Eco-efficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard; indeed, most companies invest in ecoefficiency improvements in order to increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly eco-efficient ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.
1. Suggest a topic for this paragraph.
2. What is the stated main idea for this paragraph?
3. Write down two supporting sentences for the main idea.
Answers
Answer:
2. what is the stated main idea for this paragraph
The questions asked for this passage focus on a short summary of the key points presented in the passage.
Explanation:
The answers of the questions are:
1. How Ecoefficiency should be managed in today's economy.
2. The main idea in this paragraph is how ecoefficiency should be maintained in accordance to the existing economy and how it shouldn’t be used merely as a tool to create and fuel eco-inefficient industries, thereby producing more waste and harming the environment in the long run.
3. a) Ecoefficiency should be maintained by businesses in a manner that has a significant impact on the environment instead of simply using it to generate profits.
b) Senge and Carstedt want the businesses to focus on the material used for production and the waste it generates and how that can be turned into eco efficient ventures instead of focusing only on ecoefficiency.