Corporate sustainability efforts are sometimes framed as acts of altruism — but for big businesses, protecting the environment is often good for the bottom line.
Amazon workers have spent this year urging CEO Jeff Bezos take more urgent steps on climate change. They’re a key reason Amazon’s environmental footprint is under scrutiny.
“We’ve moved past this concept that business versus the environment is a tradeoff,” said Tom Murray, who advises companies on reducing emissions at Environmental Defense Fund, including Walmart, McDonald’s Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co. “The business benefits were always there, but more and more companies are going after them.”
The business case for going green has never been stronger as companies find ways to make more from less. Here’s a look at the ways corporate America is making environmentalism pay., driving down fuel use and costs. Airlines account for almost 2% global carbon emissions. Not even the in-flight magazine has been spared in the search for unnecessary heft: changing to a lighter paper stock saved almost $300,000 per year on fuel.
It turns out that simply asking guests to hang up towels to dry and forgo daily sheet changes can take 25% off hotel operators’ annual energy costs. “To some surprise within the hotel industry, this option was quickly embraced by hotel guests as a small way to engage in energy conservation,” says a report by the Urban Land Institute. Clarion Partners does that at all its hotels and went a step further by reducing flows through toilets, faucets and showerheads.
Patagonia Inc. has been repairing and recycling clothes since its inception in the 1970s, making the practice a core part of the brand’s environmental image. Two years ago, the company added incentives for customers who return used items that Patagonia can sell again. This wasn’t just an act of urgency to keep clothing out of landfills.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Reduce waste, save money: France's poorest city goes greenHundreds of families in Roubaix are following a “Zero Waste” policy to help the planet while also relieve stress on their wallets.
Read more »
5 Stores That Make It Easy to Go Plastic-FreeMoney talks, and at these five places, it's saying: 'I love businesses that don't use plastic.'
Read more »
Billie Joe Armstrong Explains the Stomach-Churning Reason Green Day's Next Album Ignores TrumpGreen Day haven't shied away from making political statements in the past, but this time around Armstrong says the 'nothing' president just doesn't inspire him.
Read more »
Ex-Facebook engineer posts YouTube videos mocking the culture and joking about how he was firedPatrick Shyu, a former tech lead at Google, has posted a series of videos making fun of Facebook, where he worked as a software engineer until last month.
Read more »
Apple Arcade Shows What Mobile Gaming Can Be When Freed of MicrotransactionsThe tech giant's new subscription service is already an extremely promising sampling of how mobile gaming can truly innovate when not bound to the all-consuming constraints of money-making.
Read more »