The Sustainability Committee's first meeting was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Although it was only Tuesday, several people had already dropped by committee members' offices to express their opinions and concerns about the company's new focus on sustainability. Some colleagues had trouble with the broad definition of sustainability"to balance the economic, environmental, and social needs of today's world while planning for future generations." Others worried the sustainability project was just another passing fad. A small group of colleagues believed the company should be most concerned with performance and should forget about trying to become a leader in the social responsibility movement. In general, however. most employees were either supportive or neutral on the initiative.

As the committee's meeting started, the committee chair reminded the group that the company's CEO was very committed to sustainability for several reasons. First, the company was engaged in product development and manufacturing processes that had environmental effects. Second, most companies in the industry were starting initiatives on sustainable development. Third, recent scandals had negatively affected public opinion about business in general. Finally, the company was exploring markets in Europe where environmental activism and rules are often more stringent. With these reasons in mind, the committee set out to develop plans for the next year.

For an hour, the committee discussed the general scope of sustainability in the company. They agreed that sustainability was concerned with increasing positive results while reducing negative effects on a variety of stakeholders. They also agreed that sustainability focused on the "triple bottom line" of financial, social, and environmental performance. For example, a company dedicated to sustainability could design and build a new facility that used alternative energy sources, minimized impact on environmentally sensitive surrounding areas, and encouraged recycling and composting. Another firm might implement its sustainability objectives by requiring suppliers to meet certain standards for environmental impact, business ethics, economic efficiency, community involvement, and others.

After this discussion, the committee made a list of current and potential projects that were likely to be affected by the company's new sustainability focus.

These projects included

Energy consumption Philanthropy

Manufacturing Product emissions and waste development

Employee diversity Technology

Community Supplier selection relations

Corporate Employee health and governance safety

Regulations and Volunteerism compliance

After much discussion, the committee agreed that each member would take one of these twelve projects and give a brief report on its link to the environmental component of sustainability. This report should review the ways environmental issues can be discussed, changed, improved, or implemented within that area to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. What would you do?