Two pieces we ran last week have been playing on my mind. Both referred to - but from different angles - the growing requirement for businesses to show they're doing all they can to become more sustainable, to beat the competition in observing ESG, (environmental, social & governance) issues and to pursue 'Net Zero'. I was born into an era when very little record keeping was expected of us, in comparison. A policeman, (as they were back then) would probably regale colleagues with the story of how he'd dragged the shoplifter along with his spoils back into the shop by his ear - a strong warning and enough humiliation, it was thought, to deter future attempts. Ensure he wasn't going to be accused of assault, harassment or worse, and be forced to fill out lengthy reports? No! Same with our teachers: "Janet worked hard to correct her screw-kick" from my swimming teacher could only have been about me. When my twins' reports arrived home it was obvious that their teachers were having to cut & paste lengthy, pre-written paragraphs into the designated spaces. I knew this, since several were duplicated in each daughter's report by teachers who taught different subjects. How long did that take them, with the need to ensure that it properly suited each situation, to avoid potential repercussions? And how accurate was it, in reality?
It's no secret that far too many important crimes aren't investigated and that many teachers have somehow, not only lost control but their mojo too. Recruiting folk to do these crucial jobs is proving ever more difficult, with hoops to jump through when it comes to following procedures to the letter and many hours a week spent filling out forms. Now I have to ask, is it becoming the same for businesses which are also having to show that they're doing the right thing by the environment along with adhering to legislation regarding diversity and equality? Is the time, effort and money spent on showing they're doing the right thing, having a detrimental effect on progress? Are we complicating things too much?
In last week's Cleanzine Phs Wastekit argued that being sustainable can help tackle rising business costs and I agree. As well as the obvious benefits regarding manufacturing, distribution and waste disposal once everything's been properly set up, it's already accepted that we prefer to do business with companies that go out of their way to care for the environment, so it's a bit of a no-brainer. Mitie, on the other hand, shared the results of its survey which showed that sustainability reporting is stupidly time-consuming and costing too much money for the majority of organisations and that this is hampering their efforts to improve sustainability. Your thoughts please?