Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility
In doing research for Red Goldfish and our other projects, we have found many examples of corporate social responsibility in business. These companies all share goals of holding themselves accountable to the people they serve. They seek to make the production process more transparent and practice sustainable methods. These companies may be food producers sourcing their ingredients from organic farms. They may be health companies providing low cost or free medical care. Other examples include corporations that fund grants for community improvement. These are all examples of corporate social responsibility in business.
Setting the Standard
One social enterprise company that consistently meets its marks is Waste Management. This waste disposal company is on a mission to reduce environmental impact. All people and most companies have a need to throw things away. Waste Management does not focus on where waste can go. Instead, the company focuses on what trash and recyclable goods can do. One recycled glass bottle can power a computer for 30 minutes. Waste Management teaches car companies to recycle their packaging products. These recycled goods can be used for noise dampening in completed cars. This makes for a quieter ride, and adds to the value of the car for the consumer.
Waste Management even teaches universities and communities to convert their waste into power. This makes these places more independent, and can save other power resources like oil and gas. The company helps other companies to reclaim and recycle more materials from their own manufacturing processes. This aids companies in meeting their own bottom lines. Waste Management’s efforts at recycling and reusing waste are good for the environment, but they are also good for business.
Unlikely Opportunity
Dave Steiner, CEO of Waste Management, states that waste equals opportunity. Where most people see waste, the company sees ways it can improve the world. It explores ways to make recycling easier for customers. It also uses landfill space to create wildlife habitats and local community recreation areas. These are all reasons why Waste Management is one of the best examples of corporate social responsibility in business.
Waste management shows how recycling as many times as we can and recycling right can help preserve valuable landfill space and can save precious natural resources.
A woman talking about how Waste Management re imagines waste and looks for new ways of converting trash into more useful things.
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