Environmental Impact of Call Center Growth

There is no doubt that the Philippines’ call center industry is expanding in Cebu. This is a good thing for many parts of the economy. There are signs of the rapid growth of the BPO everywhere in the second-largest city in the Philippines. But this expansion can come at a cost to the environment.

While many people consider the call center a relatively green industry, there are echoing effects of any business that brings wealth and consumer consumption to an area. So, it is not the call centers causing the environmental impact but the wealth and increased commerce they bring to the Philippines. Hopefully, the call center firms and the people of Cebu can use the lessons learned by the past to keep the Philippines green.

Wealth and increased consumption is a classic story of developing economies and was no different when the United States was rapidly growing over the last 100 years. The Philippine business process outsourcing call center industry has the advantage of looking back at the US and can try to avoid some of the mistakes that have made the US the highest consumer of natural resources per-capita.

If call centers can find ways to make their businesses green and efficient users of fossil fuels right from the start then they will already be ahead of developed nations who need to go back and makeover their business models so that their companies can be eco-friendly.