Inspiring conversation with a prof
Wednesday afternoon, I met with the aforementioned Prof. Young. From an academic point of view, it was very interesting. He sits on a council with industry leaders (i.e. HP, Intel, Apple, etc.) as a neutral third party, inspiring high-ups in these companies to put in employee standards and policies for their supply chains. Specifically, they are putting pressure on the small number of Smelterers who control all the ore that is used in automotive, electronics and other industries. The idea is that these policies will trickle down to the individual mines and refineries. However, this system is incredibly complex and many-leveled. Part of Prof. Young’s job is to examine inputs and outputs and large systems of supply chains, determining where the ore is and how much there is in the world. This could be a big deal, especially for materials such as Copper, crucial in many industries and in decreasing supply. He also looks at the life cycle of various materials and products, from cradle to death. Where are the wastes occurring? In raw material extraction, in refining and manufacturing, in daily use, or in recycling or end of life? For example, a car’s environmental impact is greatest in daily life, while burning fuel and using oil. On the other side, a computer processor wastes the most in manufacturing, where kilograms of materials, chemicals and processing power are used to produce one small chip, most of which is used up in the process but which does not exist in the final product.
Although I come from a technical background - not business-minded - I can understand the value of this kind of research. Greenpeace tries to pit companies against each other by evaluating their environmental impacts. EICC is an organization that encourages employee conditions codes of conduct for companies, and CFSP seeks to investigate the codes of conducts for smelterers.
So what can I do? Should I try my hand at some system-level or business-oriented research? How can I lead in this area?
- Become an activist
- Become a legislator
- Join an auditing organization
- Start a company that holds these values and leads by example
- Join a company that knows its supply chain and puts value on human rights and environmentalism
There are so many choices and options. How can I play a part? I know that writing letters to the editor and blogging is one thing, but perhaps there is more that I do.
