By Nathaniel Luce
Rachel Taplinger, MBA’14, is a manager of Global Corporate Responsibility at The Esteé Lauder Companies, where she focuses on developing a comprehensive sustainability strategy for the company. That means fully accounting for the company’s economic, environmental, social and governance impacts. In this role, she focuses on reducing the company’s environmental footprint across its operations and communicating and engaging employees in this important work.
Rachel recently returned to Vanderbilt to share career advice and tips for students interested in a career in corporate social responsibility. We asked Rachel to share some of the ways in which consumers can go green. Read on for some simple ideas including innovative corporate responsibility promotions.
1. BYOB: Bring Your Own Bag
Use recyclable bags when shopping, particularly grocery shopping, or opt for no bag at point of purchase. Some retailers, like Whole Foods, will rebate up to 10 cents per bag at the register as a reward to consumers for being environmentally friendly.
2. Use reusable water bottles, mugs and containers for foods and beverages
If you buy just one cup of coffee or tea in a disposable cup every day, you’ll end up creating about 23 lbs. of waste in one year.
3. Recycle at home
Recycle all paper, cans, plastic and glass bottles at your apartment or home. You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste an average American household generates.
4. Unplug devices
Turn off and unplug electronic devices and the power strip they are plugged into. Even when electronic devices are turned off and plugged in, they use energy. Unplugging unused devices can save over 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars in utility bills per year.
5. Eat local
The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally grown food can help both save fuel and support economic development in your community.
Contact Person: Brett Israel Director, Business News & Communications Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Contact Phone: (615) 322-NEWS
Contact Email: brett.israel@owen.vanderbilt.edu
