environmental strategies taken by McDonald’s
Corporate Social Responsibility CSR defines the responsibility of an organization to it’s surrounding in regards to environment, society, and stakeholders. It is essential to evaluate how McDonald’s establishes its social responsibility concerning the environment. McDonald’s claims that its food products are produced following ethical practices and through methods that minimize the impacts on the environment. The paper evaluates the environmental strategies taken by McDonald’s.
One of the ways that McDonald hopes to conserve the environment is by reducing energy consumption. To be able to achieve its energy consumption goals, the company had to buy energy-saving equipment. In 2014 the company and its franchises had bought about 132,186 energy sufficient equipment. These pieces of equipment are believed to cut the energy costs significantly, with about 142 gigawatts of energy being saved every hour. The energy-saving equipment was able to cut energy costs for the company by about 14.2 million dollars. Apart from reducing the energy costs for the company, these pieces of equipment helped in the conservation of the environment since saving energy leads to less carbon print for the company.
The other way the company focuses on environmental conservation is by reducing their water consumption. The company is able to achieve this by using processes and methods that allow them to use less water. Water consumption is essential to manage as increased water consumption increases energy consumption levels as well. Apart from increasing energy costs, it leads to water shortage since water is a scarce resource. The other approach to environmental conservation by the company is through recycling and the use of organic packaging products. Recycling is one of the actions that promote environmental conservation. Recycling occurs mainly through reusing plastic packaging products. The option of reusing ensures that the amount of plastic waste is reduced. It promotes environmentally friendly practices. The company, therefore, uses reusable plastic packaging for some of its products and organic packaging options for the rest of their products.
Organic packaging options include packaging bags made from paper rather than plastic. These bags are biodegradable, meaning that they are easily broken down as waste. Biodegradable packaging bags are very efficient since they have zero pollution rates on the environment. The company also focuses on the environment through sustainable agricultural practices. The food company depends on supplies from agricultural companies and individuals. Following its sustainability focus, the company focuses on sources that follow sustainable measures to produce food products. For agricultural products, the company has suppliers who maintain sustainable farming processes such as organic farming. Organic farming has fewer impacts on the environment as it does not use harsh chemicals on the soil. The company is also against animal cruelty and ensures that its sources follow sustainable animal keeping practices as well.
McDonald’s proves to be very committed to its social responsibility in regard to environmental conservation. To achieve their goals, they have focused on reducing energy and water consumption. The reduction in energy costs serves as an advantage to the company and to the environment through reduced carbon print. The company also focuses on recycling and using organic packaging options. Recycling reduces the amount of plastic in the environment. Organic packaging options are biodegradable and have no effects on the environment.