Sustainable OM – OM in the News

Amazon’s HQ2 Plans Approved for Pentagon City

Amazon is building a second headquarters, known as PenPlace, in Pentagon City.

PenPlace will have four renewable-energy powered buildings, with one featuring a Helix design totaling 3.3 million square feet. The benefits offered to the community include hiring 25,000 employees, building a community high school, providing $30 million for Arlington’s affordable housing fund, constructing open spaces, and improving transportation.

Video Spotlight:

Amazon gives tour of Met Park 3 years after Arlington was chosen for HQ2 (Nov 17, 2021, […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2022-06-06T07:40:19+00:00June 22, 2022|Tags: facility location, location, social and environmental responsibility, sustainability|

Fertilizer Shortages Could Predict Global Food Crisis

Dairy famers and others with large piles of animal manure are sitting pretty as this once hard-to-unload commodity is now fetching a hefty price.

The cost of commercial fertilizers is soaring amidst global shortages worsened by Russia’s war on Ukraine, and agricultural farmers around the world are frantically seeking less expensive or more readily available alternatives.

Video Spotlight:

The fertilizer shortage may take two to three years to work itself out, says chemical manufacturer (Mar 30, 2022, […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2022-06-06T05:58:15+00:00June 8, 2022|Tags: agriculture, inflation, inventory, logistics, supply chain management, sustainability|

Why Child Labor Continues in the Chocolate Industry

Despite pledges by the global cocoa industry to eliminate the use of child labor by 2020, the number of children employed in such work appears to have actually increased in countries like Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Mondelez International, formerly known as Kraft Foods, owns Cadbury. Fresh allegations and video footage depict children working to farm the cocoa that many enjoy during Easter, even though Mondelez decries the use of child labor and has programs in place to prevent it.

This difficult problem […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2022-06-06T04:55:37+00:00June 5, 2022|Tags: ethics, location planning, supply chain management, sustainability|

Mass Customization and Fast Fashion

Sustainability and the fashion industry appear to be mutually exclusive. Add in Fast Fashion, and sustainability appears to be of little concern.

In particular, Fast Fashion rapidly designs, produces, and markets high volumes of garments that typically use low-quality materials.

As Fast Fashion has increased the number of fashion seasons from four – with an emphasis on a twice-yearly fashion week – to fifty-two seasons per year, the environmental impact has greatly increased.

It has even reached the point that laws are being […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-04-29T23:06:35+00:00April 29, 2022|Tags: circular economy, fashion, lean, mass customization, sustainability, waste|