In a recent survey of eight thousand (8

In a recent survey of eight thousand (8,000) adults conducted by Disney Family.com between the 22nd of February and the 17th of March 2008. When asked who should enforce environmentally sound practices? Forty percent of respondents indicated that it should be the government; thirty nine percent indicated that it should be individuals; thirteen percent indicated that it should be businesses and nine percent indicated that it should be the schools. That equals more than one hundred percent based on rounding. The great news is that 100% of the individuals surveyed had an opinion. That?s a step in the right direction for the environment. In question is the fact that forty percent of individuals surveyed defaulted to this being a government responsibility. Did not our sixteenth President of the United States Abraham Lincoln say during his Gettysburg address during November of 1863 that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”?

I believe that it really is about the people. All of the people. I don?t believe that government can do it alone without guidance from the people. I don?t believe that businesses can do it alone without guidance from the government in the form of standards. I don?t believe that people can do it alone without taking it to the work place. And, unless we focus on it in the home and the workplace there is not much schools can do to enforce their environmental educational content. I really believe that their should have been a selection option in this survey stating that it takes all of us working together towards a common good. And, since I have always told my children and co-workers to give more than 100% if they want to be successful, rounding to greater than one hundred percent in this case would have been a win for the environment.

At SafeSourcing we pay it forward every day where the environment is concerned by focusing on the environmental standards of the suppliers in our SafeSourceIt? supplier database such as Greenstar Certified, LEEDS, Green Seal, and EcoLogo to name a few.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron