Life cycle of our natural resource and corporate accountability

For one thing, constantly recalling the life cycle of our natural resource 2 can help us to have a clearer
picture of the earth we live in. For example, 1) natural resource is extracted 2) to manufacture a
product at a factory somewhere. That product is then 3) distributed and sold by corporations to
consumers. 4) Once the life of such product ends, consumers 5) dispose of it to garbage sites, which
hopefully would be able to recycle it so that the life of natural resource extracted in the first place
gets extended.

Process versus product in shaping the corporate behavior

Yes, the international trade has proliferated at a cost to the earth and its resources. And yes, the
private sector (hopefully not all multinationals) has been criticized to behave more with the
maximization of profit as its sole business objective and much less with its accountability toward the
rest of the community. Yet, we still live on this planet and will continue on with the process of
extraction of natural resource, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. So what can be
done to improve this life cycle and maintain sustainable development under the multilateral trading
system?