Header block
The Good Doc Blog, Blogging, Pacific Film Foundation Blog
update
add Row
add block
Block 3
Row 1
June 15.2022
2 Minutes Read

What’s sustainability, and what’s it got to do with business? 

Simply put, sustainability is the ability to retain or maintain something at a certain rate or level. This could be applicable to absolutely anything, from your weight loss diet to the environment and Planet Earth.


In business, sustainability can be perceived in different ways. But currently where environment, social and governance (ESG) is a primary context in which business sustainability is often referred to, an article published on the Harvard Business School website says business sustainability is doing business without negatively impacting the environment, community, or the society as a whole. 


Therefore, the goal is not just building a sustainable business such as manufacturing products using recycled materials. Sustainable business need not be only about organic and green materials. To understand this idea better, consider an automobile manufacturing business. If the automobile being manufactured requires non-renewable fossil fuels to function, this fact does not only mean depletion of natural resources, but also the addition to air pollution which in turn affects the environment and contributes to global warming. However, that is only one and the most basic ways of considering this problem. 


In broader terms, sustainability is looking for options that have a longer-term solution instead of a shorter-term, less expensive option. So in taking a look at the same automobile manufacturing business from a sustainability point of view, the business might decide to build hybrid or electric vehicles. Sustainability also extends to the actual manufacturing plant where renewable sources of energy are used, such as electricity from solar panels, optimization of operations and supply chain activities to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, and even educational efforts, not just for customers, but for youths, and local communities about the advantages of using renewable resources of energy.


In order to achieve business sustainability, several models have been devised to evaluate businesses such as ESG benchmarking and the triple bottom line. These models can be utilized effectively to enhance businesses.


Stay tuned to this space for climate- and sustainability-related issues. 


Sustainability

24155 Views

0 Comments

Write A Comment

*
*
Related Posts All Posts
06.20.2022

Climate Modifications Are Brought About By Monsoon Winds

The modification in weather is a complex system that is interdependent on the mix of the Earth's rotation, the tilt of the Earth's axis, atmosphere and sun's heat. The formation of cyclonic flows and the air masses fluctuate are produced by this combination. As winds, we observed these huge shifting of air. Across the world the heating result of the sun produces three wind circulations of major consequence on the weather. Apart from these there are other smaller-scale winds that affects the weather. Numerous portions of the globe are impacted by the Monsoon winds. In India it has the greatest influence. Over Siberia in the winter season due to the sinking effect of very cold air an area of high pressure is formed. Making an outflow of winds that moves toward the southeast and blows over India to the sea, forming rain and clouds on its way, dissipates this high-pressure zone. The opposite effect happens throughout the summer season. A low-pressure zone over northern India has the high in Siberia considerably compromised. Heavy rain happens as this low-pressure area draws from the Indian Ocean moist, warm air. These modifications of monsoon winds have a heavy bearing on the Indian agriculture. Failure of the event of the expected Monsoon rains lead to high expense of produce and hunger. Sea breeze is a local wind of another type that can be discovered in the seaside region. The land gets heated up faster than the water during the daytime. The air rises upwards when it gets heated. So the air over the land rises upwards and the cooler air from the sea surface area enters to fill deep space. This is called the sea breeze. During the night the procedure reverses, as the land gets cooler quicker than the water. Warmer air over the sea surface area goes up as the cooler air of the land takes its position. This is called the land breeze. Throughout summer season and spring season the land and the ocean breeze become the strongest. Around the world there are some other winds of key significance. While reaching the opposite of the mountain the wind blowing over it sinks very rapidly causing compression that creates a warm wind. This warm wind makes the snow of the mountain melt. 'Chinook' is the name by which this wind is called as it gets in touch with the Rocky Mountain's east side, while the same wind is called 'Foehn' in Switzerland.
06.05.2022

The first step to sustainability is understanding the difference between climate change and global warming  

Over the last few years, sustainability has become a buzzword. From fashion brands to investment banking, the term sustainability features more and more often to serve the so-called ‘woke’ consumers of the 21st century. This World Environment Day, we bring to you the difference between climate change and global warming in order to understand sustainability.In the real-world sense, it is crucial to be able to comprehend the subtle differences between the often interchangeably used terms global warming and climate change. A simple Google search will tell you global warming simply means the rise in the temperature of the earth’s surface, and climate change, is the side-effects of this warming up of the earth’s surface. It is also important that in this context, we understand the difference between climate and weather. Weather is the atmospheric condition that occurs over a short period of time. For instance, when you say it is a sunny day, what’s being referred to here is the weather. However, climate means a long term occurrence in a particular region or all around the globe, like for example the patterns of snowfall or rain over a years or even decades.Therefore, when we talk about climate change, it includes the side-effects of global warming contributed through both manmade and natural causes, as well as a range of other factors which together lead to a shift in the patterns resulting in climate change. When talking about sustainability and environment, it essentially means activities that do not contribute to global warming. Stay tuned to this space for climate- and sustainability-related issues.
03.24.2022

A Buffalo Soldier's WWII Journal

Sunday morning, December 7, 1941"I went downtown with my brother Norman and stepbrother, Hayward Thompson, to catch an early movie at the RKO Hill Street Theater at 8th and Hill Streets in Los Angeles. "The name of the movie is long forgotten but I recall clearly that its projection is suddenly stopped and a civilian—perhaps the theater manager—comes out onto the stage and announces that all servicemen should return to their bases immediately. The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor. "I am 16 years old, a senior at Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles, and I have no idea where Pearl Harbor is. I really didn’t understand that this is the beginning of a major war."[The above is from the WWII journal kept by Ivan J. Houston, featured in the documentary film, With One Tied Hand, with portions published in the book by Mr. Houston and Gordon Cohn, "Black Warriors, The Buffalo Soldiers of World War II."][The following is edited from a history of Pearl Harbor by the Encyclopædia Britannica.] In the 1930s, American foreign policy in the Pacific supported China support for China. In 1931 Japan took over the Chinese province of Manchuria, creating a new state called Manchukuo. A pitched battle between the Japanese and the United Front (Chinese Nationalists and the Chinese Communists) took place on the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing on July 7, 1937. In 1938, the United States government extended its first loan to China. And, in July 1939 the U.S. terminated the 1911 Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with Japan and began to restrict the export to Japan of war materials. By July 1941, Japan had pushed aside the French Vichy government, occupied Indochina, and allied itself with the Axis powers (Germany and Italy). Of course, the U.S. government severed relations with Japan. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the Japanese knew there would be no attack from the West. The U.S. tried to negotiate with Japan but at the end of November, no agreement had been reached.  The U.S. Pacific Fleet comprised nearly 100 naval vessels, including 8 battleships and substantial military and air forces. As the tension mounted, Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lieut. Gen. Walter C. Short, who shared command at Pearl Harbor, were warned of the possibility of war, specifically on October 16 and again on November 24 and 27.  The notice of November 27, to Kimmel, began, “This dispatch is to be considered a war warning,” went on to say that “negotiations have ceased,” and directed the admiral to “execute an appropriate defensive deployment.” Kimmel also was ordered to “undertake such reconnaissance and other measures as you deem necessary.” The communication of the same day to Short declared that “hostile action is possible at any moment” and, like its naval counterpart, urged “measures of reconnaissance.”  In response to these warnings, the measures taken by the army and navy commanders were, as the event proved, far from adequate. Short ordered an alert against sabotage and concentrated most of his fighter planes at the base on Wheeler Field in an effort to prevent damage to them. He also gave orders to operate five of the mobile radar sets that had been set up in the island from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM, considered to be the most dangerous period. (Radar training, however, was in a far-from-advanced stage.)  Kimmel, despite the fact that his intelligence had not been able to locate substantial elements in the Japanese fleet—especially the first-line ships in carrier divisions 1 and 2—did not expand his reconnaissance activities to the northwest, the logical point for an attack. He moored the entire fleet (save that part which was at sea) in the harbor and permitted a part of his personnel to go on shore leave. Neither of these officers suspected that the base at Pearl Harbor would itself be subjected to attack. Nor, for that matter, is there any indication that their superiors in Washington were in any way conscious of the approaching danger. In the 10 days between the war warning of November 27 and the Japanese attack itself, no additional action was taken by Washington.  Early on Sunday morning, December 7, Washington learned that the Japanese ambassadors had been instructed to ask for an interview with the secretary of state at 1:00 PM (7:30 AM Pearl Harbor time). This was a clear indication that war was at hand. The message took some time to decode, and it was not in the hands of the chief of naval operations until about 10:30. It was delivered to the War Department between 9:00 and 10:00 AM. Gen. George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army chief of staff, was out horseback riding and did not see the dispatch until he arrived at his office about 11:15 AM. The chief of naval operations, Adm. Harold Stark, even then did not think that the communication called for any additional instructions to Kimmel.  However, Marshall sent a new warning and gave orders to the military command to communicate with the navy. He did not telephone, fearing interception, and instead sent his dispatch by telegram. There was a mix-up in communication, however, and the warning did not reach Hawaii until after the attack had begun. It is important to note that it had not been filed until noon, only an hour before the Japanese planes moved in on the base.  At Pearl Harbor itself, there were incidents that, properly interpreted, might have given a brief warning. Four hours before the decisive moment, a Japanese submarine was sighted by the minesweeper USS Condor. About two and a half hours later, the commander of the destroyer USS Ward sent a message saying that he “had attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon submarine operating in defensive sea area” near Pearl Harbor. While Kimmel waited for confirmation of this report, the Japanese opened hostilities. In these same morning hours, U.S. Army Pvt. George Elliott, practicing on the radar set after its normal closing time, noticed a large flight of planes on the screen. When he telephoned his lieutenant, he was told to disregard the observation, as a flight of B-17 bombers from the United States was expected at that time. Once again, an opportunity was missed. [Thank you for reading. Please watch for our next post.]
add Row
add block