Earth Day is a time to pause and celebrate the accomplishments made to protect our environment, as well as to highlight the substantial work yet to be done. However, it is also important to recognize that sustainability programs, social responsibility, and citizen and corporate action must be part of everyday life in order to ensure a healthy future for our natural resources.
A growing number of environmental and business organizations recognize that sustainability is good business and good business is environmentally sustainable.
Our two organizations, the James River Association and Smithfield Foods, have demonstrated that there is much common ground in our pursuit of sustainability, and that positive results will be faster and more impactful if we work together.
In fact, we have gone so far as to join forces under an umbrella organization, VIRGINIAforever, that fosters cooperation on land conservation and water quality issues in Virginia among a variety of corporate and environmental interests, including The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Dominion, The Nature Conservancy, Altria and The Virginia Association of Parks, among others.
The James River region, which is home to both Smithfield Foods and the James River Association, is an excellent example of the progress we have made in stewarding our land and water. In JRA’s 2011 “State of the James River Report,” the river’s health received a grade of C. A grade of C is a great improvement from the failing health that plagued the river at the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, thanks to the strong actions and investments over the past four decades. Consequently, the James has become a major asset and attraction for communities all along its course.
At the same time, we are not satisfied with an average grade for such an outstanding resource considered “America’s Founding River.” Parts of the James River ecosystem are still struggling to survive, and the challenges facing the river now extend throughout the 10,000-square-mile drainage basin and its population of 3 million people. Additional advances will require each of us to do our part in our continued pursuit toward solutions that are both environmentally and economically sound.
We strongly encourage all Virginia companies to embrace and implement sustainability and corporate social responsibility programs. For more than a decade, Smithfield has been building comprehensive sustainability programs step by step, achieving benefits for the environment and its bottom line. In the 1990s and early 2000s, a series of environmental situations left Smithfield with sizable regulatory fines and less-than-positive coverage by the media.
Smithfield decided to turn the tide by revamping internal departments, creating new positions to oversee environmental approaches and applying consistent practices, policies and procedures across the company. The company implemented a comprehensive environmental management system (EMS) and became the first in the industry to receive a prestigious certification from the International Organization for Standardization.
The company then extended its sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiatives into other areas of their business, including animal care, food safety, employee safety and community involvement.
But the work of one company is not enough. Smithfield and the James River Association agree it takes collaboration through groups like VIRGINIAforever to not only realize the goal of producing enough high-quality food to feed our growing population, but to do it in a way that ensures the health and vitality of our state, our rivers and, ultimately, our planet.
Tomorrow VIRGINIA forever will join other companies, academics and environmental groups at a roundtable discussion on sustainability in Richmond hosted by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Gov. McDonnell recognizes the value of having these groups at the same table looking for pragmatic and cost-effective innovations and solutions to the challenges we face when addressing land and water issues.
Over the past six years, VIRGINIAforever and our member organizations have been leading voices advocating for increased public funding for water-quality programs and land conservation.
We are pleased that the final budget adopted by the General Assembly includes important investments for the preservation of open space, wastewater treatment upgrades, stormwater management and assistance to farmers implementing conservation practices. We are encouraged to see this level of support for Virginia’s natural resources in tough budget times and encourage Gov. McDonnell’s continued support of these natural-resources-related budget items.
On this Earth Day, we can all take pride in our various efforts to protect our environment and quality of life in Virginia. But it is the actions we take tomorrow, as partners and collaborators for a better world, that will make a truly sustainable difference.
