Green is the color of money

In the advent of a renewed consciousness and concern over the planet's future, some corporations have started initiatives in their respective industries that are, according to their official releases, supposed to be beneficial for the environment because of recycled materials, lower energy consumption, et cetera. However, simple logic tells us that corporations are still businesses, and as with all businesses, they exist for the same thing: money.

So then, is turning green really all about churning green?

From a profit standpoint, turning green does create opportunities for companies to increase their profit margins. As an example, companies all over the globe are starting to introduce paperless systems and documentation practices in their respective areas of operation. While this can initially cost much, the long-term savings can be stellar. The most obvious reduction in operating costs would be coming from the lesser paper purchases that the company would be making. With the continuing drop in the cost of digital storage space per gigabyte, the savings gained by using paperless storage becomes stellar. Moreover, several indirect savings can be generated from implementing a paperless system. For instance, having less paper to handle means having more space can be devoted for more profitable activities, i.e. telemarketing instead of being used merely for storage. A paperless system also translates to faster business operations since automation and organized digital databases make it easy for companies to organize, archive and retrieve information.

In the context above, one can say that turning green does translate to a bigger profit for a company. However, a problem arises when some businesses start initiatives that somehow justify the unbelievable price tags that they put on their products and services.

Organic groceries, for one, have goods that are priced way higher than the average street market price for the same amount and types of produce. These merchants claim that it costs more to produce food organically because they don't use artificial pest control methods that eventually harm the soil. Personally, I find this claim suspect because of the fact that there are existing pest control systems that do not pose any danger to human health or the environment.

Another appalling situation is the fact that some manufacturers of paper products sell items that use recycled paper - which uses significantly lesser virgin pulp than new paper - at a much higher price than those that use non-recycled paper. This is completely absurd since recycled paper uses less fresh raw materials and that the demand for timber when producing the latter is greater, which should make it pricier considering that the price of wood has consistently gone up through the years.

Overall, companies' efforts to be environment-friendly have generated support from the mainstream. I personally think that this should continue. However, I also contend that this movement shouldn't be used by corporations to simply justify high prices on their goods.