In the last 3 days I have increased my knowledge of sustainability and green supply chain management by a lot. This is my first supply chain class and prior to this the only real information I had about supply chain was how important of a field it is. Over the past few days I have been able to really understand the definition and how sustainability is such an important aspect to it. I had never heard the meaning of a closed-loop supply chain or the differences between the cradle-to-grave and cradle-to-cradle approaches.

The class where the American College of Greece professor gave us a presentation on their efforts of increasing sustainability really opened my eyes to how countries, outside of the U.S., are adjusting to become more sustainable.

I found it very interesting that their non-profit had only been developed in recent years and how they are able to market sustainability to their students. I also had found the story of the introduction of reusable water bottled without refill stations to be interesting because we have had those for so long in schools in the U.S.

Before this class I had never heard of cradle-to-cradle certification and upon completing the cradle-to-cradle certification project I did not know that companies could be certified in this. I chose a company that I had no idea made these sustainable efforts and actually ended up doing a ton of research on their accomplishments throughout the world. We also discussed green-washing where companies claim to be environmentally friendly but may not be actually be sustainable and instead are just claiming false information.

Today’s presentation from the United States Embassy was probably my favorite to learn about within these past few days. I had no prior knowledge as to what a diplomat was before they came in

to talk to us. I find it quite fascinating that these government jobs can range from negotiating deals on fried chicken to dealing with the President of the United States. Today especially opened my eyes to job opportunities that I had deemed impossible for me to be interested in. However, the United States Embassies presentation was very informative and I left with a new point of view on this job. I found it especially interesting that diplomats get assigned to new countries every few years and never really know where they might end up next.

Overall, these past few days have increased my knowledge and interest in sustainability and green supply chain management.