Corporate Social Responsibility Readings and Cases

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Social Responsibility for Readings and Cases. Answer: Introduction: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the importance of sustainability and the needs for energy consumption and management in an organization. The Sunselect property group has been selected as the organization for the case study. It has been estimated that 42% of the solid waste of the country is generated from the building waste (Reardon et al. 2016). States like Victoria South Australia and Western Australia have been focusing on strategies to minimize waste. However, it has been observed that the Sunselect property group has not been focusing on the sustainability in its business activities. This study shall focus on the needs of consumption of the resources like water and energy and the ways to minimize generation of waste. Based on evaluation, certain recommendations shall be made. Climate change has become the most challenging issue in the recent time with the continuous emission by the burning of the fossil fuels has created has created greater challenges among the people. Thus, it is important to focus on the renewable resources of energy to create a sustainable approach towards the environment. Therefore, using renewable resources of energy shall be the prime focus for the housing and property group companies (Crowley 2010). The use of the fossil fuels shall also be reduced because these gases are the major reasons behind global warming. It has also been observed that heating and cooling of housing accounts for 40% of the household consumption. Therefore, by focusing on centralized cooling and heating of the house, the energy consumption rate can be reduced to a large extent. For the lighting and entertainment purpose as well, the power cut equipment should be well built that shall help to save the energy. It has also been calculated that 21% energy is consumed for the hot water service and running other appliances (McGee 2016). In order to meet this consumption demand, solar power can be used. Thus, installation of solar power generation equipment is mandatory for the housing to save energy. Waste Management: It has been evident that the property group has not been maintaining sustainability of the environment and not managing waste properly. There are various ways of waste management. The three most effective means of minimizing waste are reduce, reuse and recycle. Reducing the over utilization of resources is indeed important (McGee et al. 2008). This shall also reduce the expenditure and the property group shall be able to reduce the price of the housing. In addition to this, the materials can be reused as well. Many improvements have been made in the recycling process. Therefore, wherever possible, the waste materials can be easily recycled and used for other purposes as well. Another means of waste management is by the process of landfill. This is the traditional means of waste disposal and this process is considered uneconomical as well. The operating cost of the communities automatically gets high. In addition to this, if the land is intoxicated with some kind of toxic materials, it can affect the water resource of the particular region as well. It is often found that the land gets intoxicated due to different local wastes like metals, especially aluminum (Bonacchi 2009). These substances are very harmful for human beings and often lead to major crisis situation as well. Keeping these situations into consideration, it is required to keep a check on the overall process of waste management. Water consumption and management: Consumption of water has been increasing and use of water without proper checks and consumption. Huge amount of water is used and in fact wasted in the urban and rural development. However, there are opportunities for reducing and recycling water that could ultimately contribute to management of water. The various means of reuse and storage of water are: Wet weather storage: By the means of rain water harvesting and storing the water, the same could be used for other purposed (Fane et al. 2016). This water can be used for various purposes after filtering and making it pure. This water can also be used for the consumption purse as well. On-site waste water treatment: By the means of grey water treatment process and microfiltration, the water can be treated. This way, the water can be made free from any microbes or toxic elements and then the same water can be used for other purposes (Crane et al. 2013). Reusing water: The waste water could be used for the purpose of gardening or even in watering the plants and gardening. This shall reduce the water bill to a large extent. With the detailed analysis, it has been found that with the increasing consumption of energy and other resources, the importance of conservation has been increasing. Housing and other buildings consumes huge amount of energy including water, electricity and other resources as well. Thus, it is very important to curb the wastage of resources in these areas. As it has been evident that the Property group has not been making any approach towards sustainability, it should adapt certain practices in building and manufacturing that shall help in the conservation of resources. A number of recommendations can be made here: Recommendations: Installation of solar power generators: In order to meet the demand of the energy for running different appliances like air conditioners, water purifiers and others, the buildings shall be equipped with solar power generators. Proper waste management: The property group shall look out into the various aspects of managing waste; right from the construction process. The wastes shall be reused wherever possible. In addition to this, proper disposal of the solid waste materials is also important. Conducting CSR activities: It is highly recommended that the property group shall undertake CSR activities to show their contribution towards the sustainability of environment. For this purpose, it is recommended that the property group shall contribute in building roads, parks and for the beautification of the regions where it carry out its business activities. References: Bonacchi, M., 2009. Corporate Social Responsibility: Readings and Cases in a Global Context. Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L.J. eds., 2008.Corporate social responsibility: Readings and cases in a global context. London: Routledge. Crowley, K., 2010. Climate Clever? Kyoto and Australias Decade of Recalcitrance.Global commons, domestic decisions: The comparative politics of climate change, pp.201-228. Fane, S., Reardon, C., and Milne, G., 2016 Wastewater reuse. Available at: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/sites/prod.yourhome.gov.au/files/pdf/YOURHOME-Water-WastewaterReuse.pdf [Accessed on: 8-4-2017] McGee, C., 2016 Enery consumption Available at: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/sites/prod.yourhome.gov.au/files/pdf/YOURHOME-Energy-Energy.pdf [Accessed on: 8-4-2017] McGee, C., Partridge, E., Carrard, N. and Milne, G., 2008, September. Mainstreaming sustainable housing: policies and programs that work. InProceedings of the 2008 World Sustainable Building Conference, Melbourne(pp. 1-8). Reardon, C., Fewster, E., Harkeness, T. and Alviano,. P. 2016 Waste minimization Available at: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/sites/prod.yourhome.gov.au/files/pdf/YOURHOME-Materials-WasteMinimisation.pdf [Accessed on: 8-4-2017]