SOC10236 Personal Footprint, Product, and Organizational Sustainability Analysis Assignment Sample

• Subject Code : SOC10236
• University : Southern Cross University My Assignment Services is not sponsored or endorsed by this college or university.
• Subject Name : Applied ethics and sustai

Applied Ethics and Sustainability

1. Personal Ecological Footprint

2.

(a) The ecological footprint can be defined as the metric that determines how much landscape we have and how much landscape we use (Mancini et al, 2016). My personal ecological footprint is measured in global hectares is 5.6 gha. The global availability of productive area per capita is 12.2 billion hectares as per current data of 2019. It is 1.6 global hectares per person. While the average national footprint per capita is 9.31 gha per person

(b) The carbon footprint can be defined as the release of greenhouse gases mainly carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through human activity (Solarin, Gil-Alana & Lafuente, 2019). My carbon footprint comes out to be 8.3 tonnes per year. The forest carbon sequestration can be defined as the process of enhancing the carbon content of the forest through practices that eliminate CO2 from the atmosphere. The Australian forestry carbon sequestration is 10.5 billion tonnes of carbon. One acre of the novel forest can seize about 2.5 tonnes of carbon yearly.

(c) By land use, the results are as follows:

• The highest area that is 2.9 gha is of carbon footprint.
• The cropland with 1.6 gha comes second in land usage
• The forest product with 0.7 gha holds the third position
• The built-up land is 0.2 gha
• The fishing ground and grazing land are both 0.1

By consumption category, the results are as follows:

• Highest consumption is for food with 1.8 gha
• Consumption for goods is 1.2 gha
• Consumption for services is1.1 gha
• Consumption for mobility is 0.9 gha
• Consumption for shelter is0.5 gha

3. The four major reasons for the unsustainable aspects of my lifestyle are as follows:

• Reliance on the car even for little computing or traveling: This is the major activity that is responsible for the high ecological footprint of the mine. I am using a car and bike for all-purpose traveling to save my time and to get more flexibility.
• More consumption on food items: I am that kind of individual who eats more animal-based food and thus this activity increases my carbon footprint and ecological footprint.
• Resource consumption: The factors like electricity consumption and water consumption contributes to increasing the ecological footprint size of an individual.
• Eat food that is not locally developed

4. One potential solution to my unsustainable lifestyle is as follows:

City: Strategies must be made for smart urban planning and expansion for managing the resources. It is expected for the year 2050 that approximately 80 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, 

Energy: One potential solution to reduce the unsustainable practices in my lifestyle concerning energy is renewable energy solutions.

Food: The solution in this respect can be cutting on food waste that can prove to be a prevailing sustainability controls.

Population: The strategy for this is to address the population size for creating a sustainable future (Global footprint network, 2020).

5.

Watch is the product that I consume and the business organization that manufactures this product is Erroyl.

6.

To manufacture a watch, the main raw material inputs needed are natural wood, acetate, raku, aluminum, tungsten titanium, metals or alloys, stainless steel, and ceramic.

There are four stages of production of watch

• The crystal: It is the most essential part of the watch, commonly known as small silver of quartz. In the assembly process, firstly the microchips and the quartz are set on the circuit boards. The important thing is that this assembly is suitable when quartz is enclosed in a void space.
• Power: The next step is to install an energy source that is a battery that produces electricity for the watch. The battery brings power for the LED display and the quartz.
• Assembling mechanism: This stage includes the assembling of the pats that requires setting the watch. This entails two dashes that stick out of the watch where these can be stretched for setting purposes.
• Case and strap: The last step is the wristband that is attached just after all the above production steps (Broer, 2016).

7. The main causes of unsustainability over the product's lifecycle that consist of stages like production, distribution, consumption, and disposal stages are as follows:

• The resource cannot be recycled: In the production process, if there is a use of resources that cannot be recycled, then it may lead to the unsustainability of the product.
• Product longevity is low: In case, the watch's durability or longevity is less than, it is considered to be unsustainable.
• Energy inefficiency: The product must be energy efficient.
• Poor packaging material: There must be a use of good packaging material for watches to increase its durability.
• Not easy to disassemble: The product must be easy to disassemble. Only then, it will be called as ecological product

8.

The waste management hierarchy ranks the decisions of waste management as per the highest importance to the environment. The prevention of waste comes first in this hierarchy. Then, this must be followed by re-use, recycling, recovery, and then disposal (Holt, 2018). The recommendation for reducing the number of waste pollutants discharged during production, consumption, and dispose of is that there must be the use of less hazardous materials as less as possible in the manufacturing process of the watch. Therefore, when it is to be disposed of by the user, it will not harm the environment.

9.

The cradle to cradle philosophy is the novel sustainable business approach that mimics the reformative cycle of the environment in which discarded waste is recycled. This protocol aims not only to lessen the negative impact but also to leave a constructive environmental footprint. It defines the secure and possibly endless flow of resources and nutrients in sequences (Ankrah et al, 2018). The watch design can be improved using the principle of cradle to cradle by making it eco-friendly through the use of eco-friendly raw inputs that aims at zero-emission. This will certainly improve the design and add value to the product and reduces the risk of unsustainability issues.

10.

The key stakeholders of the Erroyl organization are its shareholders, employees, customers, competitors, creditors, community, and government. Each of its stakeholder groups has its separate expectations from the company. The expectations are tabulated below:

11.

Corporate social responsibility can be defined as a sustainable responsible business. It is the commitment by the company to behave ethically and engage in economic development along with improving the excellence of its people, society, customers, and the community at large. There are certain issues of CSR practices that organizations are facing in a competitive environment (Voronkova, et al., 2020). One such CSR issue facing the Erroyl is the changing behavior of its employees. The challenge the company is facing is that its employees are progressively looking afar salaries and benefits and seeking out companies whose functioning practices equals their values. Therefore, Erroyl is struggling to change its working conditions so that it can bring values desired by employees.

12.

I select the stakeholder group as the customers of the Erroyl. The company puts its customers in the first place. The recommendation by which the company can improve its social impact on customers is by offering its customer the products attached to feelings, sentiments, and insights associated with the environment means eco-friendly watches. Moreover, it can attract them towards its products by promoting its products using some communal topic that is for the welfare of society and people at large.

13.

The above recommendation will help in improving the well-being of the customers by making them more concerned about sustainability through its eco-friendly watches. Moreover, they will more demand these eco-friendly watches in the future. It will change their lifestyles and insights about environment protection and the use of ecological resources.

14.

Yes, I can change my consumption of the product to reduce my contribution to the causes of unsustainability. It is because sustainable consumption of goods leads to more energy efficiency and resource efficiency. Moreover, it aids to attain the small development plans, minimize the future economic, environmental, and social costs, and reinforce the economic competitiveness and more.

References for Applied Ethics and Sustainability

Ankrah, N. A., Manu, E., Fullen, M., Bentrar, J., Cousin, A., Mess, M., & Lewald, O. (2018). Implementation of Cradle to Cradle diversity principles in business site development schemes. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 10(1), 92-108.

Broer, R.J. (2016). The production of a watch. Retrieved from https://www.chrono24.com/magazine/the-production-of-a-watch-p_11731/#gref

Global footprint network (2020). Calculate your footprint. Retrieved from https://www.wwf.org.au/get-involved/change-the-way-you-live/ecological-footprint-calculator#gs.6nkt7b

Holt, C. (2018). Reduce, Reuse, Recycle–The ‘three R’s’ of the waste management hierarchy and their impact on packaging. School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, 1-7.

Mancini, M. S., Galli, A., Niccolucci, V., Lin, D., Bastianoni, S., Wackernagel, M., & Marchettini, N. (2016). Ecological footprint: refining the carbon footprint calculation. Ecological Indicators, 61, 390-403.

Solarin, S. A., Gil-Alana, L. A., & Lafuente, C. (2019). Persistence in carbon footprint emissions: an overview of 92 countries. Carbon Management, 10(4), 405-415.

Voronkova, O. Y., Melnik, M. V., Nikitochkina, Y. V., Tchuykova, N. M., Davidyants, A. A., & Titova, S. V. (2020). Corporate social responsibility of business as a factor of regional development. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 7(3), 2170-2180.

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