Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have continued using their ingenuity to improve manufacturing processes.
That involves creating better and more efficient machines.
These machines and the individuals running them can make better products faster than they could have dreamed of a few hundred years ago.
While global manufacturing has further demonstrated humanity’s capabilities, it has raised concerns that weren’t much on our minds in previous centuries.
Things like contract manufacturing on a global scale mean more and better products are produced faster and more efficiently.
However, with global manufacturing also comes potentially catastrophic damage to the planet.
The Role of Sustainability In Today’s World:
The Risks Involved with Global Manufacturing.
Humans were only aware of pollution and environmental contamination in theory if you go back a couple of hundred years.
They were able to imagine that factories with massive carbon emissions would harm the environment eventually.
They didn’t know how fast that contamination would occur or the seriousness of the damage that might accompany it, though.
When humans became aware of the polar ice caps melting and massive holes in the ozone layer, that was certainly enough to get their attention.
This was especially true when the leading scientists started bringing back undeniable evidence that these things were happening.
A Change in Our Attitude.
Just because more people began realizing that polluting the planet was bad, though, that did not necessarily mean everyone agreed on what to do about it.
Entities like the EPA were created to keep an eye on the biggest polluters, which, unsurprisingly, were giant corporations.
The more massive the scale of production of various products, the more carbon emissions there were, and the more resources were used.
The good news, even decades ago, was that once we became more aware of the effects of wide scale production, we were able to come up with some possible solutions that could be implemented.
Large Scale Production Must Take Sustainability into Account.
In 2023, any of the largest corporations must try to be respectful of environmental regulations that have been put in place for the planet’s preservation.
That’s sometimes challenging, but it’s also necessary.
Wherever a large corporation is operating in the world, and regardless of what it’s making, it needs to act with sustainability in mind.
That involves initiatives like planting trees to replace the ones it cuts down.
It requires water purification if rivers and lakes are ever contaminated.
The most ethical companies have entire divisions and are devoting millions of dollars every year to preserving the natural resources that are necessary for production.
It can be a delicate balancing act, but it’s undeniably worthwhile.
In addition to carbon emissions, the largest and most successful corporations must be aware of modern worries that didn’t exist hundreds of years ago, such as microplastics.
They must be mindful of the destruction of rainforests, animal and plant species potentially dying out, and similar events that can occur if they’re careless or reckless.
It’s doable, and it’s up to every successful company to find workable solutions to this ongoing concern.