Assignment:
Put your name on the first page. Make sure to "in text cite" anything that is beyond our text and course readings and attach a bibliography, MLA format. Common sense on length - it will be at least three or four single spaced pages or more. This assignment is much more quantitative. Do your best on marshalling the numbers/ evidence as you answer these concrete "real world"ish questions.
1. One of the insights of Anderson, Upcycle, G2G, and other proponents of sustainability is that it is good for organizational performance - with a variety of opportunities available to virtually all organizations. Let's apply this to your life OR to an organization of your choice.
Option A) Pick two or three sustainability related "investments" in your own life that you have not yet done but that you know probably makes sense financially and environmentally. To the best of your ability, research the financial case for these alternatives - looking up and researching the numbers as appropriate. You can do standard financial analysis (payback, NPV, ROI, IRR/MIRR, etc) but note issues such as anticipated evolving future prices, pending regulation, environmental impact etc).
• Which one came out on top? If you include "externalities" etc, does anything change? (note that you may not be able to monetize this - but make a pass at ranking these alternatives in terms of their environmental impact and their "non cash benefits").
• Is the most financially compelling alternative also the most environmentally impactful one?
• Could you "bundle" the two (or three) options and still have a compelling case?
• Is this more compelling than other options for you financially? (compare this to other ways you might invest your money). If so, what's holding you back?
Option B) Or......pick two or three sustainability related "investment" options for an organization that you are familiar with, and do financial analysis of these options. To the best of your ability, make the financial case for both of these alternatives - looking up and researching the numbers as appropriate. You can do standard financial analysis (payback, NPV, ROI, IRR/MIRR, etc) but note issues such as anticipated evolving future prices, pending regulation, environmental impact etc).
• What comes out on top? Justify this option as carefully as you can by writing out and quantifying the rationale for the organization to take this option, keeping in mind other metrics (such as the environmental impact, etc).
• If you include "externalities" etc, does anything change? (note that you may not be able to monetize this - but make a pass at ranking these alternatives in terms of their environmental impact and their "non cash benefits").
• Is the most financially compelling alternative also the most environmentally impactful one?
• Could you "bundle" the two options and still have a compelling case? What are the barriers to moving forward, if the financial (and social and environmental) case is strong?
2. Issue spotting and ranking. Pick an organization that you are at least somewhat familiar with (feel free to pick the same organization as the one above). Now, employ some diagnostic tools (like Porter and Kramer's entire article, the analytics of G to G - Audio analysis, business materiality, stakeholder mapping etc.) to make a brief pass at spotting opportunities for the organization (in P and K's language, striving for strategic CSR where the org and the community enjoy shared value, in G to G's language, spotting and ranking eco issues and opportunities).
Using your common sense and the public information that you have available to you (you can also derive from the industry case and from similar organizations), identify at least 5 specific areas of opportunity and prioritize at least 10 concrete actions going forward. You should be "numerical" if it applies, and you might create a table or two. Note that you can also readily utilize material and ideas from "Part Four" in G to G.
What stands out in your brief analysis? Why? Briefly explain how you derived and prioritized these impacts and actions. Note that you may have overlap with your 2 actions above for #1b, but if you do, frame them within your broader strategic approach in this answer. Note: I do not expect you to spend a lot of time finding original data for this - draw from an existing organization of any size that has publicly available information posted, or from an organization that you know well.
3. Life Cycle Analysis and Carbon Footprinting (a subset of LCA). (Research)
Option A) LCAs can be really instructive. Pick two or three similar products/ actions that you are genuinely curious about and set up a contest for environmental impact. Try to pick something that you know has probably been analyzed through LCA. (Somewhat tired examples - Wash the dishes by hand, or dishwasher? Paper or Plastic? Cans or bottles? Cloth diapers or disposable?) More contemporary: shop at Amazon or at Walmart/ Target (online or bricks and mortar)? Paper books or Ebooks? Electric cars, hybrids, or gas cars?
Next, do your level best at finding the best research you can on the question, looking for good LCAs (note this could be a carbon footprint). How good is the LCA research, in your view? What are the scopes? Who commissioned the work, if it's obvious? Summarize the results, including the LCA take on which option is least impactful, and your take. Did anything surprise you? What are the implications for behavior change, etc?
OR:
Option B) Pick a product associated with the organization above in 1 and/or 2. Either find LCA on that product, or try a very crude LCA yourself, ballparking as needed and drawing from online tools as appropriate. Summarize your LCA. What are the implications? Is this organization doing anything that incorporates the insights of the LCA? Is it appropriate or is there a missed opportunity?
Readings:
The Green to Gold- How to Implement Sustainability Practices For Bottom-Line Results In Every Business Function
By Daniel C. Esty and P. J. Simmons