and reporting, measuring the impact and being transparent about progress. Companies also need to adjust their operating models and supply chains to incorporate sustainability.
​
​
​
Reduction of Carbon Footprint
An organization’s business processes can have a large carbon footprint. Did you know that it takes 24 trees to produce one ton of uncoated, non-recycled printing and office paper, of which four million tons are used annually? This means that in the United States alone, Country consume the equivalent of about 96 million trees per year, enough to cover hundreds of thousands of acres, just to satisfy the office paper needs. Moreover, since all paper, recycled or virgin, is about 40% carbon by mass, roughly 1.6 million tons of carbon will eventually be released into the environment as a result of each year’s paper consumption. This contributes tremendously to forest degradation, not to mention the effects of the huge inputs of chemicals, energy, and water needed in the manufacturing process.
​
Not only is a “paperless” organization more eco-friendly, but it also benefits from reduced costs by minimizing paper purchases, decreasing storage space for filing cabinets, avoiding postage costs, reduce long-distance phone charges for faxes, avoiding manual search and delivery of documents, automating many business processes, and lowering the energy costs of operating MFP’s / MFD’s and other office machines. Save time, save money, and save forests with fax server solutions from Paperless Productivity
Reduction of Carbon Footprint
The carbon footprint and carbon reduction calculator uses facts about the chemical make-up of office paper to calculate the carbon release that may result from your office paper usage, as well as the contribution to deforestation.
You’ll be surprised to see just how much a difference paper reduction can make. By reducing paper consumption, you’ll not lower CO2 emissions through paper processing. Since each tree that is preserved is able to “consume” CO2 in the atmosphere, the difference is nearly tripled.
​
Paper can only be recycled about three times, so the carbon in all discarded paper will eventually be released into the environment in some way. Of course we hope that tree planning initiatives will help sequester this carbon, but the surest way to prevent it is to discard paper for good by transitioning to a paperless office.
Leave your legacy
​
The reduction of your organization’s carbon footprint does not lessen productivity; it increase costs or involves esoteric technology. Quite the opposite, in fact when an organization transitions to paperless operations by taking advantage of the premier electronic document solutions, scaled to your needs and tailored to your goals, you will find that document management has never been faster, cheaper, simpler or more environmentally sound.
​
​