Discuss the first two levels of the environmental sustainability portfolio that pay off in the short term

What will be an ideal response?

Student answers will vary to include new-clean technology and sustainability vision. At the most basic level, a company can practice pollution prevention. This involves more than pollution control or cleaning up waste after it has been created. Pollution prevention means eliminating or minimizing waste before it is created. Companies emphasizing prevention have responded with internal "green marketing" programs—designing and developing ecologically safer products, recyclable and biodegradable packaging, better pollution controls, and more energy-efficient operations. At the next level, companies can practice product stewardship—minimizing not just pollution from production and product design but all environmental impacts throughout the full product life cycle, all the while reducing costs. Many companies are adopting design for environment (DFE) and cradle-to-cradle practices. This involves thinking ahead to design products that are easier to recover, reuse, recycle, or safely return to nature after usage, becoming part of the ecological cycle.