Organizational Ethics (Semester Summary)

I learned a lot about myself in this class. There is no doubt in my mind understanding the framework of ethics and which school of thought I frequently fit into (deontological) has greatly reduced my frustration level. It has also kept me from overreacting to unethical situations. Over the course I heard again and again: "perhaps they just don't know" whenever I mentioned an individual or group's (unethical) actions.  Perhaps this is right. At least now I am able and willing to consider it as a starting point while I also advocate a solution which has evolved beyond unproductive finger pointing.  I also better understand the elements of other schools of ethical thought and fully recognize as humans, our ethical development is not over yet.

I am not alone in the exploratory process of living an ethical life. Jeremy Seifert discovered America is, "Feeding our landfills as much as we're feeding ourselves." A volunteer at Bread for the World staggers us with, "35 1/2 million people in the US don't know where their next meal is coming from." Of this population, 11 1/2 million in the US won't eat today because they cannot find food.  Yet Seifert, along with a few friends salvage bag after bag of fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs and meat from grocery store dumpsters. Unable to wrap his mind around so much waste, Seifert set out to discover why our landfills are being filled rather than our bellies.

On the surface diving seems harmless enough, but dumpster diving involves trespassing on personal property. As one Diver says, "This is a totally different and outside the system way of living." So the utilitarian ethical dilemma surfaces. Should people go hungry to protect garbage?

The Diver has three basic rules. "1.) Never take more than you need, unless you find it a good home. 2.) The first one to the dumpster has first dibs, but you always gotta share. 3.) Leave it cleaner than you found it." Even so, one Diver claims:

"I believe dumpster diving is civil disobedience, it's nonviolent civil disobedience. I believe in what I am doing. I believe it's right. I'm willing to break the law. I take it seriously to break the law. But if I believe it's just, I believe in doing it. If I get caught or arrested I'd be proud to say I got arrested for eating somebody's waste."

On the other hand, the consequentialism ethical frame can be supported by looking at a global view. Anthropologist and garbage expert Timothy Jones argues: "50 percent of the food that's up and ready to harvest never makes it into somebody's stomach." He proposes the idea, "If we were to cut our food losses in half we would probably reduce our overall pollution rates by 10 percent."

So now that we know there is an ethical dilemma, what are you going to do about it? When I saw Whole Foods was contributing to the problem, I wanted to know the approach of my favorite local store, MOMs Organic Market. Unlike Seifert's communications with stores, I received a response within 24 hours.

Q: I would like to inquire the steps MOMs takes with expired food. I recently watched the documentary Dive! (2010) and I am aware MOMs composts, but can you tell me what is done with any waste for all the stores?

A: "We donate expired products that are still edible to a few different nonprofits--mostly food banks and soup kitchens. Compost is used for inedible (biodegradable) waste." 

 As Warren Bennis reminds us, "Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing." A No Excuses leader will look for an opportunity to support a more ethical process and outcome. Accordingly, I have decided to rearrange my schedule so that even if I am tired I will go to MOMs after work (5 minutes away) rather than deal with it later and shop at grocery stores in my neighborhood who choose to throw food in the landfill.