The Environmental Issues
Water is a principle requirement for the food and beverage processing of Water waste from Dean Company, and is common especially during the start-up breakdown processes and shutdowns. Such waste may include: pure milk and other beverages, chemical and oil waste from machinery, as well as sanitary cleaners. The company uses water in a variety of ways and has a result become a principle source of the environmental pollution.
Water used in the industries’ processing plants is obtained from water bodies. During the processing cycle, water loses its natural form, and is later released to the water bodies. Water carries with it lots of waste into the water masses, thereafter affecting the water animals and human beings in the very end. In addition, water is used during the conveying process, as well as for cleaning purposes. In this way, Dean Foods and Beverages company alters the natural state of the environment. Processing is known to yield pathogens and reduce oxygen levels in the water, leading to environmental health hazards.
There is a continuing demand for food and beverages, especially in the US. This is due to the increasing population and the need to offer the food security. The industry has, as a result, promoted practices that endanger the environment. Such practices include: use of chemicals in animal and plant firms, and growth of GMO sourced plants among many others. These practices continue to endanger the environment and man’s life in general.
Chemicals released into the environment include; sulphor dioxide and chloride wastes, which lead to acidic rains. The transportation of raw materials from agricultural farms and other countries also leads to environmental degradation. Transport mechanisms used by the industry include the road and sea transport. Such transport calls for the development of infrastructure altering the natural environment. In addition, it leads to the release of gaseous waste whose consequences are nothing, but negative. Although food and beverage processingindustries are not energy intensive, they also use the fossil fuels.
Increased operations continue to contribute to the carbon dioxide release into the environment. Carbon dioxide is known to lead to the global warming, whose effects are global and not limited to the US. As a result of the high demand of fuel in the processing plants, there is an increased extraction of these fuels in both existing reserves and search for the newer once. Extraction of fossil fuels leads to land dereliction. Land dereliction has continued to impact negatively to the lives of many, leading to land falls and floods in some areas.
This continued alteration of the environment from its natural state endangers the lively hoods of both the current and future generation.Food and beverage processing industries, such as Dean Foods and Beverage company, are known to contribute immensely to the solid waste banks. Packaging is the major source of these solid wastes. Food and beverage products are often packaged in plastic and glass containers. Unfortunately, these two materials are non-bio degradable. Once used, these packaging materials are often left to litter the environment, resulting into a health hazard.
Solid heaps of waste has led to social problems, especially so in the United States. Government agencies mandated to dispose such waste continue to engage in running battles with citizens living near disposal sites. Such misunderstandings may continue to increase in the future, since there are few promises by these organizations to desist from such trends. Other toxic waste from this industry includes chemical effluents into the water bodies through the flowing water. Dean Food and Beverages Company have over the years continued to purchase new land. Examples include purchase of Jilbert’s family dairy farm (2006).
These new pieces of land are used for: the construction of processing industries, farmyards, and cattle yards among other facilities. Land is considered to be one of the most significant resources on the face of the earth. The company alteers the natural state of this resource in a variety of ways including construction and heaping to yield an environmental hazard. In addition to the displacement of people living near, such land is the unsustainable use of the land, and resulting from its restructuring, it endangers the lives of future generations. Another way in which this purchasing of land by the industry affects the environment is; the reduction of the amount of land left for agricultural use. Plant life is known to play a significant role in the natural environment.
Plants are central in many natural cycles that enable the environment to re-adjust its status. Such cycles include: nitrogen, water and carbon cycles. Reduction of plant life, therefore, negatively affects the environment by hindering the cycles mentioned.The story of economical success at the expense of the environment is a sad one. The environment is man’s own habitat, and there is no substitute for the same. Means of safeguarding the environment should, therefore, be imposed to such industries, whose impacts to the environment are hazardous.
Governmental and non-governmental organizations ought to make interventions to safeguard man’s habitat against the negative exploitation. Dean Foods and Beverages company is not the only industry that is directly or indirectly affecting the environment, and was only selected as a case study. The unsustainable use of the environment does not only affect the lives of the current generation, but also that of future generations. The ball is on everyone’s court, we cannot continue to allow a few rich organizations to destroy the habitat of man. Efforts must not be spared in the battle to save our environment. People have not run out of options, and have ability to safeguard their own environment.
Corporations should become more responsible and administer their responsibilities with care and restraint having environmental issues in mind. Adoption of existing standards to protect the natural environment is no longer optional, and no single organization should be left out.
