What Businesses Can Do
Everyone is obligated to help keep our planet well for future years and
manufacturers hold a large part of that responsibility. Zero waste cannot
and will not be achieved if only customers care. It will only work if the
producers of the products are willing to participate. Product stewardship
is a system of responsibilities the manufacturer should consider.
Manufacturers should consider:
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Where they get their resources from and make sure not they are not
harming the environment - companies should consider making their
products from recycled material when possible. This will mean new
resources are not needed for their product.
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How their product will be disposed after it's been used by the
consumer - ever thought about what happens to your old broken t.v.? |
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How to reduce the waste they are currently creating - do cookie
companies really need all that plastic?
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How to make their products packaging more recyclable?
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How to make their products and packaging
recyclable - we need our chips; please can't someone make
the bags recyclable!
Zero waste offers companies friendly solutions to waste reduction.
Companies may not need to use as much packaging as they currently do.
Producing less packaging uses less of the companies' money on unnecessary
waste. Recycling can save a company thousands of dollars because recycled
materials cost less than new materials. They're also better for the
environment.
As you can see, product stewardship is a win-win situation for the
environment, the companies, and us. Companies save money by being
environmentally friendly, consumers will have to pay less for products,
and the environment wins as well.
Right now some companies don't follow product stewardship, because no
one has showed them how it can make good business sense. It might also
help if the government imposed an environmental tax on businesses (see
more about that in our government section.)
Don't get us wrong. We're not saying Businesses are all bad. Read on to
see some examples of companies with good packaging.
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