Many companies are now preparing corporate sustainability reports. Many such reports are found at http://www.sustainability-reports.com. Other reports can be found at the websites of individual companies. For example, Baxter and 3M voluntarily prepare and publish reports on health, safety, and the environment. In 2000, Baxter expanded its environmental reporting to include a report on sustainability reporting. 3M has indicated that it intends to change its environmental reporting to better reflect the three elements of sustainability: environmental effects, economic effects, and social effects. To this end, 3M gathered data throughout 2001 and issued its first report on sustainability performance in 2003. You can find the most recent reports for these two companies at http://www.3m.com and http://www.baxter.com. Find the environmental reports of three companies, where at least one is a U.S. company. Examine the environmental reports of these three companies, including their reports on sustainability performance. Answer the following questions for each firm.

1. How much has been saved due to environmental actions? Which firm has saved the most?

2. Describe each firm’s packaging reduction efforts and the resulting savings. (Savings can be expressed in nonfinancial terms.)

3. Describe each firm’s recycling activities—for both their own products as well as the materials they receive from suppliers.

4. What kinds of environmental performance measures are being used by each firm? Can you relate these to the core strategic objectives discussed in the chapter?

5. Evaluate the sustainability performance of each firm. Which do you think is closer to the concept of sustainable development?

6. What reasons do they offer for providing environmental information?

7. How do the environmental reports compare? Which report did you like best? Why?