...Ethical theories and unethical Companies that destroy environment. “Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents”(Brennan and Lo, 2015). Morality is “the degree to which something is right and good: the moral goodness or badness of something” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). This report will focus on ethical issues that companies create and the five main theories to serve as a guide for ethics. How this theories affect business and how it affects people. In this report I will give brief explanation of the theories and will focus on virtue ethics. The four main theories are Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Ethical egoism, Social contract theory and virtue ethics. Utilitarianism is universal theory of utility, where utility is the priority of an act. People have to act in the way that creates more utility or in other words an act should bring more happiness for greater number of people, rather than pain, if the act brings more pain than happiness it is considered to be morally unacceptable. Kantianism is a theory named after German famous philosopher Immanuel Kant. He believed that people are rational beings and they will follow and do rational things. Kantianism is based on duty and commitment more than any other thing, where if the performed act followed duty it was morally acceptable. Ethical egoism is the theory based on satisfying self-interest...
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...Andrew Snyder Bea Stikkoile English 130 9/8/2014 Pollution It’s hard to navigate our world today without seeing an illuminated screen; we have graduated from the living room tube TV to a relationship with technology that often seems like a dependency. With each new great release of some sort of electronic, we cast aside our second hand technology. People tend to think of these electronics as not harmful to themselves or the environment. However the electronic waste that comes from these outdated electronics are a growing pollution that needs to be addressed. There is a reason why there are so many electronics in this world. It is because there is a demand for new cheap electronics. Companies are able to produce these electronics for way cheaper than what they actually cost. I think that there should tariffs on these cheap electronics to drive the price up, and the demand down. But since there are no tariffs, everyone these days seam to have some sort of smart phone. Most of my friends have a iPhone. Since there are two different kinds of iPhone chargers my friends all have different cords and no one can borrow from one another unless you have the right charger port. I have always thought this to be a very smart business move by apple, it gets new or old customers to buy more products from them that they need to run their new iPhone. Leonard writes about this same idea in her article “The Story of Stuff: Electronics”. Annie writes about this business move saying “Designed...
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...Environment Management Topic : Hazardous Waste Management Group Members : Rohan Shanbhag (146) Amit Sharma (147) Nandita Sharma (148) Priya Shegoankar (149) Hazardous waste management is the collection, treatment, and disposal of waste material that, when improperly handled, can cause substantial harm to human health and safety or to the environment. Hazardous wastes can take the form of solids, liquids, sludges, or contained gases, and they are generated primarily by chemical production, manufacturing, and other industrial activities. They may cause damage during inadequate storage, transportation, treatment, or disposal operations. Improper hazardous-waste storage or disposal frequently contaminates surface and groundwater supplies. People living in homes built near old and abandoned waste disposal sites may be in a particularly vulnerable position. In an effort to remedy existing problems and to prevent future harm from hazardous wastes, governments closely regulate the practice of hazardous-waste management. Hazardous Materials Regulations Hazardous materials are regulated by three primary government agencies: ...
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...interact with props. For the play, the stage and scenery is the environment in which the story unfolds. The meaning of behaviour on the stage and what cab and cannot be done are determined by this environment. The theater would be far less entertaining or educational without the context provided by its environment. ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: In real life, our behaviour also occurs in the context of an environment, one that is constantly changing and rich in information. Unlike the setting on a stage, however, it provides more than meaning. Our environment also provides us with basic needs for life, including food, water, and air to breathe. It is also modified by our actions, and is irrevocably altered whenever one of us changes it. Our environment includes all of our natural and built surroundings, and is delicately balanced system that can easily be bruised or damaged. Whenever we change some part of it, other parts also change, and these other changes may be unintended or even dangerous. Concerns about what we were doing to our environment reached unprecedented prominence in the 1960s and have continued to be an issue of serious concern as consequences of years of neglect has become apparent. The depletion of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, reports of hospital waste washing up on beaches, discussions of the greenhouse effect and changing climatic conditions, and problems storing radioactive or toxic chemical waste reflect these problems. In truth, we have done much...
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...patterns that are directly related to urban sprawl. UrCity’s expansion has also demanded an increase in water usage which has become a burden on existing water supplies. Many citizens have also noted the decrease in wildlife that has been typical of the city. This memo will address these concerns and offer viable solutions to the above noted issues. Agricultural Practices The farms surrounding UrCity have taken advantage of traditional farming practices. Monocropping, heavy use of pesticides, and large amounts of water have been keeping these farms operational and profitable for many years but at a high cost to their immediate environment. According to Sustainable Table (n.d.), “Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are derivatives of fossil fuels, including oil and natural gas. The use of fossil fuels is the reason the Earth is experiencing dangerous climate change (Climate Change). The overuse of chemicals has directly contributed to the problem of rising temperatures in and around UrCity. As UrCity becomes larger, the demand for land increases. This has pushed the farms outward into the desert to make room for the influx of residential and commercial buildings and the ever growing infrastructure. The preservation of the natural landscape has not been taken into consideration and has been razed to make room for construction. The absence of air filtering trees has contributed to the increase in pollution and rising temperatures. This mix of expansion,...
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...(OSHA) standards in indoor air quality. Nike was the subject of considerable scandal in 1997 when it was revealed that workers in one of its contract factories were being exposed to toxic fumes at up to 177 times the Vietnamese legal limit. Although Nike claims that its factories now meet OSHA standards, it gives factory managers advance notice of testing, giving them considerable scope to change chemical use to minimize emissions on the day the test is conducted. Nike is also not yet willing to regularly make the results of those tests available to the interested public. Rights groups have challenged Nike to put in place a transparent system of monitoring factory safety standards involving unannounced monitoring visits by trained industrial hygienists. 2nd Promise: The minimum age for Nike factory workers will be raised to 18 for footwear factories and 16 for apparel factories. Nike was severely embarrassed on the child labor issue in 1996 when a major story in Life magazine featured a photograph of a very young Pakistani boy sewing a Nike soccer ball. Evidence continues to emerge of young persons under the age of 16 employed in Nike contract factories. In the absence of economic development in their communities, however, excluding children from factories may force them into even more dangerous and degrading work. Global...
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...smoke she was being exposed to. At that point in time we left the night club and shortly after her headache disappeared; it was as easy as that. This experience got me thinking about those who don’t have the ability to control their secondhand smoke exposure and what, if anything, is being done to protect them. As easy as it was for myself to leave this smoky environment, a child in a smoke filled car, for example, would be trapped with no hope or realistic ability to escape the situation. Smoke free citizens have pressed legislators for years to make their work and public environments smoke free. Smoking cigarettes is now illegal in government buildings, and many bars and restaurants nationwide and yet only six states have laws making it illegal to smoke in a car with a minor present. Shouldn’t minors be afforded the same liberties we adults demand for ourselves? I have struggled in my opinion on smoke free legislation for some time now. As a libertarian who appreciates the least government involvement possible, I support the freedom we have to smoke in bars and casinos in Las Vegas. These are adult only environments and as adults we have the choice to engage in the lawful behaviors we see fit. However, as a pediatric nurse who witnesses childen suffering from passive smoking, I can confidently state that parents, healthcare workers, and anyone in support of protecting children, smokers included, need to be in support of this legislation. A few of the things I believe this...
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...illness. You may ask the question, why gas? For the past five years, no one understood or recognized the changes within our community until recently. First, I examined the common symptoms such as tumors, eye and skin irritation, birth defects, thyroid disorders, to respiratory illness and emphysema; and realized that statistics for many cities including Daytona, Jena, Blue, and Stanton all experience a rapid decline of health amongst their residents. In addition, all of the cities mentioned, have a major gas wells within 500 feet of the main population. According to (Mall A.) Drilling Down (2007). Many of the illnesses I mentioned are “a direct cause and effect relationship between possible toxic exposure and the health problems of specific individuals whose stories are told”, which is directly related to the dangerous substances emitted in the...
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...Plantations Hazards The term plantation is widely used to describe large-scale units where industrial methods are applied to certain agricultural enterprises. These enterprises are found primarily in the tropical regions of Asia, Africa and Central and South America, but they are also found in certain subtropical areas where the climate and soil are suitable for the growth of tropical fruits and vegetation. Plantations are grown on a large scale because the crop is grown for commercial purposes, not for domestic use.Work on plantations involves numerous hazards relating to the work environment, the tools and equipment used and the very nature of the work. Plantation Work The main activity on a plantation is the cultivation of one of two kinds of crops. This involves the following kinds of work: soil preparation, planting, cultivation, weeding, crop treatment, harvesting, transportation and storage of produce. These operations entail the use of a variety of tools, machines and agricultural chemicals. Where virgin land is to be cultivated, it may be necessary to clear forest land by felling trees, uprooting stumps and burning off undergrowth, followed by ditch and irrigation channel digging. In addition to the basic cultivation work, other activities may also be carried out on a plantation: raising livestock, processing crops and maintaining and repairing buildings, plants, machinery, implements, roads and railway tracks. It may be necessary to generate electricity, dig...
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...Body Burden John Doe Anthropology 200h Professor Smith The environment that we inhabit today is filled with massive quantities of toxic chemicals of all sorts. To be specific, there are more than 80,000 known chemicals floating around us, some naturally occurring and some man-made. We are exposed to chemicals through the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink and clean ourselves in. All of these factors are dependent on the environment we choose to live in, though; a seemingly clean community does not always signify a clean body. Most chemicals have the ability to attach to traveling air, water, or dust and contaminate places far from where they originated, creating a “chemical soup” that our bodies encounter every day. Additionally, humans come in contact with chemicals present in the everyday products we use such as gasoline, paints, make-up, detergent, plastics, and glues. The total amount of these chemicals present in the human body at a single point in time is referred to as your body burden. All humans carry this chemical body burden, and current studies have shown that everyone alive today is a host to at least seven hundred different contaminants. The duration of time these chemicals stay in our bodies for varies for each chemical and the repeated exposure to each respective pollutant. Some chemicals only stay in our bodies for a very short while before they are disposed of in human waste, though, continuous exposures to such elements...
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...February, 2014, Duke Energy released a high amount of coal ash into the Dan River, Rockingham County, N.C., which violates the Clean Water Act (CWA) (1972). The CWA is a waste-water and pollution reduction programs, setting guidelines and regulatory standards for different industries (EPA). Specifically, The CWA of 1972, amended in 2002, states that “it is the national policy that the discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts be prohibited” (Clean Water Act, SEC. 101.3). Duke Energy was found guilty on nine misdemeanor violations (Smith) and was ordered to pay compensation. As a result, Duke Energy’s leadership agreed to pay $102.2 million for the damages caused, and the CEO confirmed that the company took responsibility for its actions and is intending to implement safety and risk assessment guidelines in order to avoid future incidents (Smith). While this may seem like a sincere gesture, it is important to note that the coal ash spill at Dan River was not an isolated incident. According to Smith, four other plant locations were also found to be releasing dangerous amounts of ash. Furthermore,...
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...Although it may be effective in killing certain insects, it may not be as effective for other uses. For instance: a plant is found to secrete toxic chemicals in its nectar that target fire ants and the only way for the ant to be poisoned would be if it drank from the nectar, or bit into the plant itself. This toxin is contained inside the plant and has no exterior effects to surrounding animals. If a manufacturer extracted the pesticidal ingredients from the plant and turned it into a spray that people can use in their homes, how do we know what kind of effects it will have on the environment? Yes, the ingredients are all natural, but it was made specifically for the plant and it was fully contained in nature. The toxin could have acidic properties and enzymes that could deteriorate surrounding environments and kill other organisms, not just fire ants. Perhaps there is a reason why the toxin is found to be naturally isolated inside the plant. Although there have been negative opinions towards synthetic pesticides, sometimes man-made pesticides may actually be more beneficial to the environment than their natural counterparts. Scientists are able to manipulate and create different solutions that are directed more specifically to the insect. They can make pesticides that have short decomposition rates so that it does not linger in the environment for very long. They can also make pesticides that are more concentrated so that fewer applications are required to get the job done. “Synthetic”...
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...Problem #3 Nike is not eco-friendly Symptoms: Nike has a huge demand in the leather industry. The leather industry, is closely linked with the meat industry, that is, the leather is a byproduct of the meat processing operation, the demand for shoes, belts and clothes which are made by leather directly contributes to preserve farms and slaughterhouses, since it is the most valuable byproduct of the meat industry. 70% of China’s rivers, lakes and reservoirs in China are now classified as polluted. ( Zi-jian W) Many companies, such as Nike, are link with China's textile factories that use dangerous substances discharged to water. Many chemicals released from the textile mills put threat to human health and the environment. Now china is suffering because most of their water is polluted, and is very difficult to reverse the damage. Nike spends a lot of money and CO2 in the process to manufacture their products. The waste of CO2 is one of the mayor cause of the global warming, we can see everyday in the news that glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up, also plant and animals have been change. According to the NASA there are some effects that are cause by the global warming such as hotter days and nights, Heat waves more frequent over most land areas, Increase in intense tropical cyclone activity in North Atlantic, Global area affected by drought has increased. (http://climate.nasa.gov/) Causes: -The huge demand of leather, beef and other cattle...
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...reproduction structures. Most fungi are adaptable to more extreme environments than bacteria would be able to survive and thrive in. For example most fungi prefer lower pH levels that would be far too acidic for most bacteria. They also have the ability to flourish in low moisture environments, such as many of our foods that are spoiled due to these classifications of organisms. All fungi are chemoheterotophs, meaning they must absorb their nutrients, vice, ingesting it as those in the animal kingdom. They also have the ability to produce enzymes that deteriorate complex carbohydrates for metabolism. These enzymes adhere to the tissue of fruits for example, breaking down the skin of the fruit. Thus the reason, fruits turn dark when they begin to spoil. As stated above, fungi are classified into distinct phyla based upon their reproductive structures. Each phylum will be discussed separately with examples of organisms with in the phyla as well as important aspects associated with humans both positive and negative. Organisms within the phylum Zygomycota have the ability to produce both sexually and asexually. Normally reproduction is carried out asexually until condition become right for sexually reproduction. In the asexual cycle, sporangiospores are contained within the sporangium. When the sporangium breaks open the sporangiospores are able to germinate, leading to a new thallus, when suitable environment exist. In the sexually reproductive cycle, zygospores are...
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...byproducts, such as dioxin, are known to cause an array of serious health problems, including cancers and endocrine disruption. Of the more than 75,000 chemicals registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, only a fraction have gone through complete testing to find out whether they might cause problems for human health. Many that are produced in enormous quantities have never been tested at all. Usually, it takes dramatic episodes of workplace injuries or wildlife poisonings, combined with rigorous scientific proof of harm and public outcry, before the government will act to restrict or ban any chemical. And that is no accident. The current regulatory system allows synthetic chemicals into our lives unless proven beyond doubt to be dangerous. Terms Dioxins are not intentionally manufactured. They are unintentionally formed as byproducts of chemical processes involving chlorine, such as the manufacture of pesticides and the bleaching of paper. The manufacture and incineration of plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC, commonly used in consumer product packaging and medical devices) is another major source of dioxin. Two of the most serious health effects of dioxin exposure are cancer and endocrine disruption. The endocrine system is a complex network of glands and hormones that regulate many of the body's functions including growth, development, and maturation, and the way various organs operate. The endocrine glands –- including the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, thymus, pancreas...
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