Profits come before the planet
Published August 13, 2007 at 1:33 pm · Filed under Fax / MFP
Are office buyers suffering from green fatigue? Are we becoming less committed to sustainable purchasing? Or are we simply more aware of its complexity?
These are just some of the questions thrown up by a Kyocera Mita survey, which suggests that office workers today are less committed to environmental practices than they were 14 years ago.
To mark the 15th anniversary of its ECOSYS printer technology, Kyocera Mita re-ran a survey that it originally conducted in 1993 when the first ECOSYS printers were launched in this country.
By asking the same questions as 14 years ago Kyocera Mita has been able to compare the attitudes of office workers in 2007 and 1993.
The surprising finding is that in a number of significant respects people were more environmentally responsible 14 years ago.
Today fewer businesses have a policy on how to maintain an environmentally friendly office than in 1997 (41% compared to 54%); and businesses are less likely to advocate the use of environmental suppliers than they were 14 years ago (54% compared to 23% now).
Nor are people today so willing to pay a price premium for green products that 44% of respondents thought would perform less well anyway. In 1993, 60% of respondents said that they would tolerate higher prices for environmentally sound products. Today this figure has fallen to 31%.
This might explain why the use of recycled paper has declined from 67% to 53% in the last 14 years, and the use of energy efficient office equipment from 50% to 31%.
The reasons given for not using recycled paper are interesting. In 1993, 47% cited quality as a barrier to the use of recycled paper, compared to 29% in 2007. Lack of interest as a reason for not using recycled paper has risen from 5% to 25%.
Over the same period environmental activities that don’t incur significant costs, such as recycling paper, toner cartridges and PC hardware, have either stayed roughly the same or improved. They currently stand at 75%, 71% and 43% respectively, compared to 76%, 39% and 21% in 1993.
Further evidence that commercial imperatives come before environmental ones is the fact that 54% of respondents said that environmentally conscious activities would only be implemented in their industry if they did not adversely affect profits (up from 49% in 1993).
The survey of 340 people in businesses with more than 1000 employees was conducted by Loudhouse Research Consultancy.
For more info please visit http://www.kyoceramita.co.uk/
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Businesses that do want to invest in green products may be interested in the Ecotainer from The Paper Cup Company. Developed by International Paper, it is an all-natural paper cup for hot drinks. In a conventional cup, the inner surface is lined with a petroleum-based plastic to prevent leaking. The Ecotainer uses a bio-plastic made from corn instead. After use, the cup will break down into water, carbon dioxide and organic matter.
