Protecting San Diego Coasts

Coastal Days by Murad Abel

The ocean coastline is one of the most important assets of San Diego and California in general. It is such a popular natural resources that much of San Diego was developed off of this coastline. Warm weather, sunny beaches, and clean coasts draw around 33 million visitors a year, $8.4 billion in spending, and $388 million in taxes annually (1).  With such a valuable asset each person has a responsibility to respect and protect the environment.

If you have ever walked on the beach, surfed in the middle of day, threw a line off one of the piers, or sun tanned at the beach you will quickly learn how important this asset really is. A great many people spend hours, some a lifetime, around the beaches and enjoy them to the fullest. An entire culture as developed off of the sand.

You will also notice that the closer you get to the beach the more expensive housing becomes. Areas like La Jolla are in the millions of dollars. People pay a premium to both buy and live near the beach. As you move inland the housing becomes cheaper. The coast has created its own economy with housing, restaurants, events, and outings.

The city does a solid job keeping trash bins empty, enforcing clean up, and encouraging the protection of their most important asset. Despite the cities best efforts it is up to San Diegans, and visitors to keep the coast clean. Each of our actions contribute to the growing pollution problems of our coastline.

According to San Diego Coast Keeper, a non-profit focused on the coastline, a huge percentage of pollution comes from locals (2). Run off from trash, pesticides, animals, etc... can make their way into the water and cause their illness. It is advised not to go into the ocean directly after rain due to the buildup of pollutants that make their way into the ocean.

There are a few things we can do that help to ensure that we are limiting the amount of trash and pollutants in our environment. Seeking environmentally friendly products, recycling, picking up trash, using natural landscape, donating to environmental organizations, and frequenting businesses that support the environment are part of the process. You can always check out some of the environmentally friendly businesses below:

San Diego Government Listings

San Diego Yelp Listings

San Diego Loves Green

Greenopia

US Green Chamber of Commerce

The Picture "Coastal Days" shows a bright sky with puffy clouds.  The cliffs, coast, and oceans are bright and eye catching. The picture helps show the beauty and life that exists on the coast and appears to be nearly perfect in environmentally cleanliness. You may purchase the picture in poster form on the Creative Works page or Fine Art America.

Going Green in the Restaurant Industry

Green business practices are a growing trend not only in the food industry but other places as well. As the world population rises, food becomes just a touch more scarce, and global warming grips the concerns of citizens some corporations have responded to the pressure by developing more sustainable practices. New practices have hit the market in order to reduce the carbon footprint and support local producers. Research helps show why managers decide to implement or not implement such programs into their business models in alignment with customer interests.

Approximately 84% of Americans show a willingness to switch their brands based upon the desire to support positive societal causes (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2004). This willingness of customers to vote with their dollars creates additional support for the development of sustainable products. With the ability to obtain profits businesses will more likely support green agendas because they have both a social and financial benefit of doing so. 

Customers weren’t only willing to switch to products that were more sustainable but also were willing to put their money where their mouth is (Joyner & Payne, 2002). The amount of premium customers wasn’t mentioned. The willingness of customers to pay extra is a benefit for businesses that would like to recoup on associated costs. 

With the added benefits and market appeal of local and green products one must wonder why more businesses are not signing up. Some of the reasons may be associated with knowledge and overall costs. In highly competitive industries such changes often come slow with a few changes here and there to test the waters. Other business interests often take precedence. 

Data collected from 167 members of a state restaurant association utilized a 44-item questionnaire from three dimensions of the Green Practices framework to assess the psychological attributes of manager’s willingness to charge for green practices. The study was conducted by Guane Choi (2006) to determine manager’s willingness to accept green programs. Demographics of the polled members were 45% were 49-59 years of age, 30 % were 30 to 44 years of age, and 85% of respondents had more than 10 years of experience.

Findings:

-Managers were not willing to pass costs off to customers by raising price.

-Managers were willing to accept Green Programs based upon personal preferences.

-There is some level of fear that customers would not be willing to pay for green programs.

-Managers belief that offering meat alternatives, low-fat entrees, using local food, pro-environmental and recycling activities, donations to charity, communicating with consumers, and increased concern for stakeholders do not justify higher prices. 

Business Analysis: 

The food industry is a highly competitive environment. Food price is often a major concern for restaurant managers at lower end food options. Managers may engage in green programs based upon their personal preferences or the preferences of their customers. They are not willing to raise the price of their products which limits the type of programs they were willing to engage in. Therefore, improvements in green programs are often based in competitively prices alternatives versus raising costs and lowering profit margins.

Guane Choi, P. (2006). Green practices II: measuring restaurant manager’s psychological attributes and their willingness to change for green practices. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 9 (4). 

Bhattacharya, B. and Sen, S. (2004). Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives. California Management Review, 47(1), 9.

Joyner, B. and Payne, D. (2002). Evolution and Implementation: A Study of Values, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 41, 297-311.