Environmental Health News, Week 9: McDonald's Aims to Cut Carbon Footprint

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One of the world's largest food chains and purchasers of beef, McDonald's, has proposed a new goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions as a response to global warming. The ambitious goal involves cutting emissions by 36% and emissions per ton of packaging or food by 31% by the year 2030. The company is working with other nonprofit organizations and scientists to make a clear path for implementation. According to the article, McDonald's was already beginning to work on reducing emissions, but will now add more to their goal by focusing on beef production, energy use at restaurants, packaging, and waste. Multiple changes in their system will need to be made in order to successfully achieve these goals, but according to Sheila Bonini, senior vice president of private sector engagement for WWF, they're "starting to see great results." McDonald's has also made commitments to end deforestation and plans on using more sustainable meat sources or possibly even creating vegetarian options.

The news of McDonald's making a commitment to bettering the environment was uplifting. While it is a huge goal that will take a great deal of work and time, it is a start towards a solution and environmental improvement. What is notable is that McDonald's is a huge, worldwide company that has influence on suppliers and other companies. McDonald's is taking a step forward, and hopefully other companies can follow in their footsteps.

Reference
https://www.fastcompany.com/40546702/mcdonalds-says-it-will-cut-its-carbon-footprint-enough-to-actually-make-a-difference?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=92dde3506c-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-92dde3506c-99470193

Comments

  1. Ashley SubramaniMarch 21, 2018 at 6:01 PM

    Hi Loren,

    It is great to see such a large and influential company take steps towards bettering the environment. It is hope that this may start a movement for other companies to also do the same. McDonald's wouldn't be a company I would think of as caring for the environment since their food isn't very healthy but seeing them trying to make better contributions in the world is nice to see.

    ReplyDelete

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