Guest Post: Regardless of Your School Colors, Go Green!

Your college years are going to stick out in your mind for the rest of your life. It’s the only time where you’ll be on your own with limited responsibilities, outside of your grades of course. You’re going to meet new people from all over the world and perhaps travel the globe yourself. You’ll be living away from your family and will make your own decisions about pretty much everything in your daily life. One decision that you should make is caring about the environment and actually doing something about it. Here are four ways you can go green while in college:

1. Be careful about what you throw away. If you drive by a college dorm at the end of a semester you’re going to see mounds of “trash” that is definitely reusable and sometimes in really good condition. Couches, beds, mattresses, lamps, printers and countless other items are usually tossed out because college students don’t want to lug them to their new residence or don’t want to bring them home for the summer. These items are just going to wind up in a landfill, when they can be used by other students or families. Go to Craigslist and post your items for reuse. Hey, you can make a quick buck too!
2. Leave your car at home. Campuses are designed for the walker. If your campus is huge in your estimation then take public transportation to the library or to your class on the other side of the quad. If you absolutely need your car then leave it in a student lot and use it only when you absolutely must. You’re in college; do you have money to throw away on gas that’s wasted on pointless driving?
3. Put some green in your diet. The dining hall is no longer a wasteland for food choices. Most colleges have listened to their students and offer a wider variety of healthier options. Some even support local growers and buy fruits and vegetables from local farms. Eating non-processed foods will help you also keep off the “freshman 15.”
4. Recycle whenever possible. Colleges are leading advocates for saving the environment and have made it easier for their students to pitch in by recycling. In your dorm’s trash area there will be clearly marked sections for you to deposit recyclable items. Make it easier on yourself by having two receptacles in your place: one for trash and another for recycling. It’s a great habit to get into at a young age.

This article was contributed by Heather Johnson, who is a regular writer on the subject of Concord Law School Reviews. She welcomes your questions, comments and writing job opportunities at heatherjohnson2323[at]gmail[dot]com.

EC SIFE welcomes guest submission of articles for our blog. Feel free to contact us on our website, http://www.etown.edu/sife.

Quick Tips for Remaining Professional

Here are some quick tips for a new employee to remain professional and to adapt to the business world:

• Remember that everything you do on company time can be considered work. Don't surf gaming site, or spend time sending private correspondence over your company's email system. Save that for while you are home.
  
• Know your employer's rules about discussing company information with others. Make sure you don't divulge information that shouldn't be released outside the company.
• If at a company sponsored social event, remember you are still being watching by your co-workers or bosses.
  
• Avoid drinking too much - know your limits
• Stay respectful and polite
• Use the opportunity to network
• Learn the ethical nature of your workplace - what is allowed and what is not
• Look for advice from your managers if you are unsure about a situation
• Be willing to talk to a superior if you see a situation that seems to violate company policy or laws
• Remember that there are laws protecting whistleblowers
• Discuss workplace norms with a mentor or another co-worker, and know company policies regarding technology use, personal relationships, and work expectations.

Simple Business Ethics Tips for Everyday Situations

Lead by Example – Be honest in everything that you do; people notice and respect honesty and respect.

Communicate your concerns – If you see something that seems unethical, talk to your superiors about it, and do not stay silent. Most illegal and/or ethical problems are allowed to continue because those who know about don’t make a stand and stop it.

Treat everyone with fairness and respect – this isn’t just the right thing to do, you never know when someone you treated well will become a resource in a time of need.

Reward ethical decisions – recognize when an ethical decision is made, and show it as a positive example of good work in action.

Adapted from ideas from the Better Business Bureau - Business Ethics

Going Green for Your World & Your Wallet

Simple changes can result in easy savings, for both the climate and for your budget. Try these simple tips:

• Close the Refrigerator door - Leaving the door open for only a few minutes releases cool air, making the compressor work harder, and wasting significant amounts of energy.
• Turn off the lights! - Energy is saved by turning off a light for just one second. Think how much energy can be saved by turning off the lights when at class.
• Unplug appliances when not in use - Appliances continue to use energy even when turned off. Unplugging them removes this energy loss and is also safer, reducing the chance of an electrical fire.
• Avoid excessive amounts of fast and/or prepackaged foods - These types of food (which are often rather expensive as well) are often over packaged. Limiting their use reduces the amount of trash headed to a landfill. If you do have trash left over after a meal, make sure to dispose of it properly instead of throwing it along the roadside.

By using common sense, you can easily save some money in your wallet, and save help the future as well.

These tips are based on those originally posted in the September issue of EC SIFE's Bathroom Business, a monthly publication distributed throughout the Elizabethtown Campus. Check out this month's issue for more tips.

References:
Save a buck save the world - CNN Money - June 1, 2007
Going Green

Company Business Ethics

It is important to be able to judge yourself on your own personal ethics in order to use them in a business setting. Once you have defined yourself in terms of ethical business behavior, then you should locate businesses in which to work so that you can minimize the possibility of compromising your ethics.

Individuals – not corporations – make ethical decisions. When comparing companies, the ethical environment should be assessed. This can be done by researching its code of ethics, ethics programs or interviewing future coworkers and managers. Do not treat the company as an individual when determining ethical behavior, instead understand the individual employees.

Remember though that the personal business ethics that you bring to the ethical environment of the business means more than the ethics already placed in the company. Think about how your career activities in the company will require certain business ethical decisions. How much dilemma risk can you handle when working for a company? A business whose ethical standards align most with your standards will tend to decrease the number of dilemmas. You must assess your own code of ethics before assessing that of a company’s.

There are six basic guidelines that you can use in determining your actions and a potential company’s environment: laws, rules & procedures, values, conscience, promises and heroes.

Initially, always look at the legality of an issue in which you are about to make a decision. Sometimes, the easiest way to determine your action is to do what is legal. However, sometimes actions can still be considered legal and unethical to a person. It is necessary to look at all sides of the issue to make a well-informed decision.

When comparing your business ethical code and a company’s, look at how your planned action in situations is compared to what is already stated in the company's policies and procedures.

Take a look at the concept of laws again. Even if an action is thought to be legal, is the legality superficial? Does the action follow the spirit of the law as well as its word? Here, loopholes might affect a situation; an action that becomes legal because of a loophole might not have actual legal value.

When thinking about business ethics, it is important to use your conscience and your inherent ability to distinguish what’s right from wrong. Use this concept when comparing companies as well.

Research what the companies have promised in the past and see if they have fulfilled their promises. A company that has a poor reputation for making its promises might not have a strong ethical environment.

Since you cannot really judge the company as a whole when comparing business ethics, you can always research the ethical behavior of its figurehead, CEO or president, in order to see how that company’s potential hero applies his or her ethical behavior. The rest of the company could potentially align itself with the ethical conduct of its leader.

Resources for this article were adapted from http://ethics.georgesmay.com.

This article was originally published in the Etownian on Thursday, October 18th, 2007.

Why are business ethics so important in today’s society?

In the past ten years, corporate scandals have become too widespread in our society. We hear about them all the time, Enron, Rite-Aid, AOL-Time Warner, the list is endless. But what few people understand is that when these companies act in such an unethical manner, it hurts more then just their employees and direct customers. When companies like Peregrine Systems, which is traded on the NASDAQ, overstates their sales by more then $100 million, the consequences go beyond the company itself. The share’s of stock lose their value, and the company in turn needs to cut costs. Where do they start? With their employees. These people lose not only their jobs, but also their benefits; in addition, they will try to collect unemployment. As the government is getting charged with giving out aid, they have two options: cut spending in other places or increase taxes.

In the case of Enron, they hid their debts, manipulated the Texas power market and Californian energy market, and bribed foreign officials. Not only is the latter illegal under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it is unethical to use bribes to get business. Another problem with acting unethically is getting other businesses you work with caught in illegal or unethical activity too. In this case, Arthur Anderson had shred all of Enron’s documents. This cost them not only money in legal fees and penalty charges, but also in lost revenue. After this was brought to the media, they lose hundreds of clients because of their damaged reputation.

Unethical behavior doesn’t always have to do with finances, those are just the cases we hear about. Companies engage in behavior that is not socially responsible all the time. This includes piracy, counterfeiting, and more commonly, damaging the environment. As consumer’s are becoming more aware of these activities, it is imperative that companies begin to act more ethically or they are at risk lose customers and profits.

This article was originally published in the Etownian, on Thursday, October 4th, 2007.

Sife Sense - Going Green

In today’s world of complex electronics and disposable products, being environmentally friendly can seem a challenging and expensive task. Yet there are many things that an ordinary college student can do to save the environment, and save some money at the same time.

There are always simple things you can do to save some green (natural and monetary). When you go to bed at night, turn off your computer. Another simple tip, set your monitor to go into power-save when you haven’t used your computer in a while, this saves energy and your screen. Lastly, you probably didn’t grow up in a barn, so turn off the lights when you leave a room. You may be thinking, who cares, the college pays my electric bill. You’re right, but you pay their bills every semester. Save some electricity, and keep that tuition increase a bit smaller next year.

At well over $2 a gallon, gasoline is expensive and pollutes. Walking or riding a bike is a good way to save some money and the environment. Have to head to the quads, downtown, or the grocery store? There’s no need to drive. Those short trips are also the most damaging to your vehicle, reducing performance and driving up repair bills. Also, watch your speed while driving home for the weekend or a break. For every 5 mph over 60 mph you drive, it can waste up to 10 cents per gallon.

At the end of the year, don’t throw out those things you don’t want to take home. Have some old stuff you don’t need anymore? Put it in the campus classifieds, or sell it on eBay. Selling things on online is easier than you think, and an easy way to make some cash and reduce trash. If you can’t sell it, recycle it or give it away for free. When looking for new furniture, check out sites like Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) or Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) for bargains in the area.

If you drink bottled water, consider purchasing a water filter. Most bottled water is just expensive filtered tap water. The energy used to pump, transport, disinfect, and bottle water is more than you may think, and most water bottles are never recycled. According to the Sierra Club, the cost for filtered water is approximately $.13/gallon and for bottled water at minimum $1.27 per gallon (or much more in smaller bottles). A filter clearly is an easy and inexpensive way to get water.

Going green can be done easily, just a few simple changes in your everyday tasks. Remember, going green can save the environment, and your wallet at the same time.

Published in the Etownian, September 20th, 2007.