DC Velocity - September 2013

WE HAVE TWO STORIES THIS MONTH THAT TOUCH ON THE issue of business sustainability.

Susan Lacefield, a staff writer for DC VELOCITY, takes a look at reusable packaging and offers guidelines on what to consider in deciding whether to incorporate reusable packaging in a distribution environment.

She points out, among other things, that reusable packaging is not necessarily more green than, say, recyclable corrugated. Buyers of reusable containers have to consider the full lifecycle of those products—where they come from and what happens to them when it’s time to replace them. From a strictly environmental perspective, reusable containers can make sense for many, but by no means all, distribution operations. The calculation is not as simple as it might seem at first.

In the second story, Senior Editor Toby Gooley offers up an incisive and detailed look at the coming Tier 4 final emissions restrictions and what they will mean for makers of diesel forklifts and their customers. The short answer is that those forklifts are going to get more expensive but produce far fewer toxic emissions than their predecessors.

I see this as a sustainability story for a couple of reasons. The first is clear enough: Cleaner-burning engines mean less air pollution. Once again, that’s a fit with corporate initiatives to reduce carbon footprints. But it touches on another aspect of sustainability as well— worker health. Any comprehensive sustainability initiative must include human resource issues, and cutting workplace pollution is certainly pertinent to employees’ health and well-being.

In fact, many of the sustainability programs undertaken to reduce energy use also enhance worker health, safety, and job satisfaction. Better lighting can reduce energy costs while improving the work environment. Better climate control leads to more comfortable—and productive— work environments.

Sustainability coverage tends to focus on projects that do things like reduce energy use. But from a broader perspective, sustainability is about creating business practices that can help a company, its owners, its managers, its workers, and its customers and suppliers thrive over the long run. Green initiatives are certainly a big part of that. So is creating safe workplaces. The deadly toll taken by the recent factory fire in Bangladesh provides grievous testimony to just how devastating ignoring workplace safety can be. Truly sustainable business practices require getting it right inside the walls of the factory or DC here at home—and doing business with only those who do the same.

bigpicture

Editorial Director

Sustainability begins, but doesn’t

end, at home
Peter Bradley
Editorial Director
peter@dcvelocity.com
Karen Bachrach
Executive Editor
karen@dcvelocity.com
Toby Gooley
Senior Editor
tgooley@dcvelocity.com
David Maloney
Senior Editor, Special Projects & eContent
dmaloney@dcvelocity.com
Mark Solomon
Senior Editor
mark@dcvelocity.com
Susan Lacefield
Associate Managing Editor
slacefield@dcvelocity.com
James Cooke
Editor at Large
jcooke@dcvelocity.com
Steve Geary
Editor at Large
sgeary@dcvelocity.com
George Weimer
Editor at Large
gweimer@dcvelocity.com
Erica E. Mac Donald
Assistant Editor
Keisha Capitola
Director of Creative Services
keisha@dcvelocity.com
Jeff Thacker
Director of eMedia
jeff@dcvelocity.com
Columnists:
Clifford F. Lynch
Kenneth B. Ackerman
Art van Bodegraven
Gary Master
Publisher
gmaster@dcvelocity.com
Mitch Mac Donald
Group Editorial Director
mitch@dcvelocity.com
Jim Indelicato
Group Publisher
jindelicato@dcvelocity.com
EDITORIAL OFFICE
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