Environmental Sustainability

Explore the concept of environmental sustainability and its importance in the context of Foodstuffs, the largest grocery distributor in New Zealand. Learn about the problems faced by the food production and farming techniques, and the strategies adopted by Foodstuffs to promote environmental sustainability. Discover the factors influencing sustainability and the issues related to its implementation. Findings of the research and potential users of the findings are also discussed.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
About the organisation:..........................................................................................................2
General problem.....................................................................................................................2
Importance of the topic...........................................................................................................3
Justification of its selection....................................................................................................3
Scope of the review:...............................................................................................................4
Literature review........................................................................................................................4
Factors influencing sustainability...........................................................................................5
Issues related to sustainability................................................................................................6
Other issues:...........................................................................................................................7
Research questions (200)........................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Pointing out the findings........................................................................................................8
Improvement and users of the findings..................................................................................8
Reference..................................................................................................................................10

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Introduction
About the organisation:
‘Foodstuffs’ is the largest grocery distributor of New Zealand. Being one of the
biggest, Kiwi owned organisations of New Zealand . The company was established in the
year 1922. Since then it has shown a great growth rate. The development and expansion of
Foodstuffs as one of the major grocery distributors can be attributed to its continuous strive to
meet the expectations of the customers and ceaseless efforts to give the customers best
experiences. Another factor responsible behind the success of ‘Foodstuffs’ is its clear
understanding of the need of the customers. In order to fulfill its objective to serve the
customers sincerely (Wong & Zhou, 2015), it has opened two branches-
Foodstuffs North Island Limited-This branch has been opened in an attempt to cover the
North Island,
Foodstuffs South Island Limited- opened in order to satisfy customers of South Island.
General problem:
The food production and farming techniques in New Zealand give birth to several
environmental problems. One of them are-deforestation. As a dreadful consequences for
deforestation, the amount of rainfall decreases, but the intensity of the rain water enhances.
Moreover, rainwater hits the soil directly leading to the draining out of the productive soil.
Hence , it can b realised that, deforestation causes harm to the productive soil as well the food
production indirectly (Tukker & Tischner, 2017).
Other problems include, the acidification, increased levels of nitrogen due to the
production of dairy products, which affects the health of the soil badly. In short the farming

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
and dairy production techniques are responsible for the loss of productive soil as well as
damaging health of the soil. Again, these factors are also responsible for the bcontamination
of the ground as well as surface water levels.
Importance of the topic
Foodstaffs has understood that, for the management of the environmental resources,
renewing energy, protection of productive soil, it is very important to find out the problems in
the conversion of petrol as well as diesel drivers into CNG or bio fuel.
Other importance of this topic can be found in the necessity to protect productive soil
as well as the levels of the ground water level, the farming as well as food production sector ,
grocery distributors in the country of New Zealand, are now concerned about the prevention
of the environmental degradation without making any compromise on the part of the food
production and distribution. Being one of the largest grocery distributors, Foodstaff consider
it essential to take fruitful initiatives ion this regards. There lies the importance of this
research topic (Schaltegger, et al., 2017).
Justification of its selection
As a justification of the selection of this topic, it can be said that, bio-degradable gas
or bio-fuel will reduce the negative impacts of environmental degradation on food production
and distribution. The existence of toxic gases is not only harming the overall food
procurement as well as food production of the economy f New Zealand, but also giving birth
to several problems, like excess demand for foods, high price of the food grains as well as the
grocery items leading to the inflation in the economy. As one of the largest distributors of
grocery items, Foodstaff has realised that, if this problem is not dealt with sincerity , this may
affect the poor people of New Zealand and may bring famine like situation. Foodstuffs is able

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
to foresee the upcoming predicaments and has come forward to solve the problem of the
conversion of the petrol as well as diesel drivers into CNG (Foodstuffs.co.nz, 2019).
Scope of the review:
Foodstaffs’ environmental principles consider that the areas in which there is scopes for
review are-
 Finding out the problems faced by the petrol as well as diesel drivers while
being converted into bio-fuel
 Finding out the environmental sustainability strategies for Foodstaffs that
foster the conversion of petrol and diesel drivers into biodegradable gas and
eliminates the environmental problems faced by the food procurement as well
as production sector of the country as a whole
 The scope of review also includes the incorporation of the strategies by
Foodstaffs to retain the productivity of the soil and fight the problem of
decline in the food grain production
 The scope of review also includes the adoption of the scientific methods by
Foodstaffs for the disposal of chemical as well as hazardous wastes.
 The scope of review also includes the adoption of the appropriate reusing as
well as recycling technology by Foodstaffs for the conservation of the
environment.
 The scope of review also includes the development of sustainable products.
Literature review
Concept of sustainability (300)

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
According to United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development,
the term sustainability refers to the capability to fulfil the demands of present without
compromising on the part of meeting the necessities of the future generation. Hence,
‘environmental sustainability’ will imply the ability to foster improvement in the quality of
human lives, without making any damage to the ecosystems of the earth. The International
Union provides this definition for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Ioannou & Serafeim,
2017).
The maintenance of environmental sustainability is essential because, any damage in
any element of the environment-like air, soil, water, forests, will in turn impact the human
lives negatively, leading to the stagnant growth of the agricultural and food production as
well as the diseases due to the contamination of the water as well as air. Lack of food and
diseases will pave the way for the destruction of humanity (Piecyk, et al., 2015).
If this problem is looked from the perspective of the economy, obstacles in the
production as well as distribution of food, induced by contamination of soil and ground water
will lower the overall production of an economy. All these may foster a situation of
hyperinflation and the economy of New Zealand may turn into a stagnant economy (Laszlo &
Zhexembayeva, 2017).
The probable consequences of environmental degradation gave birth to the, the
concept of environmental sustainability leading to the necessity of converting petrol as well
as diesel into bio-fuels; so that the problems faced by the food procurement as well as
production sector of New Zealand can be eliminated. For both the environmental as well as
economic reasons companies in New Zealand have come forward to perform their duties
towards the environment as well as the mankind as a whole (Crane & Matten, 2016).
Factors influencing sustainability

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Several influential studies have been conducted which aim to focus on the problems of
environmental sustainability. According to the research conducted so far, the factor impacting
environmental sustainability are-
 Need for conserving fresh air and energy,
 Need for converting petrol and diesel drivers into biodegradable gases
 Need for elimination of toxic elements from natural gases
 Need for harmless and renewable fuels.
 Need for the prevention of contamination of the soil as well as the water due chemical
and hazardous wastes,
 Need for recycling limited resources (Geissdoerfer, et al.,2017),
 Take care of the scarce environmental resources with the help of renewable energies,
 Need for protection of the forest and productive soil
 Encouraging forestation
 Reducing damage to the environment by encouraging the use of green or eco-friendly
products
 Fostering the adoption of environment conservation strategies like-Green building
initiatives (Clayton & Radcliffe, 2018)
Issues related to sustainability
The several issues faced by ‘Foodstaffs’ while incorporating the strategies to foster
environmental sustainability are-
 Lack of support by the government as well as the investors to Foodstaffs, so that the
company can perform CSR activities like - aiding in the process of producing CNG
from petrol and diesel drivers (Emerson, 2013).
 Lack of government aid for conserving fresh air and energy,

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
 Lack of support by investors for converting petrol and diesel drivers into
biodegradable gases
 Lack of trusts financial aids by stakeholders as well as government for accelerating
the adoption of scientific methods to eliminate toxic elements from natural gases
 Lack of capital to support the adoption of scientific technologies by the country to
produce bio-fuels(Neubauer & Lank, 2016).
Other issues:
 It is seen that Foodstuffs indulge in growing natural food products, which can help in
the development of fresh products for the company. In this regard, the issues such as
pollution created by petrol or diesel can act as a hindrance for the company. This is
mainly because the emitted petrol or diesel can destroy the crops or pollute it.
 The fact that the conversion to CNG is not obtained by the car driver pose a challenge
for Foodstuffs. Although the company deals with selling food, concern for this topic
is natural for it since the company is heavily affected by the emission of petrol and
diesel gases. Thus, this can be considered as a worrying factor for Foodstuffs.
 The biodegradable wastes also lay the foundation of CNG and is usually combustible
or have a similar design flow as that of the application of CNG. For petrol and diesel
used cars conversion from the CNG can be challenging, as it does not allow security
over the longevity of the cars. Thus, remaining sceptical about the conversation can
be justified. For Foodstuffs it is the duty of the company to conduct a corporate social
responsibility rally that can help in the promotion of the negative influence of CNG.
 The dearth in the financial support and trust from the shareholders and investors in
aiding the adoption of appropriate reusing as well as recycling technology
 The lack of support by New Zealand government to foster the development of safe as
well as sustainable products (Baland, et al., 2018)

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Research questions
1. How to overcome the obstacles faced by petrol and diesel drivers while being
converted into CNG?
2. What is the perception of drivers towards CNG?
3. How to find out the likelihood of the drivers to convert to the CNG?
4. What is the impact of adopting the conversion problems of petrol and diesel drivers as
CSR strategy on the decision making process of the customers?
Conclusion
Pointing out the findings
The findings of the research will manifest how the CSR strategy adopted by Foodstaff
will deal with the problem of the conversion of petrol as well as diesel drivers into bio-
degradable gases. In this context the findings of the research will also throw lights on the
factors causing problem in the conversion of the petrol as well as diesel drivers into bio-fuels
or CNG. Again the findings will also highlights the solution of eliminating the factors
causing hindrance in the conversion of the petrol as well as diesel drivers into bio-degradable
gases. The findings will also reveal the actual perception of the drivers towards CNG leading
to the derivation of the factors that give a clear idea about the likelihood of the drivers to
convert to the CNG. Finally the findings of the research will show how the successful
conversion of the petrol as well as diesel drivers will eliminate toxic elements from the air
soil as well as water, leading to the improvement of the food procurement, production as well
as distribution sector of New Zealand (Adams, et al., 2016).
Improvement and users of the findings
The potential users of the findings of the study are the companies who intend to take
CSR strategies that involve the production of CNG or bio-fuels, or bio-degradable gases.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Also the scientific institutions that are concerned about the production of renewable in toxic
gases from the petrol as well as diesel drivers can be considered as the potential users of the
findings of the study. The statutory body of the government of New Zealand and also the
NGOs who intend to aid the conversion of the petrol as well diesel drivers into gases that are
not toxic and carries elements that are biodegradable. Also the research institutes who are in
the attempt of finding out the ways to eliminate all the factors restricting the petrol and diesel
drivers to be converted into fuels that do not harm the environment due to their biodegradable
characteristics; can be assumed as the potential user of the findings of this research.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
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