Future Green Leaders Scholarship

As an UGA business student studying economics that also has a passion for backpacking that developed as an Eagle Scout, I approach business from an environmentalist background. I believe that it's especially important for businesses to implement sustainable practices because of how much impact they have on the world. When compared to individuals, businesses have a much larger potential to influence the natural world through pollution, usage of natural resources, and encroaching on ecosystems. Business sustainability is crucial not only to protect our natural resources for future use, but also to preserve natural beauty for future generations to enjoy. One simple method that businesses can implement relatively easily is using energy saving measures. These can include energy efficient light bulbs, automatic timers on lights and air conditioning, improved insulation, and adding more windows. These relatively simple methods can decrease their energy consumption in the long run. As of currently most electricity produced in the United States is from fossil fuels this will help reduce their carbon footprint in a simple way. While this may have a big upfront cost for the business, it will also save them money in the long run by reducing their energy demands. Additionally, businesses can even take this a step further by replacing physical offices with virtual remote employment. While having manufacturing plants and warehouses are a necessity for businesses, the recent Covid-19 pandemic has proved that many office spaces are not necessary and virtual work can replace the office environment. Today many businesses have continued using remote work either completely or partially with a hybrid work environment. Businesses that become virtual not only remove the need to illuminate and air condition office spaces, but they also eliminate the need for employees to commute to work. This would indirectly decrease the carbon footprint through eliminating their employees daily commutes to work. Lastly, companies should prioritize waste management. Waste from companies often ends up in landfills which overtime decays and releases carbon dioxide. While backpacking, I practiced sustainability and care for the environment through the three R's: Reduce, reuse, and recycle. These three R's also apply over to sustainable business practices. Companies can reduce their waste at the start, by redesigning products to use fewer materials. Using digital documentation rather than paper documentation also reduces needless paper waste. Permanent packaging that can be reused can be implemented to eliminate the need for plastics. Many grocery stores already adopted this sustainable practice by selling reusable bags instead of plastic ones. They can also prioritize recycling by producing their finished product from already recycled materials or recyclable materials. This ensures that consumers can dispose of their used product sustainably. Because of my passion and experiences in backpacking, I plan to bring what I've learned about sustainability into the world of business. After my education, I plan to approach business responsibly and advocate for policies such as these to be implemented into the workplace in order to preserve natural resources and beauty for future generations.