costs, while taking into consideration life cycle
costs, do not usually include social costs as a
matter of routine.
Besides the Corporation and its EMS, we
can also count on equally committed individuals
having their “social cost driven” personal EMS.
To one who is prepared to play his or her part
in the overall green agenda in safeguarding the
environment, one must be prepared to change
one’s mindset, adopting a more holistic concept
of consumerism, to the extent that it goes beyond
lip-service “care”.
Contextually, “CARE” for environment and
sustainability is an informed understanding of
constraints and limitations over ethical, health,
safety, security, safeguard and risk issues,
including Intellectual Property rights (IPR), code of
practice/standards centric domestic regulations
drawn up with Good Regulatory Practices (GRP)
in mind. One needs to progressively rise up to
the level of the spiritual expression of “CARE”
and mindfully and incrementally practise the
philosophy of “inclusiveness” because the
consequences of pollution do not discriminate.
For example: do we care enough not to have
at any one time, more than two to three pairs of
shoes? In other words, are we content to live within
our means and use what we need with minimum
wastage? Having risen to the spiritual level of
exercising “CARE” for social costs, we would no
longer desire to acquire more than what we need,
for we would be content living within our means –
void of temptation to keep up with the Joneses.
Mindful of social costs, we will not be desirous
for more, resulting in our personal EMS evolving
into our personal IMS – Integrity Management
System. Ideally an IMS will decrease overall
corruption!
“Environmentalism” when distilled to its
fundamental core value is all about social cost
awareness. I care, you care, and everyone cares.
Our “CARE” should go beyond the feel-good
spin or a PR gimmick. Our “CARE” should be the
pathfinder for a meaningful life enriched with
social consciousness, the anchor of our lives’
principle. Our “CARE” should be the essence of
meaningful life and happiness. When our “CARE”
progresses beyond just lip service, EMS can
be IMS, and that will be the day Sustainability
becomes a part of life.
Conclusion
The present generation has a duty of care to
adopt an environmentalism that will facilitate
sustainable development by following a social
cost caring personal EMS; e.g. management of
sustainable energy in our daily lives as part of
consumerism. Consumerism is compatible with
Environmentalism when there is CARE. With CARE
we can buy in UN-MDGs and SDGs.
Finally, for true sustainability, one must dig
deep into our heritage to understand how our
ancestors managed their sustainable existence.
Better still, study how nature develops sustainable
solutions to its problems, as in the science & art of
biomimicry, for a balanced ecosystem.
Index of Acronym
AAET
ACCCIM
CHP
DCS
DHS
ESTI
FIEM
Ipr
GRP
OECD
ROM
SDGs
TQC
TQM
UN
WB
WTO
ZD
= ASEAN Academy of
Engineering & Technology
= Associated Chinese Chamber
of Commerce & Industry,
Malaysia
= Combined Heat & Power
= District Cooling System
= District Heating System
= Engineering, Science,
Technology & Innovation
= Fellow of the Institution of
Engineers Malaysia
= Intellectual property rights
= Good Regulatory Practice(s)
= Organization for Economic
Co-operation and
Development
= Repair, Overhaul and
Maintenance
= Sustainable Development
Goals – established by the
UN
= Total Quality Circle
= Total Quality Management
= United Nations
= World Bank
= World Trade Organization
= Zero Defect
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