Advanced 1 Unit 9

Unit 9
Socially Conscious Business

Introduction
a. Complete the paragraph about socially conscious businesses with the words below. There
are more words than you need.

business model • communities • disadvantaged • donate • fair trade

environmentally friendly • food recovery • impact • profits
socially conscious • symposium

I just returned from a (1) ____________ on corporate social responsibility. There were lectures
and workshops on ways businesses can become more (2) ____________. For example,
businesses can (3) ____________ a percentage of their (4) ____________ to charity. They
can also “go green” by making their products (5) ____________. They also discussed how small
businesses can make a positive (6) ____________ on their local (7) ____________. A local
restaurant can set up a (8) ____________ program, so that any leftover food is distributed to
a local soup kitchen instead of going to waste. Businesses can also use (9) _____________
practices to make sure workers producing their goods are paid fairly and treated well.

Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved 99

Advanced 1 Unit 9

b. Do these sentences use the active or the passive voice? Complete the table.

Active Passive
1. Socially conscious businesses are focused on more than
just making a profit.
2. They believe in “giving back” to society.

3. Our ceramic dishes are produced by youth at risk.

4. Each youth is paired with one of our full-time employees.

5. Consumers prefer to do business with companies that are
helping society.
6. They reward these businesses with their money and loyalty.

c. Complete each sentence by writing the correct passive or active form of the verb in
parenthesis.

1. ___________ Gallagher shampoos and deodorants ___________ with 100% natural

ingredients? (make)

2. In my company, employees ___________ time off to do community service. (give)

3. We ___________ using plastic shopping bags in all of our stores. (stop)

4. They ___________ 7% of their profits to help children in poor countries receive an

education. (donate)

5. ___________ your employees ___________ a fair wage? (pay)

6. These products ___________ in environmentally-friendly packaging materials. (not pack)

7. Tomorrow, our employees ___________ to a farm to help local farmers harvest their
crops. (go)

8. We ___________ to make our company more socially conscious. (decide)

9. I won’t work for a company that’s ____________ with corporate social responsibility.
(not concern)

100 Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved

 Advanced 1 Unit 9

Profits With Purpose Meetup

a. Read a blog post from someone who attended the Profits With Purpose Meetup. Then
answer the questions.

www.thebusinessblog.com

The Business Blog

Rhea Sharp

Monday, October 4th

Yesterday I attended a Profits With Purpose meetup at the Bluebird Café in Brooklyn.
I was hoping for an interesting and informative lecture, and I was not disappointed.
The speaker was Sam Whitman, the founder of Sam’s Shoes. As you may know, Sam’s
Shoes has an amazing policy; for every pair of shoes sold, they donate a pair of shoes to
someone in need.
Sam explained the background behind this policy. He said that when he was first
considering opening up a shoe store, he learned that a large amount of retail clothing
is produced by workers who don’t have basic rights. As a result, Sam decided to open a
socially conscious shoe company. Businesses like his operate under fair trade principles.
In other words, workers are paid a fair wage, given benefits such as healthcare, and
treated respectfully.
I was so inspired by the talk, that I decided I’m going to incorporate social responsibility
into my perfume company’s business model. If you are a business owner, I would certainly
recommend you attend a Profits With Purpose meetup. If you have any questions or
comments on the meetup I went to, please post!

1. What sentence tells us that the meetup lived up to Rhea’s expectations?

_____________________________________________________________________

2. What are three fair trade principles that Rhea mentions?

_____________________________________________________________________

3. What happened as a result of Rhea’s attendance at the meeting?

_____________________________________________________________________

b. There are several cohesive markers in the blog. Circle four of them.

Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved 101

Advanced 1 Unit 9

The Presentation
a. Do you remember the video in which Charlie has to prepare a presentation on socially
conscious businesses? Below are some notes Charlie made to help him plan his
presentation. Read the notes and answer the questions.

Slide 1
What is Corporate Social Responsibility? - Businesses incorporate socially-conscious practices
into their business operations

Slide 2
• Environment: Taking steps to become greener, and help reduce negative impact on the
environment
• Philanthropy: Giving away a portion of a company’s proceeds to charity; Use company
resources to benefit charities and local community groups
• Ethical labor: Treating employees fairly and ethically, especially in international locations
where labor laws differ from those in the United States
• Volunteerism: Organizing or attending volunteer events to support causes or charitable
organizations

Slide 3
• Next generation of employees seeking employment with socially-conscious businesses
• Consumers drawn to businesses that “give back” to society
• Make a difference in the world. Businesses can have a huge impact on society.

Additional points to include in slideshow:

Corporate social responsibility becoming more mainstream
Be open and honest about the company’s social actions and contributions to earn the public’s
trust. If giving proceeds to charity, for example, be transparent about where the money is
going and how much money is being donated.

102 Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved

 Advanced 1 Unit 9

1. Charlie uses a different term to refer to socially conscious businesses. What is the term
that he uses?
______________________________________________________________________

2. What is the purpose of slide 1?

______________________________________________________________________

3. Charlie hasn’t yet put titles on his slides. Write titles for slides 1 and 2.
Slide 1: ________________________________________________________________
Slide 2: ________________________________________________________________

4. What two pieces of additional information does Charlie plan to include?

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

5. Julia asks Charlie to include visuals in his slideshow presentation. What kinds of visuals
would be helpful to use in this kind of presentation?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

b. Use Charlie’s notes to create your own presentation on social conscious businesses.
Exchange presentations with a partner and give each other advice on how to improve
each other’s presentations.

c. Share your presentation with the class.

Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved 103

Advanced 1 Unit 9

A Socially Conscious Restaurant

a. Do you remember the video in which two restaurant owners decide to become more
socially conscious? Here’s a letter they received from a food recovery program. Read the
letter and answer the questions.

The Food Recovery Crew

2345 Carlton Road, Los Angeles, California
Tel: 552–196–4282
www.FoodRecoveryCrew.org

Dear Restaurant Owner,

Thank you for your inquiry about Food Recovery Crew’s important work. Our mission is
to promote the recovery and distribution of good food that would otherwise go to waste.
Sadly, huge quantities of edible food are being wasted in our city, while many of our
residents don’t have access to enough affordable, nutritious food. To address this
problem, Food Recovery Crew picks up leftover food from restaurants, caterers, and
hotels, and distributes them to soup kitchens, shelters, and individuals, using mobile
distribution trucks.

We are currently looking to grow our operations to include more businesses, to further
increase the amount of food we recover each year. Did you know that recovering just 5%
of the food intended for disposal in the United States could feed an additional four million
people each day?

By becoming a Food Recovery Crew food provider, you’ll not only play an active role in
reducing hunger in the city, you’ll also cut your food establishment’s waste, and receive
tax deductions for the value of the food donated. It’s a win-win situation!

Please consider partnering with Food Recovery Crew. Every contribution is valuable, and
no donation is too small. To schedule a collection or learn more about Food Recovery
Crew, call 552-196-4282, or visit us online at FoodRecoveryCrew.org.

Sincerely,

Tim Moldanado
Food Recovery Crew Program Manager

104 Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved

 Advanced 1 Unit 9

1. What’s the purpose of the letter?

______________________________________________________________________

2. What does The Food Recovery Crew do?

______________________________________________________________________

3. How does The Food Recovery Crew plan to grow their operations?

______________________________________________________________________

4. The third paragraph uses a percentage. What does it refer to?

______________________________________________________________________

5. According to the letter, what are three benefits to being a food provider?

______________________________________________________________________

6. What is the win-win situation referred to in the letter?

______________________________________________________________________

7. What does Tim Moldanado mean when he says that no donation is too small?

______________________________________________________________________

b. The branching dialogue from the computer lesson had many examples of suggestions.
Which of the statements or questions below makes a suggestion?

1. I think we should try to make our restaurant more socially conscious.

2. Let’s focus on ways we can help the community.

3. There are food recovery organizations that pick up leftover ingredients from
restaurants.

4. What do these organizations do with the food they collect?

5. They distribute the food directly to people in need.

6. Why don’t we provide free Sunday dinners to those in need?

7. That will cost us a lot of money.

8. We can ask for volunteers to make and serve the food.

Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved 105

Advanced 1 Unit 9

Attending a Symposium
a. Read the text chat about the symposium on socially conscious business and answer the
questions that follow.

Diego: Wasn’t the symposium great?

8:00 p.m.

Cheryl: Yes, too bad I had to leave early and miss the keynote speech.
8:05 p.m.

Diego: Anita Tam was great! Did you know that coffee
companies use lots of middlemen too and these middle
men make most of the profits, not the customers? 8:06 p.m.

Cheryl: Really? What’s her solution?

8:07 p.m.

Diego: Well, her company, Coffeeko, gets rid of the middlemen, creating a
more direct connection between coffee farmers and consumers.
8:08 p.m.

Cheryl: How? 8:08 p.m.

Diego: They built a processing, packaging and distribution center close

to the farmers. The farmers do all the processing and packaging, not the
middlemen. With this business model, farmers earn about four times as
much money! 8:12 p.m.

1. Why does Diego summarize Anita Tam’s talk?

______________________________________________________________________
2. With most coffee companies, who processes and ships coffee to consumers?
______________________________________________________________________
3. With Coffeeko’s business model, who benefits most?
______________________________________________________________________

106 Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved

 Advanced 1 Unit 9

An Article on Socially Conscious Businesses

a. Do you remember the article on socially conscious businesses? Here’s an ad for an
initiative from a socially conscious bike store. Read the ad and answer the questions.

Mike’s Bikes!
At Mike’s Bikes, we not only care about our customers,
we care about people all over the world.

We collect donations of used bikes. We repair the bikes, tune them up, and shine them
up. Then, we donate them to institutions in developing countries. These institutions
distribute the bikes to residents in need of transportation to get to work, school,
the doctor, or to transport goods to the market. For many people in rural areas of
developing countries, walking is the only mode of transportation. Mike’s Bike’s helps
them overcome the difficult challenge of distance.

Mike’s Bikes accepts bikes of all kinds and sizes, as long as they’re in repairable condition.
We also accept donations of bicycle parts, and accessories such as helmets, locks, and pumps.
Take part in our initiative, and help “Shorten the Distance” between people around the
world!

1. What is the purpose of this advertisement?

_____________________________________________________________________
2. What challenge do many residents in developing countries face?
_____________________________________________________________________
3. How does Mike’s Bikes help them overcome this challenge?
_____________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved 107

Advanced 1 Unit 9

Additional Reading
Global Reading
1. Read the title of the article. What do you think the article is about?

________________________________________________________________________

2. Read the first sentence of the article. What problem and what solution are mentioned?

Problem: ________________________________________________________________

Solution: ________________________________________________________________

3. Read the second paragraph. What is the purpose of this paragraph?

________________________________________________________________________

4. Read the fourth paragraph. Why does it mention a Paris runway?

________________________________________________________________________

5. Read the last paragraph. How does Ocean Sole help people in Kenya?

________________________________________________________________________

Close Reading
1. In the third paragraph, the writer uses the passive voice. Underline the two sentences in
which that use the passive voice.

2. Which two cohesive markers in the fourth paragraph indicate sequence?

________________________________________________________________________

3. In line 16, the writer uses the expression in fact to indicate something surprising. What is the
surprising fact?
________________________________________________________________________

4. In line 19, the writer uses the word currently. Find an expression back in the fourth
paragraph that is a synonym for currently.
________________________________________________________________________

5. What does it in line 18 refer to?

________________________________________________________________________

6. In the last paragraph, what does 70% refer to?

________________________________________________________________________

108 Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved

 Advanced 1 Unit 9

Flip-Flop Art
Marine scientist Julie Church has found a way to transform debris that’s littering the ocean into
creative artwork. Church worked for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on the Lamu Archipelago off
the northeast coast of Kenya in the late 1990s. This particular location is where a lot of litter - including
many pairs of flip-flops - washes up on shore. This causes a tremendous problem for the turtles that
5 hatch on the beach. As they try to make their way to the ocean, they often get stuck.

One day, Church went for a walk along the shore and saw some of the local children turning flip-flops
into toy boats. This inspired her to start the Flip Flop Recycling Company, now called Ocean Sole
Sandal Recycling Company.

Ocean Sole creates and sells more than 100 products, including toys, household items, fashion
10 accessories, animal sculptures, mobiles, and jewelry. To create the art, the dirty, broken flip-flops are
washed, and sorted according to color. Next, local artisans glue layers of sandal pieces together, carve
them into multi-color objects, and sand them down. Finally, the entire piece of artwork is washed.

Church founded her recycling company in the year 2000, after she convinced the WWF to order 15,000
flip-flop key rings. Ocean Sole has workshops in Nairobi. It also has a flip-flop recycling center and a gift
15 shop. At the moment, its biggest clients are zoos and aquariums. But Church’s products are becoming
more and more well known. In fact, a piece of Ocean Sole jewelry was even worn on a Paris runway.
Church wants people to be attracted to her products, and then to discover where they came from.

The Ocean Sole Sandal Recycling Company is in the process of marketing all over the world. It plans
to sell 70% of its products outside of Kenya, and currently has distributors in the US and Europe, with
20 Japan also showing interest. Church’s venture helps recycle 400,000 kilos of rubber waste a year,
helping to clean up the Kenyan coast, and sending out a strong environmental message. Ocean Sole
employs over 100 people from local communities, including those who collect flip-flops along the
coastline. And while providing employees and their families with an income, the Ocean Sole Sandal
Recycling Company provides the world with unique works of art.

Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved 109

Advanced 1 Unit 9

Comprehension Questions
1. How has the buildup of litter on the northeast coast of Kenya affected local wildlife?

________________________________________________________________________

2. How was Julie Church inspired to start her company?

________________________________________________________________________

3. What is the sequence of events involved in the of making Ocean Sole products?

a. ______________________________________________________________________

b. ______________________________________________________________________

c. ______________________________________________________________________

d. ______________________________________________________________________

e. ______________________________________________________________________

4. How did the World Wildlife Fund help Julie Church start her business?

_______________________________________________________________________

5. What are two ways in which Ocean Sole a socially conscious business?
a. ______________________________________________________________________

b. ______________________________________________________________________

110 Copyright © 1990-2018 Edusoft Ltd. All rights reserved