Showing posts with label responsible business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label responsible business. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Integrating ISO 26000 (Social Responsibility) into your Management Systems
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Xerox's Green Innovation
Sustainable innovation is key to Xerox's strategy. The company is putting green innovation to work for profit and the planet. For Xerox sustainability and profitability are mutually reinforcing goals for themselves and their customers.Xerox Corporation is a $22 billion global enterprise for business process and document management. The 136,000 people of Xerox serve clients in more than 160 countries. Through its broad portfolio of technology and services, Xerox provides leading-edge document technology, services, software and supplies for graphic communication and office printing environments of all sizes. ACS, a company which Xerox acquired in February 2010, offers extensive business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing services.
The photocopying giant has also partnered with The Nature Conservancy to promote sustainable forestry, preserve biodiversity and help minimize forest loss and degradation that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
Xerox has been a leader for decades, as a mature company they now claim that green is part of their DNA. The company has maintained a business strategy focused on sustainable innovation. Xerox pioneered two-sided copying, print-on-demand, recycled paper and toner cartridges. More recently Xerox developed managed print services that enable customers to achieve their goals of reducing paper and energy usage, while boosting productivity.
The company claims that sustainability is a business fundamental, embedded in their operations and technologies, written into supplier specifications and creating economic value for their customers. They approach sustainability from a life cycle perspective because they recognize that the biggest opportunity to make an impact is by addressing all aspects of their actions, products and services.
Xerox’s innovative solid ink technology enables customers to cut costs and reduce their environmental impact. According to company, their ColorQube™ multifunction printer generates 90 percent less supplies waste, uses 9 percent less life cycle energy and produces 10 percent fewer greenhouse gases than comparable laser devices. Compared with conventional systems, it saves water, and is easier to recycle.
Xerox created the industry’s first Sustainability Calculator to help customers develop a fact-based estimate of their print-related environmental footprint. It enables customers to pinpoint opportunities to reduce both their environmental impact and their costs. They also help customers move from paper to digital documents with innovative business process and document management solutions
On April 7, 2011 Xerox Canada celebrated the achievement of reaching 1,500 patents. U.S. Patent 7,875,411 – XRCC’s 1,500th patent is part of the patent portfolio that covers long life photoreceptor technologies, a key area for increasing the sustainability attributes of Xerox’s laser printers and related products. The Xerox Research Centre Canada is responsible for developing the armour technology that almost doubles the life of photoreceptors - multi-layer thin film devices that convert light into electrostatic images.
“This technology has enabled a 30 percent reduction in waste, less down time and disruption to work flow, improved productivity, and fewer service calls,” says Yonn Rasmussen, vice president of the Xerographic Component Systems Group.
Investment in innovation can provide lucrative returns. Xerox discovered that their innovations have ended up either saving their customers and Xerox money or creating new markets and new profits.
See Xerox's environmental initiatives related to Solid ink technology and ColorQube. The company also has a sustainability Kit (PDF).
For more information, visit Xerox, or for investor information, click here.
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
350.org and Business
Bill McKibben and 350.org have some ambitious plans to get the business community involved with efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. The business community is responsible for a large amount of the CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere, if we are to achieve necessary reductions business people have a critical role to play in shaping a more sustainable economy.Many business people know that regulatory standards send clear market signals to investors and entrepreneurs about new opportunities. The current climate of uncertainty does not serve the business community. Numerous product innovations, clean energy investments and new service offerings will flow from a consistent EPA effort to regulate greenhouse emissions. As many states across America have demonstrated, policies that address greenhouse-gas emissions do not impair economic growth. To the contrary, they enhance it by attracting venture and institutional investors and new high technology and manufacturing companies.
In a conference call with Bill McKibben and the 350 team, The Green Market's Richard Matthews asked what 350.org is doing to help support the business community to combat climate change. Bill McKibben answered the question by saying, "it is really important to get businesses and business people involved that is why we are getting chambers of commerce involved." He went on to say, "capitalism is supposed to be innovative flexible and creative,[and] most business people are prepared to consider energy powered by the sun and the wind."
McKibben wants to get businesses to sign up to support efforts to combat climate change through a campaign that targets the US Chamber of Commerce. Rather than represent small businesses, the Chamber is actually a giant lobbying machine, spending more money to influence the political process than anyone else in Washington.
As indicated on the 350.org site, "The Chamber is controlled by big polluters, poisons politics with its dirty money and opposes every single effort to curb climate pollution."
As well known author and New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman said, "All shareholders should be asking CEOs why they still belong to the Chamber."
The Chamber has opposed every piece of legislation designed to slow the onset of global warming—in recent months it has tried to block the EPA from enforcing the Clean Air Act, arguing that global warming would be “on balance beneficial to humans” because fewer people would freeze to death and that in any event “populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of range of behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations.”
The US chamber of commerce spent 132 million dollars on lobbying in 2010. The Chamber gets more than half of its funding form 16 anonymous corporate donors. Of the companies that donated to the Chamber, $1 million came from the Fox Broadcasting Network. Fox host Glenn Beck urged his viewers to donate to the Chamber—and a US Chamber official called in to his program to thank him for his support.
Of the 32 million dollars the US Chamber of Commerce spent on the 2010 midterm election, 90 percent went to Republican candidates who are climate deniers.
Historically the Chamber has been on the wrong side of some major issues. They supported Joseph McCarthy in perpetuating the red scare, they also fought against American involvement in World War ll, civil rights, disabled rights and now clean air.
Local business chambers are increasingly at odds with the US Chamber. Local chambers of commerce have cut their ties in cities like Seattle, New York, and San Francisco as well as states like Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Washington.
More than a thousand businesses have also abandoned the Chamber, they include a wide range of companies from small businesses to international corporations like Apple, Nike, Microsoft, Levi-Strauss, Best Buy, and General Electric. For a map of businesses who are saying that the US Chamber of Commerce does not speak for them click here.
When Nike relinquished its position on the Chamber's board of directors it said, "We fundamentally disagree with the US Chamber of Commerce on climate change." When Apple resigned their position on the Chamber's board of directors they released the following statement, "Apple supports regulating greenhouse gases, it is frustrating to find that the Chamber at odds with us in that effort." Click here for a complete list of statements from those who disagree with the US Chamber of Commerce.
For more information read Bill McKibben’s Huffington Post piece on the US Chamber “The Gang That Couldn’t Lobby Straight”
Its time to develop a national movement and strong political voice for sustainability-minded companies. Responsible and sustainability minded companies can play a major role in making the argument that emasculated regulatory agencies, corporate oil and gas subsidies and tax cuts for millionaires will neither generate jobs nor foster a competitive economy. Join 350.org in standing with small business owners, local chambers of commerce and people all over the country. Sign up to the 350 campaign to say, "The US Chamber of Commerce Doesn't Speak For Me."
Become part of the American Sustainable Business Council to help build a more vibrant, just and sustainable American economy or join the many other organizations that are working at the national, state and local level.
To find out more about what businesses can do click here. You can also start or join a local team and recruit local businesses to declare, “The US Chamber Doesn’t Speak For Me.”
See the facebook page for The US Chamber of Commerce Doesn't Speak For Me and post the following Tweet on Twitter The US Chamber Doesn't Speak For Me http://t.co/i7jbw0v.
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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