ABSTRACT
The extent to which services can contribute to environmental sustainability depends on micro-level (i.e., organizational level) and macro-level (i.e., global-level) considerations. At the micro-level, environmental sustainability requires reducing environmental degradation through actions of individual service organizations. Service organizations can use greenprinting as part of an environmental management system that incorporates best green service practices to design and deliver environmentally sustainable services. Although it is necessary to reengineer services to be more environmentally responsible, it is not sufficient for service industries as a whole to be environmentally sustainable. When services are considered from a global (macro-level) perspective, growth in world population increases the demand for natural resources, including those used by service organizations. Thus, without macro-level changes, reengineering of services to be environmentally friendly will be insufficient to eliminate environmental degradation. Reversing environmental degradation requires fundamental changes in how societies define the well-being of their members as well as the relationship between society members and the natural environment. These changes must be shared by the world’s societies, and must impact the business models of both manufacturers and service organizations. Reducing environmental degradation is an important issue in services, but their contribution to slowing and reversing environmental degradation cannot by accomplished piecemeal. Instead, service organizations, both individually and as a collective, must become environmentally responsible. Enhancing environmental sustainability requires service organizations to develop and implement environmentally responsible service processes that become standard practices worldwide. The purpose of this chapter is to examine how both micro- and macro-level factors influence the extent to which services can become environmentally sustainable.
