We’ve all heard the rhetoric — corporations pollute, and it’s up to us, the consumers to change it. Activism for accountability, requesting advancement in companies’ environmental policies, and straight up boycotting — we’ve seen it being done. And we’re all for it when it’s just and not uncalled for. But what we’re here to talk about, is of a smaller but super effective stride that could be made toward driving a more permanent change. Change for the good. Change toward making the world we inhabit a better place.
And that is…*slow drum rolls*
investing in green companies!
That’s right, a lot of organizations have leapfrogged themselves towards the goal of zero carbon footprint and net zero status. Zeros are the new 💯. Net-Zero might seem almost mystical — for it’d mean that the company negates all of its negative impact on the environment. It only seems otherworldly, but it’s very real and not impossible to achieve.
Here’s a list of CEOs who stand not just for their companies but also for the environment. CEOs who’ve driven positive changes in the way companies handle themselves. Starting with…
#1 ELON MUSK
Tesla’s (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who also moonlights as a social media influencer and pop icon, has a few tricks up his sleeve. For someone who’s trying to set up a colony on Mars, Elon’s actions will have you believe he hasn’t left earth behind. In the middle of influencing bitcoin prices and posting memes, Elon’s also been running a $100 million jackpot for a climate contest. This, on top of the $150 million that he donated to charities. The climate contest he’s running seeks to find innovative solutions to containing carbon. Yep, the same carbon manufacturing giants are releasing into the environment that’s caused global temperatures to sky*rocket*.
When Cardi B sang “If it’s up, then it’s up, then it’s up, then it’s stuck”, she might as well have been talking about global rising temperatures, cuz there IS a point of no return, but we’re not there yet, and folk like Elon are trying to halt it from ever getting there. Now if that’s not total boss behaviour, we dunno what is💅🏼
#2 JEFF BEZOS
Apart from being the world’s richest person, Amazon’s (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos might also be the most giving, which is no surprise considering his net worth, but nothing short of being lauded either. A standout achievement in Jeff’s environmental philanthropy effort, is the establishment of the Earth Fund. The Earth Fund, funnily enough, has an earth-shattering $10 billion dollars set up to make the fight against climate change a formidable one. The Earth Fund sets out to solve the problem of green projects getting defunct due to lack of funding.
With the 0s in the fund numbers adding up to an entire 10, achieving its goal of adding some much needed fuel in the engine that drives the world in the right direction for posterity is all but…cer-10
*ba dum tss*
#3 LAWRENCE E. KURZIUS
Lawrence has been spearheading McCormick & Company (MKC) since 2016. And in the time since, the organization has made major strides towards cutting down on its negative environmental impact. Some of the decisions the company has taken under his leadership would have you believe that he’d want the company’s environmental impact graph to look like the ‘stache he rocks, and rightfully so. He’s one of the few CEOs who can boast about having achieved net zero status with one of it’s distribution centres — among a handful of orgs that have achieved this in the U.S. Mighty impressive, if you ask us. Growing up as a boy scout moulded Lawrence into a person of ethics, integrity and just an overall appreciator of the natural world. He was honored with the Sr. Distinguished Citizen Award for his exemplary work.
His wife, Rene and him are big on their shared love for animals. They’ve been rallying toward humane treatment of animals and this has put them on the board of Jacksonville zoo and the No More Homeless Pets organization, built to make veterinary care a lot more affordable.
#4 SUSAN STORY
Leading executive Susan Story, is intrinsically linked with water — like her company, American Water Works Company, Inc.’s name would suggest. Heading a public utility company that deals with drinking water and wastewater systems in the U.S., Susan has quite a…Story *wink wink*.
Having started as a nuclear power plant engineer, Susan is actively involved in driving community, economic, and environmental development. She chairs coalitions like the Center for Energy Workforce Development, and is a board member for National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Alliance to Save Energy — all of which are nonprofits working toward advancing energy efficiency — turning up the gas, metaphorically speaking, toward achieving net-zero the world over.
Days when a CEOs job only entailed managing the company and making profits are a thing of the past. CEOs of the new age are environmentally aware and self-aware, but now on a company scale. They realise the impact their organizations have on the environment and are actively trying to create a world where companies can run their businesses without it resulting in ice caps melting, oceans getting polluted, ground water pH levels getting altered et al.
Advocating for the environment can start from as little as investing in companies that have taken the pledge for going green.
Go green with us, at Stockal.
