I work for a multi National Engineering company who are consultants to hundreds of Corporations worldwide. We dig big holes mine them and pollute. Morals have been eating away at me because I am contributing.
I did some research on my companies environmental policies and came up with but a few bullet points.
Disheartened I went straight to the top for answers. Straight to the General Manager.
He invited me into his office as I had harassed his secatary for 10 minutes of his time throughout the day. He asked what he could do for me, I told him what was (company name) policies on sustainibility and environmental policies. He sat back and immediately crossed his arms and replied, "are you part of a group or are you asking for your own interest?" I said, "own interest", "what do you want to know?" I reeled off a number of questions and got negative response to almost all of them. I even suggested that we could power our offices using so called "green Power" energy produced using sustainable and non polluting means. Our power companies here in Australia offer this. He said there is no leverage in that idea and would cost too much.
This guy only has one interest in mind, to make enough money to keep the share holders happy. I came away with, "the world is run by the economy". "why don't you develop an interest group?"
I went back to my office and asked the people around me, "do you think about what we are doing to the Earth by working the job we do?" None of them gives it any thought.
I thought about leaving to put my consciousness at ease. Not the right idea. In some way everything that we do has some impact on the environment, by staying I can develop some interest in making what we do better for the world or inspiring people to make small changes in their attitudes to our habbitat.
Slap in the Face
Moderator: Moderators
Slap in the Face
It aint about who you love but do you love?
Michael Franti/Spearhead.
Michael Franti/Spearhead.
Re: Slap in the Face
Great points, Marcus!
This also reminds me of a short conversation between myself and a co-worker today. At some point of our conversation i asked him to describe the city which we're working in. he said 'stressful and materialistic'. how sad but true. i went on to say that people don't have to be so, if they consciously avoid being so, eg: buy less, spend less, and not be bothered by owning less material possession, it's all in the mind; and that people don't spend enough time pondering what their purpose in life is. at that, he remarked that 'purpose of life' is an interesting notion, and we ended the conversation.
I digressed
back to power consumption... what i've observed in residential usage is, people's attitude. out of habit, alot of people switch on more lights than they're using. they're not even aware of it. they can only be in 1 place at a time anyway. those people whose bedrooms are equipped with air-conditioners switch them on almost every night throughout their sleep, w/o even stopping to think whether ithe weather today is hot enough to justify the use of the air-con. the bottomline of their attitude is, they're paying for the power consumption, and they can afford it. [fyi this is near the equator, with tropical climate. just like summer all year round]
if i were to ask them 'what do you think we're going to the earth by consuming power in this manner?' i can imagine their sheepish smile and 'ya, i know... but i just can't sleep without the aircon on' or 'ya, we're guilty... but it's just too hot to do it without the aircon'.
The question you asked has been bothering me too.Marcus wrote:I went back to my office and asked the people around me, "do you think about what we are doing to the Earth by working the job we do?" None of them gives it any thought.
This also reminds me of a short conversation between myself and a co-worker today. At some point of our conversation i asked him to describe the city which we're working in. he said 'stressful and materialistic'. how sad but true. i went on to say that people don't have to be so, if they consciously avoid being so, eg: buy less, spend less, and not be bothered by owning less material possession, it's all in the mind; and that people don't spend enough time pondering what their purpose in life is. at that, he remarked that 'purpose of life' is an interesting notion, and we ended the conversation.
I digressed
back to power consumption... what i've observed in residential usage is, people's attitude. out of habit, alot of people switch on more lights than they're using. they're not even aware of it. they can only be in 1 place at a time anyway. those people whose bedrooms are equipped with air-conditioners switch them on almost every night throughout their sleep, w/o even stopping to think whether ithe weather today is hot enough to justify the use of the air-con. the bottomline of their attitude is, they're paying for the power consumption, and they can afford it. [fyi this is near the equator, with tropical climate. just like summer all year round]if i were to ask them 'what do you think we're going to the earth by consuming power in this manner?' i can imagine their sheepish smile and 'ya, i know... but i just can't sleep without the aircon on' or 'ya, we're guilty... but it's just too hot to do it without the aircon'.
Sorry to hear all that. Of course, it would be surprising if you didn't get such a response, Marcus.
A question -- since you mentioned shareholders -- is your company privately held (private shareholders), or a publicly traded one? Because if you are the latter one, god help you -- anybody totally ignorant about your company's field of work but with enough money can influence negatively (how much so, of course, depends on the total percentage of out-of-company public shareholders) otherwise professional decisions. Privately held companies at least totally consist of people who are more likely to have a real professional knowledge and interest, and eventually to implement ecology considerations, because all of them had to go through a company recruitment process, required to have the necessary education in the field like you, etc. An extreme but real example -- there have been many instances of good companies sold down the drain by decisions swayed by totally ignorant public shareholders who have no education, had the money, bought shares, and then only have the desire to extract the maximum amount of money from the company, even if that means total disintegration of an otherwise positive and productive company.
A question -- since you mentioned shareholders -- is your company privately held (private shareholders), or a publicly traded one? Because if you are the latter one, god help you -- anybody totally ignorant about your company's field of work but with enough money can influence negatively (how much so, of course, depends on the total percentage of out-of-company public shareholders) otherwise professional decisions. Privately held companies at least totally consist of people who are more likely to have a real professional knowledge and interest, and eventually to implement ecology considerations, because all of them had to go through a company recruitment process, required to have the necessary education in the field like you, etc. An extreme but real example -- there have been many instances of good companies sold down the drain by decisions swayed by totally ignorant public shareholders who have no education, had the money, bought shares, and then only have the desire to extract the maximum amount of money from the company, even if that means total disintegration of an otherwise positive and productive company.
Do you REALLY practice meditation? If your REALLY do, do you practice a GOOD method? Are you sure this is REALLY so?
Ever seen a movie / documentary called The Corporation? It was pretty amazing! It talks about exactly what you said Vesko, they said a publicly traded company exists for the purpose of producing maximum return to its shareholders.. As far as I remember it is legally required that a public company behave in this way!?. And since a corporation must act in a selfish and self-indulgent way, it will only be environmentally friendly if it perceives a market for such a thing, or if it is legally required to do so. In other words a corporation may do something that appears to be ultruistic (such as produce lead free paint), but its purpose for doing so is derived from self interest - ie: profit (because people want lead free paint), and legal requirement (because a company could be sued)Vesko wrote:public shareholders who have no education, had the money, bought shares, and then only have the desire to extract the maximum amount of money from the company, even if that means total disintegration of an otherwise positive and productive company.
The Corporation website. I thoroughly recommend this movie
http://www.thecorporation.com/
IMDB user comment on The Corporation
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379225/usercomments
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. -- Douglas Adams
Zark, thank you very much for telling us about this film! Agree 100% with what you said.
Just to clear one potential misconception for other readers of this topic: a corporation is just the US name for a company. So when we talk about corporations, we must be careful to distinguish whether we mean a public corporations or private corporations, unless it is clear from the context.
Privately held companies are more likely to be conscious to a greater extent about their actions, and not just pursue profit. There is nothing bad about profit, but when it is done at the expense of the planet and its inhabitants, this is not a profit, it is a cost that is not paid by the company.
Private companies can be more professional as a whole, leading to superior products and services, too, because, as I said, they don’t have clueless public shareholders that have a say in company matters, e.g. which products to develop and how. I’m reminded of what I read about Wolfram Research, Inc. – the developer of the genuinely useful and unique software Mathematica. From a Q & A with Stephen Wolfram:
For the record, I have worked for a privately held US corporation that shall go nameless.
Just to clear one potential misconception for other readers of this topic: a corporation is just the US name for a company. So when we talk about corporations, we must be careful to distinguish whether we mean a public corporations or private corporations, unless it is clear from the context.
Privately held companies are more likely to be conscious to a greater extent about their actions, and not just pursue profit. There is nothing bad about profit, but when it is done at the expense of the planet and its inhabitants, this is not a profit, it is a cost that is not paid by the company.
Private companies can be more professional as a whole, leading to superior products and services, too, because, as I said, they don’t have clueless public shareholders that have a say in company matters, e.g. which products to develop and how. I’m reminded of what I read about Wolfram Research, Inc. – the developer of the genuinely useful and unique software Mathematica. From a Q & A with Stephen Wolfram:
That said, it is not true that there aren’t private companies that aren’t as evil or more so, because, both types of companies can be composed of criminally-minded individuals. No doubt there are also public ones that happen to be doing the right things – whether because public shareholders happen not to be clueless, or the percentage of out-of-company shareholders is insignificant.Q: Can I invest in Wolfram Research?
A: Ever since its founding in 1987 Wolfram Research has been a privately held company with no outside investors. My decision to keep running it this way has been critical in allowing us to focus on building the best long-term products.
Q: Do you invest in companies?
A: Generally I invest only in my own ventures. I have made a very small number of outside investments, more often of time than of money, but I have extremely high standards and will only consider opportunities that are not only sound business propositions but also intellectually interesting and meaningful.
For the record, I have worked for a privately held US corporation that shall go nameless.
Do you REALLY practice meditation? If your REALLY do, do you practice a GOOD method? Are you sure this is REALLY so?
Aisin,if i were to ask them 'what do you think we're going to the earth by consuming power in this manner?' i can imagine their sheepish smile and 'ya, i know... but i just can't sleep without the aircon on' or 'ya, we're guilty... but it's just too hot to do it without the aircon'.
I can relate to that. The design of the house is critical in terms of heating/cooling.
Vesko,Sorry to hear all that. Of course, it would be surprising if you didn't get such a response, Marcus.
A question -- since you mentioned shareholders -- is your company privately held (private shareholders), or a publicly traded one? Because if you are the latter one, god help you -- anybody totally ignorant about your company's field of work but with enough money can influence negatively (how much so, of course, depends on the total percentage of out-of-company public shareholders) otherwise professional decisions. Privately held companies at least totally consist of people who are more likely to have a real professional knowledge and interest, and eventually to implement ecology considerations, because all of them had to go through a company recruitment process, required to have the necessary education in the field like you, etc. An extreme but real example -- there have been many instances of good companies sold down the drain by decisions swayed by totally ignorant public shareholders who have no education, had the money, bought shares, and then only have the desire to extract the maximum amount of money from the company, even if that means total disintegration of an otherwise positive and productive company.
privately employee owned. That is why I see some light. I plan to visit some middle level Managers and plant soem seed in their minds. I hope made the General Manager "think" about what I said. I'm sure I was the first ever to approach him about this subject.
Zark,Vesko wrote:
public shareholders who have no education, had the money, bought shares, and then only have the desire to extract the maximum amount of money from the company, even if that means total disintegration of an otherwise positive and productive company.
Ever seen a movie / documentary called The Corporation? It was pretty amazing! It talks about exactly what you said Vesko, they said a publicly traded company exists for the purpose of producing maximum return to its shareholders.. As far as I remember it is legally required that a public company behave in this way!?. And since a corporation must act in a selfish and self-indulgent way, it will only be environmentally friendly if it perceives a market for such a thing, or if it is legally required to do so. In other words a corporation may do something that appears to be ultruistic (such as produce lead free paint), but its purpose for doing so is derived from self interest - ie: profit (because people want lead free paint), and legal requirement (because a company could be sued)
The Corporation website. I thoroughly recommend this movie
http://www.thecorporation.com/
IMDB user comment on The Corporation
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379225/usercomments
The Corporation was part of my confidence to approach the General Manager. After I watched that documentary I actually cried and pleaded with my Higher Self on what can I do? The answer came the very next morning when I read a particuar desk calendar quote.
The C.E.O of Interface, Ray Anderson (worlds largest carpet supplier) really hit the spot with me. Here's a man who has come to his senses and is climbing, "Mount Sustainibilty". http://www.interfaceinc.com/who/founder.html
Like you Zark I cannot recommend this DVD enough.
Vesko,For the record, I have worked for a privately held US corporation that shall go nameless.
you are an inspiration.
It aint about who you love but do you love?
Michael Franti/Spearhead.
Michael Franti/Spearhead.