Watch above: With a continued push for businesses to be more environmentally responsible, many Saskatoon companies are going green. Meaghan Craig reports.
SASKATOON – It’s a business approach that’s for the greater good and it’s being introduced in the classroom. Prestigious business schools like Harvard have even doubled the courses they offer on environmental responsibility in less than five years.
At the Edwards School of Business, while there is no single classed offered to its student population on the subject, environmental responsibility is constantly being integrated into the curriculum. From discussions in marketing, management, human resources, finance and accounting, the issue is at the forefront more often than one might think.
“I think it’s really germane to a business students degree again in terms of understanding the breadth and depth of how a business interacts with it’s communities and the environment and you know it’s no secret that there can be a lot of costs savings or reputation advantages for organizations who do these types of things effectively,” said Chelsea Willness, an assistant professor with the school.
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Companies are going green as more consumers factor social responsibility in when purchasing products. It’s an awareness experts say has increased over the last five to 10 years and has the potential to improve a business’ bottom line as long it’s green claims can be backed.
“There can be some real benefits from having authentic environmental practices, again authentic engagement with community but that key word authentic is what really matters,” adds Willness.
Large scale studies, however, have established significant links between environmental responsibility and a company’s financial bottom line.
“Some people would suggest that some of that comes from in-between factors between that linkage in terms of employee engagement so greater productivity, people are really committed and motivated at work because they are excited about what they’re company is doing,” said Willness.
“We see linkages in terms of being able to recruit the best and brightest if an organization has a reputation or an image for having excellent environmental practices or social responsibility practices around community.”
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One company that vows it’s doing just that is Shercom Industries on the outskirts of Saskatoon where rubber is being reinvented.
“We like to say we take scrape tires and turn them into amazing products like patio tiles and rubber mulch for your yard, speed bumps, parking curbs and rubber paving where we resurface driveways and even build playgrounds,” said Kevin Hall, director of business development for Shercom.
The award winning company for environmental sustainability collects tires from all over the province in an effort to mitigate a major hazard.
“We will process somewhere in the neighbourhood of 40 million pounds of tires this year.”
Hall says the company would be more likely to recruit a business student with a knowledge in environmental responsibility and agrees with Willness in terms of company engagement.
“One of the reasons why we come to work and work as hard as we do is because you know at the end of the day you’ve actually done something positive for the community that we live in and the province of Saskatchewan.”
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