How Sustainable SCM Diversifies Business Portfolio

This week we discussed how companies may be disconnected to their supply chains. In the Walmart case study, we saw the benefits that a company can gain from managing their supply chain thoroughly and ensuring that their supply chain is sustainable. There is a strong correlation between sustainability and efficiency. For example, a company can reduce its costs, improve transparency and awareness within its supply chain, and improve its reputation and relationship with consumers.

This article explains how China’s factories are being shut down because they are not meeting pollution regulation standards. In fact, the Chinese Ministry of Environment has charged 80,000 factories have been charged with criminal offenses. China is incentivized to crack down on its factories' pollution practices not only to reduce emissions, but also improve China's standard of living and better integrate themselves in global commerce. To maintain its business with Walmart and other powerful companies, China is improving its qualifications by aiming to reduce carbon emissions in all countries and investing in advanced coal generations that will reduce overall pollution levels. China wants to remain in business with international companies such as Walmart. By investing in environmentally sustainable practices, China diversifies their business portfolio and is more appealing to its business partners. Walmart's consciousness of its supply chain and implementation of sustainable practices within all sectors of its business shows how impactful a company’s decision to help the environment can be.

Article: https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/10/china-crack-factories-may-help-market-american-retailers/

Contributors: (David) Heng Wah Zeng, Justin Lee, Laetitia Waliry, Yuta Higuchi

Trader Joe's and Lack of Convenience Zone Recycling

      
     Did you know that retailers in your area are either an option A or option B location? Well neither did I until yesterday. I live around the corner from Trader Joe's in Studio City, CA., and for years I have purchased their 42.3 oz. lime sparkling water for .99 cents a bottle with a .10 cents CRV fee. Weekly I would return my empty bottles back to T.J.'s, get my credit for the bottles, and apply it towards my groceries. However, when I went about my usual routine this week, I was told that I could no longer redeem my bottles there, and that I would have to take my bottles to a recycling center 3.5 miles away. I stood there holding my bag of bottles wondering how I could be charged a deposit fee in my local store, and forced to go out of my city limits to be refunded. When I asked the store manager why they suddenly decided to do this, he stated that it was becoming too inconvenient for them to provide this service, and that their other local store decided not to do it either, so they joined them. I then called the regional manager of Trader Joe's and asked her about this change, and she said that not everyone in my area cares about recycling or the money like I do, and that they actually had complaints about people coming in with their bottles. She stated that they had a right to opt out of this process by paying a fee, and that is what they decided to do. 
      I immediately went online to the Cal Recycle website. It turns out that if your local supermarket does over 2 million in gross receipts a year must provide a way for you to redeem your bottles purchased at their location, or a recycling convenience center must be located within a half mile of the purchase. BUT as I found out through the public affairs department, there is a loophole; a store is either an option A store or an option B store. An option A store must return all CRV purchased bottles from their location only if there is no convenience zone recycling center, and an option B store pays a $100 a day penalty fee, so they do not have to redeem any bottles at all. Yep it turns out that my local Trader Joe's is an option B store, and has decided it would be more beneficial to pay the Cal Recycle department $36,0000 a year instead of crediting its local consumers. It may be beneficial for Trader Joe's, but what about it's customers? 
     There is more to consider. This impacts seniors or disabled patrons who don't drive and watch every penny they spend, how will they return their bottles? It will cost a local resident $1.05 in gas, plus an average of 30-60 minutes in travel and waiting in line for processing, plus the extra smog emissions and traffic congestion for driving out of the area to a recycling center. If taking public transportation this comes to $7.00 in bus fare (2 buses in each direction), and an average of 90-120 minutes in travel and waiting in line. As an admitted frugal consumer and environmentalist, I return 100% of all my Trader Joe's bottles for store credit, resulting in approximately $60 in yearly CRV fees (600 bottles). Not much of a dent in my overall savings, but I would be pretty upset if I had a yearly ritual of wadding up $60 and throwing it in the garbage. I would argue that I am probably not the only shopper that returns bottles, so perhaps many customers had more savings throughout the year. 
     Is there a more insidious reason for this decision? I began to wonder if this sudden change was due to the increasing number of houseless people in our neighborhood. Could Trader Joe's be discriminating against certain patrons in an effort to keep up appearances? I could not help feel that there was an element of gentrification based on this quick change in policy. They admit that they want to keep their customers happy, but which customers opinions matter to them? Obviously they owe nothing to individuals such as myself, but when considering our community as a whole, I wonder whose voices they are most influenced by. My mom is 86, a loyal Trader Joe's shopper, walks with a cane, is blind in one eye, and rides the bus, and is a bottle returner; guess Trader Joe's did not consider situations such as hers when making a policy change. 
     As for myself, I was given a list of all the local option A stores in my community that have to redeem their purchased beverage containers. Anyone can call Cal Recycle for the list. I will get my lime soda water across the street from Trader Joe's, and I know they won't miss my measly $600 a year beverage purchase, because now they don't have to go through the hassle of crediting me $60. This week has been very educational, I learned a lot about business relationships, and I had never thought about a store's responsibility to redeem CRV until it happened to me. I will leave you with this final thought, does a company that contributes to millions of bottles entering a neighborhood have a responsibility to their consumers to process them?

"I want to pursue a career in business sustainability. Where are green jobs advertised?" I often get this question posed by my undergraduate students. 

Here is a very good list of environmental job search engines provided by the career center at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB. 

I also often get the following question: "I don't have any professional experience, are there entry-level jobs?" Indeed, job searches might sometimes feel like a chicken and egg type of problem. You often need to have a job experience to get a job. So where do you start if you don't have any professional experience? One way to get over this challenge is to get internships. And there are plenty of these available. See for example the recent call for a sustainability intern at NRDC. 

But there are also lots of entry-level jobs. For example, Greenbiz Jobs, as well as Green Dream Jobs let you select "entry-level" jobs. 

For example, this post is for someone interested in sustainable responsible investing. Definitely an area with plenty of entry-level opportunities!

Clean Jeans

Life Cycle Assessment tools are increasing in popularity as companies are trying to understand the environmental impact associated with their products, from start to finish. Many companies use readily-made LCA software, but Levi’s has developed their own methodology to measure their unique inputs and outputs. They use this tool daily to evaluate fabric choices, washes, and dyes and evaluate their environmental impact at the material level. Referencing Levi's LCA report, we see that the assessment organized impact categories into water intake and consumption, eutrophication, land occupation, and abiotic depletion, and included units used for each. Questions arise when examining LCAs including what environmental indicator measures to consider, what are the system boundaries, and is the life-cycle cost analysis included with the LCA. Levi’s report noted that washing a pair of jeans every 10 times it’s worn instead of every 2 times reduces energy use, climate change impact, and water intake by up to 80%. While this an amazing find, customers’ washing habits are out of the hands of the company. Other questions must be asked of Levi and its assessment including the lack of connectivity between where and how wastewater is generated, and how to reuse this treated water to displace freshwater demands.

Article: https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/05/22/how-levis-made-life-cycle-assessment-part-its-fabric

Group Members: Alexa Garcia, Manali McCarthy, Allison Candell, Katherine Knight, Weilly Tong

Is boxed water really better? Better than what? Strangely enough, Boxed Water doesn't provide information on whether they conducted a Life Cycle Assessment to back-up their claim. 

It looks like a big difference with plastic bottles is about shipping, according to this article. For one truck's worth of bottled water, Boxed Water can deliver 26 trucks' worth of cartoned water. 

Furthermore, the manufacturing of boxed water is estimated to emit about 8 grams of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions where a PET plastic bottle is responsible for about 50 grams of GHGs. 

Another advantage is that the entire carton is recyclable. See how it is done here. However according to this other article, only 52% of consumers leave in communities that fully recycle the cartons. But even if the box is not recycled, it can be flattened and will use less space in a landfill than a plastic bottle. Also because about 75% of the boxed water is made out of paper, it can decompose, unlike plastic. There is now an even better option with Just Water, the plant based  boxed water. 

So boxed water is probably better than plastic bottles but refillable bottles should still be the best option.