Environmental Education in Micro and Small Enterprises: Innovation for Sustainability

Abstract

The corporate world has already realized the importance of allying profit generation and social and environmental responsibility in its production processes, as a way to remain competitive in the market, as consumers are more and more aware of the importance of acquiring products and services with added environmental value. In this context, micro and small companies appear as units that are able to adapt to this new market demand, further in- creasing their contribution to the Brazilian economy. The purpose of this ar- ticle is to analyze environmental education as a competitive differential for small businesses. The research problem that guides the study is the following: is environmental education an innovation tool that can contribute to reduc- ing the mortality rate of micro and small enterprises? We work with the hy- pothesis that environmental education contributes to increasing the profita- bility of micro and small companies, from the moment that it contributes to improving the image of the business for society, demonstrating that the products and services offered meet the performance standard established by the certifying unit, as well as informing the origin of the products and the techniques of production. Keywords