Going Green: Economically and Environmentally

Going Green: Economically and Environmentally

Written by: Madyson Studenek

While there are many ideas about solutions to ‘reverse’ climate change, yet one is the best option: is to create ‘greener’ stores and businesses in order to not waste energy and reduce our carbon footprint. Many companies have already made the beginning steps towards going green or at least greener. From Tesla to McDonald’s companies are pairing with PETA and scientists to reduce the waste and emissions their businesses produce. This is creating a healthier economy as well as ecosystem since the companies are saving money, but also saving the environment.

Wal-mart has already hopped on this bandwagon because they have introduced the use of white roofs and LED lighting as sources of saving power, and whether this is a more cost-effective way or not, they are still recognizing the environmental aspects of their decisions. Wal-mart has been making claims that they hope to be powering their stores with 100% renewable energy in the near future and produce zero waste. NBC News looked into this progress: “Wal-Mart recently opened an experimental store in McKinney, Texas, to study environmental efforts such as heating the store with used cooking and motor oil. Scott said the savings so far were not enough to cover the cost of building the store, but that it may be economically feasible if Wal-Mart takes advantage of its size and rolls out such changes across the chain” (MSNBC). While they have not made enough to cover the store, Wal-mart is still not giving up on their green goal. They recognize that the startup is all about working out the kinks and creating a model for all of their stores hereinafter.

Another company that has been working to create a more environmentally friendly company is Tesla. Tesla has created a program where the owners can come to the Tesla facility and swap out their dead car battery with a charged one in order to reduce any waste that would be created by disposing of the old batteries by consumers. Since the companies will be investing more this will cause Real GDP to go up. Additionally, they have opened a charging station where drivers can go to plug in their cars and quickly charge the battery so that they can continue their commute and go on with their busy days with minimal interruption. “Tesla opened its first superchargers, which all Model S owners can use for free, in 2012 to encourage long-distance travel. As of March 2015, the company had installed 425 supercharger locations worldwide with a net book value of $128.5 million. The company plans to increase its supercharger locations to 570 this year, and Musk told shareholders that over time solar panels will be added to all locations where it's possible” (Korosec). Tesla has been using this model in order to reduce waste and create more convenience for their customers causing the demand to increase for these cars. Their goal is to be waste free and use all renewable energy sources which is why they made plans to install solar panels wherever it’s possible in the near future.

Share this post