Stefany, why is the Sustainability Department important in a company?
The Sustainability Department in a company is important because it turns out to be the key to growing in the long term against external threats, a changing environment and to favor a transformation in the operation of companies. Companies have to focus on the needs of their interest groups, to respond to social, environmental and economic challenges that are not only at the local level, but also globally.
By having a sustainability department, an image and corporate reputation are generated, and of course it generates greater efficiency in the processes. Companies must have an understanding of where the business strategy is going, incorporate these practices and activities according to materiality or relevant to the company and its interest groups.
What are the main milestones of your department?
We are the first nutraceutical company with the Seal B corp in Spain.
Our department manages an equally important dimension in each of its factions:
Environmental dimension: Resilient planet.
Social dimension: people in the center.
Good governance and profitable growth: ethics and transparency.
Today I want to focus on the first, since it focuses on environmental responsibility, which is the issue that concerns us now that World Environment Day approaches.
Environmental Dimension: Resilient Planet
- We have focused on making efficient use of resources.
- The approach to 100% biodegradable ecological packaging incorporates ethical and sustainability criteria, which is now a requirement within the company's processes.
- We consume 100% renewable energy in Spain.
- We measure, offset and reduce our carbon emissions.
- We incorporated a fleet made up of 50 hybrid/electric vehicles, which makes up 96% of our vehicle fleet.
- We invest in innovation and development of clean technologies in a wind farm located in the Canarian municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, which covers the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 19,000 families, avoiding the emission of 1.7 million tons of CO2, generating employment of quality and a positive impact on people's health.
- We acquired land in Uganda to plant 664 trees that provide food security for 300 children, youth and their families while capturing 16 tons of CO2 per year.
- We evaluate the environmental performance of our supply chain.
How does the Environment influence health?
The Environment can cause alterations in our health. Noise, pollution, water quality or excess chemicals in our lives are some of the environmental factors that can cause deterioration in our body.
Although the environment in which we live can be beneficial for us by having green areas nearby, it can also be harmful, since it can cause a multitude of alterations in our health.
Given these perspectives, we can affirm that air and water pollution, noise, chemical emissions, food contamination and the consequences of climate change continue to be the main problems related to human health.
It is very important to know that the use of clean and renewable energy implies an improvement in health and quality of life, since it reduces lung and heart conditions caused by the pollution produced by the extraction and refining of fossil fuels. Likewise, the development of clean energy is essential to combat climate change and limit its effects, including heat-related diseases, vector transmission, droughts and food shortages.
Why is the Environment important?
R/ The importance of the Environment lies in the fact that all forms of life take place in it and not elsewhere, which is why its care and preservation must be one of the primary elements of human action. Nowadays there is an increasingly noticeable awareness about the relevance of these actions and not only people but also governments and companies have begun to develop activities that tend to preserve or limit damage to the Environment.
Is caring for the environment compatible with economic development?
From the point of view of sustainability we affirm it. Sustainable development is the best alternative that allows us to reduce pollution and considerably reduce the environmental burden, mitigating, in a certain way, the ecological damage that we have caused in centuries of irresponsible use of resources.
In this sense, we understand sustainability as the way to satisfy needs without compromising the future of resources, maintaining a balance between the exploitation of resources and the environment. In this way, we believe that a balance between caring for the Environment and economic development is compatible, only this should aim to generate awareness in the three fundamental agents: governments, businessmen and people.
What can we do on a personal level to contribute to the protection of the Environment?
The human being has always interacted to a greater or lesser extent with the environment since it is from him where he obtains all the resources for his subsistence. However, in recent times, the growth of the world population at excessive levels and the increase with it from food needs and various types of resources has led the human being to generate great damage to the planetary environment, some irreversible, such as the exhaustion of non -renewable resources, water or air pollution, the generation of greenhouse gases, etc.
What can we do?
- Water is a scarce and essential good, so it is in our hands to consume the amount of water strictly necessary;
- A part of what we consume ends in the trash, but we must bear in mind that many elements that we throw can be reused again if recycling containers are used.
- Driving gasoline vehicles causes nitrogen dioxide emissions, a substance that pollutes the environment. For this reason, every responsible citizen should resort to other means of transport (sustainable mobility) non -polluting.
- The electronic devices that we are not using should be extinguished, since otherwise energy continues to be consumed. In this sense, instead of wearing dryers we could dry outdoor clothes.
- Avoid using plastic bags daily, since they end in the seas, lakes and rivers of the planet.
- Do not throw butts, because these can trigger fires.
- When we go for a walk to the beach, the field or another place, we must collect the garbage we generate, since the remains of garbage accumulate on the ground and become polluting substances.
- If we consume organic foods we collaborate in the reduction of fertilizers and pesticides.
