In today’s day and age, more and more people are becoming aware of the fact that we need to start getting serious about preserving our environment. Most people don’t often stop to think that if the environment continues on a downward slide the more our health, lifestyles, and basic ways of living will be altered. If the environment suffers, people suffer, and if the environment continues to be destroyed we are, in a sense, destroying ourselves. Let’s face it, without a healthy environment we can’t exist in the manner we have become accustomed to. Lucky for us more and more evidence supporting the fact that we need to preserve and protect the environment is surfacing. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, as controversial as it was, opened people’s eyes and made them realize and understand the effects of global warming.
As more evidence surfaces not only people, but companies are starting to become more conscious of the environment and the need to conserve our energy resources. A company that I recently interned with over the summer called Alsons Corporation, recently started to “go green.” Alsons Corporation is a division of the Fortune 500 company, Masco Corporation. Masco made a company-wide initiative throughout all of its divisions located all over the world to become more environmentally concerned and energy efficient. Masco is a major manufacturer and distributor of home building products. The Alsons division makes and sells shower heads and various other shower products. All of their packaging for new products is being designed to be eco-friendly. In addition to changing its packaging, the company has started changing light fixtures and equipment to be more energy efficient and has started looking for more ways to conserve energy. Alsons has also combined their operations to run primarily during the daytime to conserve energy by reducing the amount of time the factory and its components are running. The company is also cutting their energy use by reducing unnecessary lighting out in its parking lot, reducing the amount of time its water fountain operates and by encouraging its employees to continue this eco-friendly attitude within their own homes.
Businesses all over the world have started encouraging their consumers to be more environmentally conscious. Grocery stores such as Meijers and Whole Foods, to name a few, have started encouraging its consumers to buy environmentally friendly bags and re-use them every time they go grocery shopping. Wal-Mart, the largest company in the world, has made this a major focus within their company and they have asked their suppliers to join them in this cause. Nestle, the company that makes Ice Mountain water, started a program that reduces the amount of raw materials used in their bottling process. They have reduced the amount of plastic used to make their bottles by 25% and they also use PET, which is the most easily recycled type of plastic. All of their bottles and labels are recyclable and they have made their gallon containers reusable. Companies such as Intel and Apple have also jumped on the environmental band wagon. Intel claims to be producing more eco-friendly product designs, while apple is releasing the newest iPod Nano with arsenic-free glass and no PVC.
So, there is evidence that more and more people have realized that we must preserve the environment. Hopefully people will keep this attitude and continue to influence others to become more environmentally friendly as well. It’s great to know that when I hear the term “go green,” I don’t automatically think of Michigan State’s football team, but of a worldwide movement to be environmentally conscious. So if you already haven’t, why not be trendy and become eco-friendly?
