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Being socially responsible is increasingly important for modern organizations. As consumers become more demanding and investors become more sophisticated, corporate social responsibility (CSR) becomes increasingly significant for businesses that need to demonstrate responsiveness to social problems.

The extent to which an organization can benefit from corporate social responsibility varies depending primarily on the nature of the business. However, business literature has identified a strong correlation between social performance and financial performance. Research from the Institute for Business Ethics suggests that organizations that demonstrate corporate social responsibility are more likely to be commercially successful in the future. Besides, over 90 percent of the FTSE 100 companies have an explicit policy on ethics, while over 50 percent of the organizations surveyed in a 2007 study by ‘Personnel Today’ had an explicit policy on corporate social responsibility. Although organizations should not focus on profit when implementing socially responsible policies, the long-term business benefits associated to such practices are numerous.

Explicit policies on corporate social responsibility can be addressed to several departments within the organization. Usually, such practices encompass the activities of human resources, marketing, business development, or finance departments and the benefits derived are based on the strategies implemented.

In particular, the potential business benefits derived from the implementation of corporate social responsibility are the following:

> Risk Management

Modern organizations implement risk management strategies to decrease or even eliminate the risk posed on the organization by a variety of practices associated to several potential threats. Risk management is of vital importance to many corporate strategies. Organizations that have made strong efforts over the years to build a good reputation and have spent a lot of money to maintain it through product development and customer loyalty strategies, may be ruined is seconds due to a corruption scandal (Enron scandal) or an environmental accident (Chernobyl disaster). Such incidents draw the attention of the media and may cause irrevocable damage to the reputation of a firm. The only way to anticipate such events is to embed social responsibility into organizational culture in order to offset such risks.

> Product differentiation

Organizations that want to remain competitive and viable in today’s marketplace need to offer differentiated products. Through product differentiation, organizations aim at achieving a competitive advantage by increasing the perceived value of their products relative to the perceived value of the products of their competitors. Particularly, for organizations that implement socially responsible policies, product differentiation can satisfy the unmet needs of consumers offering both financial and business benefits to the firm. Firms that offer environmentally friendly products experience higher sales growth than firms that sell conventional products, and usually such products sell at a higher price. Besides, firms that offer unique value propositions to consumers differentiate their products in consumers’ minds and contribute to building customer loyalty based solely on ethical values. Therefore, in the context of corporate social responsibility, organizations develop new products aiming, not only to become more competitive, but also to make a greater impact on society through their ethical practices.

> Employee motivation

Organizations that are socially responsible are more likely to recruit and retain their human capital easier. A 2007 research by Kenexa Research Institute (KRI) that surveyed employees from six countries (USA, Brazil, China, India, UK, Germany), suggests that when employees have a positive view for the organization’s CSR strategies, they are more willing to work for it, participate to its efforts, align with its culture and recommend it as the best place to work. Employee satisfaction deriving from corporate social responsibility leads to higher productivity, higher employee retention rate, better organizational performance, and ultimately, higher profitability.

Conclusively, although the benefits of corporate social responsibility cannot be explicitly measured as they are primarily based on the nature of the business, they are numerous and they cannot be neglected. Particularly, in an era that the protection of the environment is imperative and global warming threatens human existence, social responsibility is the least organizations can demonstrate to provide an optimistic future. Besides, the opportunities offered for exhibiting responsiveness to social, economic, environmental and ethical issues are numerous. At the end of the day, it is to their long-term interest to undertake socially responsible initiatives.

Organizations have moral, ethical, and humanitarian responsibilities in addition to their focus on earning a fair return for their shareholders. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) focuses on economic, public and social responsibility aiming at demonstrating a responsible behavior and responsiveness to social, economic, environmental and ethical issues. As society becomes more and more demanding, organizations take the action to protect and improve the welfare of society and to respond to the increasingly intense societal demands.

Building a reputation as socially responsible has a positive impact on organizational performance. CSR is related to doing successful and effective business and delivering high-quality products and services that can sustain a high-quality environment and high-quality relations to social networks. In this context, doing business is a human process.

Today, there are organizations that adopt social responsibility policies because of numerous motives. One of them is conducting ethical business, because, unlike what many people think, business ethics still exist. Besides, there are also business motives that are really strong. For instance, being highly respected as an equal opportunity employer is a strong business motive that assists an organization to reap a competitive advantage. A firm’s stakeholders perceive the organization as demonstrating responsible policies and implementing responsible strategies to solve social issues. Modern organizations believe that using business strategy as a tool for social and environmental change is an efficient way to integrate social goals into organizational objectives. Besides, some stakeholders do not just prefer that an organization is socially responsible, but insist on dealing with responsible companies.

The benefits for socially responsible organizations are various. First of all, a good reputation makes it easier for an organization to recruit and retain human capital. Employees are longer employed to the organization, reducing the costs of recruitment and retraining. This leads to better organizational performance as employees become specialized in their tasks and experienced, but they are also more motivated to offer to the organization and ultimately, more productive.

An organization’s actions are noted the most by organizational members. Executives who run the organization know its strengths and weaknesses and are able to exploit opportunities and anticipate threats that derive from the external environment. Organizational members interact on a daily basis with the stakeholders of the organization and the way the feel about the organization has a major and direct impact on how they perform their tasks and do their job at the end of the day. Therefore, being socially responsible does not benefit an organization only in the context of being esteemed by society, but first and foremost being appreciated by organizational members.

Firms that sell environmentally friendly products experience a high sales growth and typically, these products sell at a premium price. In the context of corporate social responsibility, many organizations develop new products and services, making a wider impact of their business on society. CSR makes organizations more competitive, while reducing the risk of damaging corporate reputation and profitability. Consequently, investors recognize organizations that are responsive to societal demands and are willing to finance their business.

Attracting new customers is costly for any organization because of expensive advertising campaigns or long lead times. As consumers become more sophisticated and demanding, organizations need to find more direct ways to acquire new customers, while reducing their investment in expanding their customer base. As there are customers who choose an organization based on their perceptions about it, corporate social responsibility can open the door for widening the customer base and adding to the perceived value added of customers.

The importance of corporate social responsibility in relation to how customers perceive it is growing. Goodpurpose global study of 2008 reports that 52 percent of global consumers are more likely to advertise a brand that supports a good cause over one that doesn’t, while 54 percent of global consumers would invest their money to an organization that promotes corporate social responsibility by supporting a good cause. Besides, 68 percent of global consumers would remain loyal to a brand during a recession if the organization exposed social responsibility, while 42 percent would select a brand with social commitment between two identical products in terms of quality and price.

Although the benefits of socially responsible behavior are many, there are also costs associated in the short-run. For instance, organizations that employ disabled people need to make organizational and technical adjustments, which increase operational costs. However, in the long-run, these costs are traded off by the benefits derived from building a strong image as a socially responsible organization and gaining a competitive advantage in the market.

Conclusively, corporate social responsibility offers an organization the opportunity to care for the environment and society. Bringing on positive social change through effective business strategies brings organizations and consumers together towards a mutual benefit through participation and involvement. When organizations are responsive to societal demands, they contribute to community and society beyond their functional benefits and they create strong emotional bonds with consumers. In return, consumers become more loyal and ultimately, profitability and business result increase.

Executives around the globe increasingly recognize that the establishment of long-term shareholder value is subject to the ability of an organization to identify and respond to societal demands. This explains the growing importance of socially responsible investing over the last years. Investors seek to integrate sustainability and corporate responsibility into their assessment of an organization’s long-term value.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) refers to an investment strategy that focuses on the protection of the environment, human rights, consumer rights and diversity aiming at maximizing both investment returns and social good. Recognizing that business strategy is directly affected by social, economic, environmental and ethical factors, socially responsible investing is becoming particularly significant given the expansion of societal expectations on corporate responsibility. In other words, how organizations attract and retain their human capital, a company’s corporate culture and stakeholder-engagement strategies, or how a firm manages the risk and opportunities associated with climate change, all are issues of socially responsible investing.

Socially responsible investing is nothing new. It traces its roots in the mid-1700s when the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, prohibited their members from participating in labor trade and in buying and selling of humans. Since then, SRI has gone a long way and many organizations have implemented investment strategies to promote and sustain socially responsible investing. Initially, SRI was implemented through negative-screening strategies, where investors excluded entire sectors, such as tobacco, based on ethical criteria. Then, positive-screening strategies followed where the best performers of each sector were selected based on social, environmental and corporate governance criteria. In effect, this is the model of socially responsible investing that Dow Jones Sustainability Index follows by tracking the underlying benchmarks of each sector.

At the core of SRI investment philosophy is a certainty that responsible corporate conduct and sustainable investment returns will converge in the near future. However, for this to be realistic, there are some important considerations that need to be addressed.

1. Addressing the social issues of highest importance

Organizations need first to decide what social issues are of the highest importance to their future endeavors. There are institutional investors who take a strong stand about environmental issues, while others are more interested in human rights or diversity. Given that the social expectations are increasingly intense, the implications for organizations go beyond organizational reputation or cost management. On the other hand, this changing environment can create business opportunities for organizations to establish competitive positioning and drive their profitability to the next level, while being socially responsible. Therefore, prioritization of social issues is a key factor for making socially responsible investments.

2. Deciding the level of risk to be undertaken

Another consideration is the risk that organizations are willing to undertake in the context of corporate responsibility. New companies may have high potential, but are not well-established yet and this encompasses a lot of risk. On the other hand, there are organizations that achieve slow, but steady growth and are well-established. For these organizations, socially responsible investing involves less risk because they can take a long-term approach to investing.

3. Focusing on long-term investment strategies

Investing on a long-term horizon is a key consideration in corporate responsibility. Focusing on short-term investment opportunities can be detrimental to an economy and capital markets. Actually, more than 70 percent of a business’ value lies in its long-term cash flows. Therefore, organizations interested in socially responsible investing should implement investment strategies that focus on a long-term horizon in order to enhance the value creation of their business.

4. Adapting to the altering business environment

Organizations need to adapt to the expansion of societal expectations on corporate responsibility. Multinational companies are often better equipped than governments to negotiate on issues such as climate change, poverty, or water scarcity. Moreover, organizations can use technological advancements to be responsive where societal demands are challenging.

Conclusively, socially responsible investing requires all organizational members and stakeholders to be part of the SRI investment philosophy. Executives, employees, customers, and investors, all are seeking for higher business value. And socially responsible investing is a perfect strategy to achieve that, provided that every investor becomes part of the solution to social, economic, environmental and ethical issues.

Packaging is a key attribute of a firm’s marketing strategy and has the ability to influence all other elements of the marketing mix, namely product, place, price and promotion. The original function of packaging was to provide a protection to the product. However, as consumers have become more sophisticated and demanding, packaging has been transformed into a business tool that is used from organizations to attract attention, describe the product and achieve higher sales. Today, numerous brands are identifiable though their packaging and product packaging plays a key role in product promotion.

Packaging is closely related to consumer perceptions about particular brands. A typical example is the declining sales of Tropicana orange juice when the company decided to develop new packaging in 2009. The company’s misguided redesign confused consumers, who perceived the Tropicana brand more like a generic product. Although Tropicana launched an exceptionally integrated marketing and advertising campaign to emphasize on the brand and product attributes, sales plummeted 20 percent because consumers had trouble finding the orange juice on the shelf. At the same time, Tropicana’s direct competitors doubled their sales, forcing Tropicana to revert to original packaging.

When packaging is related to corporate social responsibility, consumers are more sensitive and even more demanding. They require that eco-friendly products are contained in eco-friendly packaging. And it is a fact that if companies do not listen to their consumers, consumers do not buy their brands. This happens because brand image, in effect, reflects the relationship of consumers with the organization that is differentiated from competitors with a perceived promise and an emotional and physical satisfaction that follows the use of the product. Brand image can motivate loyalty, build trust and enhance brand recognition to consumers. Therefore, if packaging is enough to entice consumers into purchasing the product, then, brand image for socially responsible consumers is particularly important. Corporate social responsibility improves the brand image of an organization, which can expand the base of loyal customers.

There are organizations that develop their own private brands that have extremely similar packaging attributes such as packaging shape, size, color, lettering or even the logo to already established brands. Such practices are not socially responsible and can lead to consumers’ misapprehensions about a brand’s attributes.

There are organizations that reduce the amount of product without reducing the size of packaging aiming to mislead consumers regarding the product size. Consumers are generally unable to evaluate how much product is contained in a package only by looking at it. Besides, consumers generally assume that larger packages contain greater amounts of product. However, organizations are aware that consumers associate larger packages with greater amounts of product, but also cheaper unit costs. These organizations capitalize on the cognitive purchase behaviors of consumers to gain an unfair competitive advantage over well-established companies that are really socially responsible.

There are organizations that develop misleading brand labels conveying incorrect information to consumers about the product. However, consumers who discover that they are exposed to a misleading brand label develop a negative brand image because as they become more aware of social and environmental impact of their consumption, they require more ethical product alternatives.

Because of this shifting paradigm of consumer preferences towards socially responsible practices, organizations expose a greater desire to implement socially responsible strategies and cater for socially responsible consumers. There is no doubt that consumers expect organizations to act responsibly. In their purchasing decisions, consumers are willing to include ethical considerations and value organizations that are environmentally friendly in their marketing strategies and responsive to their environmental concerns.

Conclusively, the use of environmentally friendly packaging and the implementation of environmentally conscious product packaging strategies is a great way to create a positive brand image in the minds of consumers. Part of being a socially responsible organization is not deceiving consumers in both legal and ethical contexts. Organizations, which are not socially responsible, pay the price of having their brand image and brand loyalty negatively affected. Socially conscious practices that organizations engage in should also include environmentally conscious packaging.

Acting responsibly involves an organizational behavior that is based on a certain ethic of responsibility considering the consequences of decisions and actions for a sustainable development. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) conveys the message of demonstrating a responsible behavior towards social, economic, environmental and ethical issues.

Although being socially responsible sounds pretty straightforward, in reality, it is not. Social responsibility encompasses so many different actions that, defining which organizations are really socially responsible, requires being able to choose whose success contributes to social good and satisfies societal demands in the most prominent way.

Essentially, this approach of doing business is all about choice. Socially responsible organizations choose to act responsibly and use their business strategy as a tool for social and environmental change. In doing so, they have control over the world we live in, and this control is exercised through their responsible choices. Organizations that want to be socially responsible have a variety of options to work toward that goal. Although people think that mainly non-profit or advocacy organizations can conduct responsible business, all it takes is to put in place policies and practices that create social good.

· Protection of the environment

Great examples of socially responsible organizations are organizations that work toward the preservation and protection of the environment. Striving to decrease the environmental impact of energy utilization, such organizations produce environmentally-friendly products and promote the sophisticated use of environment-friendly natural gas. Through constant efforts that promote energy conservations and encourage the use of recyclable resources, socially responsible organizations aim at reducing the environmental impact of their business, while actively contributing to the improvement of the environment on a regional, national and global level.

· Creation of a democratic and educated society

Organizations that work towards the creation of a choice-based, democratic society are considered socially responsible. A free society is based on the privilege of free choice. Organizations that can minimize, or even eliminate the power that a larger organization has on consumer choices and on people’s lives in general, are socially responsible organizations that satisfy social demands and alter the world. In this context, there are organizations that demonstrate their social responsibility by seeking to educate society and empower it through knowledge. Knowledge is power. A society that constantly learns new things can take a new shape and acquire a brand new culture. This new knowledge can include a variety of topics such as socially responsive investing, parenting and many more.

· Education of employees

Organizations that aim at educating their employees take a liberal approach in managing their stuff. Enlightened management appeals on the cognitive aspects of each employee and their intrinsic motivations and puts them to work toward the achievement of organizational goals, but also the achievement of their personal goals. Such practices provide immense career opportunities for each individual to use their natural talents and inclinations and advance the career ladder. Besides, enlightened management creates a progressive working environment where people can communicate, exchange knowledge, and function within an organizational culture that creates greater human beings.

Conclusively, corporate social responsibility is not one thing. It encompasses a variety of actions and decisions that can really make a difference both for the organization and the society. All it takes is determination and a conscious focus on society, people and the world in general.

A common apprehension about socially responsible investing (SRI) is that there is a premium that organizations have to pay for being socially responsible that inevitably lowers investment returns. If indeed this is the case, then SRI is nothing more than a niche market that will only appeal to investors with positive perceptions about particular companies, who are ready to accept lower returns for satisfying their concerns. On the other hand, if SRI generates higher investment returns, then it will be increasingly integrated into the investment strategies of organizations in order to boost returns.

Today, over 200 mutual funds are available for socially responsible investing and investors can create competitive portfolios that really reflect their social concerns. Organizations continue to attract responsible investors, who demonstrate zero tolerance for companies that are not socially responsible and screen them out of their portfolios. In doing so, they actually give a motive to organizations to become socially responsible in order to get a higher SRI ranking and be more competitive among companies in the same industry. Eventually, this enhances their profitability, while responsible investors average out risk by focusing on company screening.

One of the most widely used SRI benchmarks is the Domini 400 Social Index that tracks the performance of 400 public organizations that meet several social and environmental criteria. Also known as DS400, the Domini 400 Social Index is a market cap weighted stock consisting of 250 organizations belonging to S&P 500, 100 non S&P organizations that are included based on their market cap and 50 organizations that demonstrate ‘exemplary’ social and environmental records, according to the managing company, KLD Research and Analytics. Since 1990 that DS400 has been created, it has an annual average return of 11.01 percent which is higher than the average return of 10.57 percent of S&P 500.

Besides DS400, other SRI benchmarks are available to investors to enable them to compare SRI to broader based investing such as The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes that include global, European, Euro zone, US and North American benchmarks, and track the financial performance of the leading sustainability driven organizations since 1999.

The Cleantech Index tracks the performance of 46 leading publicly traded companies in sectors such as transportation, alternative energy, energy efficiency, and environmental quality. In 2007, the average returns of the Cleantech Index were 42.9 percent, higher than the 10.6 percent of the NASDAQ Composite Index and the 5.5 percent of the S&P 500.

The Melvin & Company’s Clean Energy Stock Index that consists of 62 publicly-traded clean energy companies reports an average annual return of 31.9 percent from 2002 to 2007, which is higher than the average annual return of S&P 500 (10.57) or even Russell 2000 (9.7) for the same period.

Socially responsible investing is a competitive approach that can provide high returns. Some SRI strategies have performed outstandingly over certain periods of time such as the clean energy sector that promotes environmental sustainability and remains attractive to socially responsible investors. Besides, an SRI portfolio can be customized to fit an investor’s personal aspirations to create change, provided the investor screens out of the portfolio the companies that do not represent his personal values.

Conclusively, socially responsible investing does not diminish investment returns provided investors incorporate the right values in their portfolios. If responsible investors create SRI portfolios with values that can cause corporate changes, then these values are not hurting financial performance and can even lead to higher returns. Besides, invested money can be used either for building wealth or for changing the world. And this is an important consideration because it motivates investors in pursuing programs of socially responsible investing in the hope of getting investment returns that will be at least equal to those of their traditional investments.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a key tool for evaluation of organizations by their various stakeholders. Widely regarded as a strategic initiative by numerous organizations, CSR has evolved into a core element of strategic planning allowing businesses to demonstrate considerable efforts toward the solution of social, ethical, economic and environmental issues.

Being profitable and socially responsible is not a new concept. Many organizations get involved in the idea of sustainability, implementing the CSR model. Instead of creating a charity to solve a social problem, they undertake social mission displaying social responsibility and environmental sensitivity. Besides, with the current financial crisis threatening global economy, organizations are required to get involved with corporate social responsibility and sustainable business. Considering the current economic scenario, organizations that want to remain financially strong, need to focus on creating wealth while protecting the environment and society.

Sustainable organizations are highly responsive to the for-profit model, for the most part, because in consumers’ minds success is equated to profit. Organizations that are profitable and contribute to community are highly respected, more than what charitable organizations would be. And although they primarily set up their businesses aiming to grow quickly and be profitable, in the context of social responsibility, they are willing to make choices that reduce their profit toward the protection of the environment. Besides, at some point, all organizations come down to one critical question: do the economics of their business work in favor or against it?

Employing state-of-the-art technologies to integrate their business activities to diminish potential harm to the environment, sustainable organizations focus on risk management to achieve long-term profitability. In the current, extremely volatile financial environment, risk management focuses on issues of insurance and is concerned with identifying potential risks that may pose a severe threat on the organization. Organizations perform risk management assessments aiming to identify new ways of protecting their assets against sharp market fluctuations.

A very interesting observation is that rise in corporate social responsibility reflects the times. Historically, consumers tended to view sustainable business and profitability separately. Today, these lines have converged as consumers have become more sophisticated and organizations attempt to be responsive to societal demands and be good stewards of the society and environment. Besides, it has been demonstrated that socially responsible organizations can outperform their competitors during economic downturn by 15 percent. This is quite challenging for businesses that want to promote sustainability and intrigue their customers into getting involved in this concept. In doing so, they increase shareholder value, they contribute to the progress of the society and they interact with the local and global community.

Still, there are legal issues to consider. Over the last few years, there have been serious protests against organizations that have caused harm to the environment. This led to an increase in the number of businesses that have undertaken a sustainable business model. However, many consumers had growing concerns as to whether the primary goal of sustainable organizations is profit maximization or to benefit the public. From a legal aspect, if profit maximization is the primary goal, the legal structure of the business should be able to create wealth. And unlike non-profit organizations that have tax exemptions and are subject to tax deductibility of donations, for-profit organizations need to take into consideration these factors as well.

Conclusively, if business can go hand-in-hand with the interest of society, the benefits are huge. The integration of corporate social responsibility with business practices can make organizations more profitable, turning social responsibility into a win-win situation.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a broad field. Organizations that want to be socially responsible can incorporate a series of actions into their business, regardless of its size, and be responsive to social, economic, environmental and ethical issues. Although their actions vary in their level of commitment and implementation time, they all demonstrate focus on societal demands.

Many organizations implement the BOGO (buy-one-give-one) business model. For every item sold, the company donates an exact item to the underprivileged societies. Business people support the BOGO model to demonstrate that business can make a positive impact on the world. Consumers support the movement fueling organizations to make a huge difference. BOGO organizations support their causes both for profitability and social good. But, at the end of the day, a child gets fed in Africa because someone in Chicago dines out; people drink clean water in Iran because someone in New York buys a cup of coffee. One of most prominent and exemplary BOGO organizations is TOMS Shoes. The company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need in South America and Africa for every pair of shoes a customer buys. In return, TOMS Shoes earns recognition for promoting the BOGO business model and thousands of fans.

There are numerous factors that contribute to the success of a social organization, particularly one like Better World Books. Founded in 2002, Better World Books is a social organization with an exceptional self-sustaining business model that focuses on charity, the environment and profitability. In an increasingly competitive business climate, the company develops a customer-centric philosophy that is based on a triple axis strategy: offering customers a unique online bookstore; funding world literacy; and protecting the environment through book recycling.

Better World Books began as a book donation. The three founders were collecting book titles, which they were then selling for the funding of a reading program at a local community center. Soon, their idea grew into an online bookstore that integrates social responsibility into the core on its business model. The resale of used books to fund global literacy and protect the environment through book recycling positioned Better World Books into a niche customer market with an inherent desire for social responsibility.

Today, Better World Books is a fast-growing enterprise that employs nearly 200 people and sustains social and environmental responsibility as a core element in its business strategy. Focusing on promoting literacy, providing employee benefits, and protecting the environment, the company’s main mission is to fund global literacy. Being one of the ten winners in the 2008 Fast Company Social Capitalists Awards and being appointed as a founding B Corporation, Better World Books has agreed to amend its corporate governance to incorporate the interests of all its stakeholders, namely its employees, community and the environment. The company’s founders believe that every book has lifelong value and the potential to help can change the world. Hence, they see their job as helping to find new homes for used books.

More than two million books are available for sale at Better World Books. The company acquires its inventory of used books from a Campus Collection Program that features book drives at nearly 1,200 colleges and universities on a regular basis and from a Library Discards and Donations Program that furnishes more than 1,000 local libraries that can no longer keep used books in their shelves. In 2006, the company launched BetterWorld.com, its own retail site, while buyers can also find Better World Books through Amazon.com or eBay marketplaces.

In May 2009, Business Week readers voted for Better World Books as the best U.S.-based social enterprise that is both making a difference and earns a profit. Having donated $7.4 million to literacy programs and libraries around the globe since its foundation, the company is widely regarded as a sustainable organization. According to surveys, one out of seven people (14%) has the economic means to buy used books from Better World Books, while approximately 10,000 books are sold per day. The company aims at increasing the level of global literacy to meet its long-term strategic goals.

While other small businesses have faced major economic difficulties to survive in this economic downturn, Better World Books has watched their revenues growing from $4m in 2005 to a projected $31m in 2009. However, their main goal remains to be a great online bookseller. And this is what makes them a really great responsible business.

‘Literacy is not just about reading and writing; it is about respect, opportunity and development’ - Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General.

Established in 2002 as a socially responsible enterprise, Better World Books has developed a customer-centric philosophy that focused on a triple mission: being a great bookseller; protecting the environment through book recycling; and funding world literacy. This latter is perhaps the most important element in the company’s business strategy.

According to one of the company’s founders, Xavier Helgesen, literacy is the foundation of education and self-sufficiency, but at the same time is a very abstract concept and, therefore, it is hard to raise funds to support it. On the other hand, it is also a huge challenge to manage to fund literacy. This is pretty much how the founders of Better World Books decided on launching the literacy program. By organizing book drives they thought that customers would give their books if the book drive was supported by a cause. And apparently, they were right. Since its establishment, Better World Books has collected more than 20 million books, has provided its partners with over 1 million books, has saved more than 6,500 tons of books from landfills and has donated nearly $7.4 million to literacy programs and libraries around the globe.

Capitalizing on the lifelong value of books to support literacy on a local, national and global level, Better World Books has developed numerous partnerships with highly respected organizations. In particular, some of the most important partnerships are with the following organizations:

• Books for Africa - the largest shipper of used books to Africa having shipped more than 20 million books to over 37 countries since 1988;
• Room to Read - the largest supporter of schools, libraries and language labs that funds long-term scholarships for young girls in South Asia & Africa;
• Worldfund - the largest supporter of high-quality education for poor children in Latin America;
• National Center for Family Literacy - the largest trainer of over 150,000 teachers and volunteers to create a literate nation;
• Invisible Children - the largest supporter of war-affected children, providing access to education and learning environments and economic opportunities for the community

The three founders of Better World Books believe that literacy and poverty are strongly related. This belief drives their efforts towards the empowerment of literacy. According to them, literacy can provide new opportunities to the marginalized people of our world enabling them to lift themselves out of poverty. Literacy creates the groundwork to education, which in turn creates the groundwork to development. And Better World Books know their sustainable business better than anybody else.

Since 2004, the U.S. dollar has been constantly devaluating against major currencies and particularly the Euro, which has been preferred in international trade. At the same time, U.S. equities have fallen behind international equities and this trend is expected to continue in the near future based on the fundamentals of the U.S. economy.

The struggle of U.S. dollar in the international money markets has altered the dynamics of economic balance around the globe and has shifted economic power outside the United States. The U.S. investors are experiencing globalization as an economic reality reflected on their investment portfolios and are forced to reallocate their strategies and invest in foreign markets. In the long-run, this globalization will make international investing increasingly important for all investors.

The relative strength of U.S. dollar in relation to investor behavior is analyzed as follows:

A strong U.S. dollar boosts certain sectors of the U.S. economy, such as retail, as the purchasing power of local consumers increases because they can buy foreign goods at lower prices locally. On the other hand, a strong U.S. dollar hurts U.S. exports because American goods are more expensive compared to foreign goods abroad and in the long-run this can cause U.S. corporate earnings to shrink. On the contrary, a weak dollar limits consumer spending because imported goods are more expensive locally, but benefits U.S. corporations because they become more competitive abroad.

In this context, the impact of U.S. dollar on an investment portfolio depends on the amount of foreign investments held in the portfolio. For instance, if a U.S. investor holds a portfolio that is 70/30 allocated in foreign investments and the U.S. dollar is weakening, the portfolio will have high return on investment due to the appreciation in value of the international assets relative to the U.S. dollar. Instead, with a different allocation in foreign investments or with a strong U.S. dollar, return on portfolio would be totally different.

Another major consideration for U.S. investors in regards to U.S. dollar is the broader economic conditions, both in the United States and abroad. At home, U.S. trade and budget deficits are on a constant uprising trend and the struggling U.S. dollar has been unable to stop the inflow of foreign goods flooding the U.S. market mainly from China and other emerging markets. As a result, U.S. budget deficit has kept U.S. investors out of the U.S. market, while inflation is kept rather in line with interest rates. Abroad, emerging economies are getting stronger and stronger, with China on the lead. This will, most likely, put more pressure on the U.S. dollar that is expected to weaken even further, particularly against Euro.

Conclusively, the expansion of foreign economies puts a growing pressure on U.S. economy. Foreign investors, who previously viewed the U.S. economy as the safest market to invest, now shift their preferences to emerging economies or to markets with stronger economies and currencies. Therefore, in order to anticipate these shifts on a long-term horizon, U.S. investors need to consider international investments as well. Rather than focusing solely on the U.S. dollar’s value, investors should evaluate the broader economic conditions that affect its value and consequently, impact their investments. U.S. investors that hold international assets are more likely to see higher returns on their investments if foreign currencies appreciate against the U.S. dollar. However, there are also risks associated with investing in different markets, mainly political, country, foreign exchange, and credit risk.

Debt can be extremely stressful and many people have experienced the distress of being in deep financial trouble. However, often people tend to avoid the issue of debt because they don’t realize how seriously in debt they are. And the more they ignore it, the more it grows until it becomes serious enough to create more debt and more distress. But, after a certain point, debt cannot be managed anymore because it has been taken out of control. So, the best thing to do is take action when the early debt signals kick in; before the problem becomes extreme, and possibly unsolvable.

Debt comes in all shapes and sizes. But there are ways to understand something is wrong before it gets worse.

Here are some useful tips:

- You can only to afford to make minimum payments on credit cards

Many people think that paying minimum credit card installments saves them from going into deeper debt. However, the opposite is true as paying only the minimum leads to higher interest in the long run. Credit card companies purposely set minimum payments to equal 2% to 4% of outstanding balance. Lower payments will take longer to pay-off the card and this earns creditors thousands of dollars on paid interests. However, bottom line is you are fully becoming a debt slave for the credit card companies.

- You refinance credit card debt using a home equity loan

Paying off debt with a home equity loan is a popular practice. However, although it seems straightforward, many people forget that the collateral of the loan is their home. This means that in case they default on the loan, they can lose their house. Besides, some home equity loans offer an amount equal to 125% of the home’s value, which is intriguing, but the borrower may end up paying more than the home’s value.

- You are looking for a second job to pay off your credit cards

Many people look for second income sources to pay off their credit cards. In most of the cases, this means they are 100% in debt since their main income is not enough to cover their living expenses and debts.

- You need another credit card to substitute for cash

Charging credit card to credit card and keep increasing the debt is a typical sign of being in deep financial trouble. People who live only on credit cards because they don’t have cash on hand create a vicious cycle that doesn’t end until they realize they need the help of a professional advisor to guide them getting out of debt.

Another hint would be if minimum payments of all debt cumulatively account for more than 20% of total income. This would be mean, debt is extremely high.

Overall, debt is a cycle. If you don’t take action early, the circle will get tighter and you will get deeper in debt until bankruptcy is your only option. Many people consider bankruptcy as a routine process that will provide them with a fresh start. Yet, it is not as simple as that. So, before you get there, it is easier to pay attention to every little debt signal and take control of it. This will definitely save you from more distress in the future.

Index funds are designed to imitate the performance of benchmark market portfolios and replicate the movements of an index of a specific financial market. To achieve that, the fund purchases all the securities in the index and buys or sells investments according to the index changes aiming to always keep in line with the underlying index.

One of the main advantages of index funds for investors is that they are passively managed and as such, they incur lower-than-average management fees costs and lower expense ratios than actively managed funds. Because an index composition does not change frequently, fund managers have to make fewer trades when dealing with index funds and therefore fees and taxes are lower. On the contrary, fund managers, who deal with actively managed funds, have to follow the track of the index on a regular basis in order to anticipate any changes in its composition. Consequently, fees and taxes are higher.

Index funds do not incur expenses related to the stock selection. Typically, index funds use sampling and mirroring models to decide the appropriate timing to buy, hold or sell individual securities and be in agreement with the target index. However, this does not guarantee that passive management is always effective, because sampling and mirroring models are, by default, not 100 percent accurate and this justifies the occurrence of tracking errors.

Index funds offer to investors a high level of diversification at a relative low cost. If investors would invest directly in stocks using the same portfolio allocation, they would probably incur significantly higher costs. Moreover, index funds are always fully invested to the particular index, which means that portfolio returns are higher during market upturns and lower during market downturns. However, investors should be aware that indexing is quite a risky investment strategy during economic downturns. Instead, an actively managed fund would consider risk as an opportunity and would outperform the index.

To choose properly an index fund, investors should know which index the fund mirrors and what is the risk associated to the index. The risk/return relationship is not the same in all index funds and therefore, investors should choose an index fund that really reflects the risk that they are willing to undertake.

Considering the tax effects associated to an index fund is another important consideration. A common assumption about index funds is that they are cheap because of passive management. However, some index funds incur high annual expenses and do not obtain considerable taxable gains as their gains depend on the position they sell.

The most widely used index funds track the Standard & Poor's (S&P 500) index, the Russell 2000 that tracks small companies, the MSCI EAFE that tracks the performance of foreign stocks in Europe, Australasia, and the Far East, the DJ Wilshire 5000 that measures the performance of all U.S. equity securities, and the Lehman Aggregate Bond Index that that tracks the performance of bond market.

Conclusively, index funds are an investment strategy with clearly defined rules of ownership that are held constant in spite of market conditions. However, among low cost index funds, risk exposure is more important than any fees associated to the fund. Therefore, investors should primarily consider the risk associated to the fund. Risk is the uncertainty of their expected returns. If they don’t know what to expect, they won’t be able to choose the right index fund to match their risk profile.

The current financial and credit crisis has caused an unprecedented rise in unemployment rate and has put many households on the verge of survival. Under the panic of how to get by during a job loss and being forced to live with an even tighter budget, many people have considered borrowing from or liquidating their 401k plans. And although 401k is a retirement plan and not a savings account, the government has allowed to more than 85 percent of workers to borrow from their 401k plans.

Although in tight financial times requesting a 401k hardship loan or liquidating a 401k plan seems like a reasonable solution, there are some important considerations that need to be addressed.

(1) Solvency in retirement years is being put at stake

As already explained, 401k is a retirement plan that aims at ensuring solvency in the retirement years. Cashing out the 401k to pay of current debt is in the 99.9 percent of the cases a bad idea. The money one saves today will be valuable in the years that this person won’t be able to work anymore. If, in the future, they get sick and they cannot work past a certain age, they will need this money to fall back on. Therefore, unless, there is a feasible plan to replace the money that is spent today, chances are there will be no money in the future at all. But there will be no option to work as well. And this will make retirement years tougher.

(2) Start over from the bottom

By liquidating 401k, in effect one starts over from the bottom and the older one gets the more difficult it becomes to rebuild a fund. Younger people can work at two jobs, have better mentality, stronger stamina and are more determined to achieve. As people get older, lose their patience, their vision and, most importantly, their will to fight for establishing things. At an older age, one is supposed to enjoy what one has built at a younger age. Therefore, it all becomes harder without money.

(3) Unemployment benefits are deferred when a 401k hardship loan is allowed

(4) Liquidating is subject to severe taxation and penalties

If one liquidates before the age of 59 ½, the retirement funds are subject to taxation and 10 percent penalty payment. This is another reason why young people should not consider liquation of their 401k plans, but even if they do they should be sure to calculate taxes and penalties correctly with a tax expert in order to avoid additional charges in their already difficult financial situation.

According to the National Soft Drinks Association (NSDA), in 2004, Americans consumed on average 1.5 12-ounce cans per day and spent over nearly $850 per household per year for the consumption of soft drinks. By adjusting these figures on a nationwide basis, U.S. consumers spent over $65 billion on soft drinks and consumed nearly 560 12-ounce cans per year. Pretty scary, isn’t it?

It is scary, but it can certainly be explained.

Soft drink consumption in the United States was a widely recognized phenomenon since 1950s. There was no single man, woman or child at a movie theater without a large pop corn and a soda can. Large displays were all over the places showing the famous vintage Coke signs or the Space Age popcorn box of the 1950s; boys with leather jackets drinking coke; girls with colorful outfits and blood-red lips drinking soda.

In the 1960s, the soft drink industry introduced container sizes in the market. Gradually, the standard size 6-½-ounce serving grew into the 12-ounce can and over time it got replaced by a 20- ounce bottle. What later became known as “big” - and in our era as “super-sized” - was introduced in the era of drive-ins and fancy convertibles. The, 7-Eleven stores introduced the 64-ounce Double Gulp. Inevitably, Americans were consuming gallons of soft drinks in a single-serving container.

At the same time, large beverage companies and fast food chains were offering large servings at low prices to attract more customers and increase consumption. Americans could buy a small (16oz) soda for $1.05 and a large (32oz) soda for only $1.57. So, in effect, they could buy double serving for only half a dollar more.

The impact of advertising and the intense marketing efforts of soft drinks corporations and large beverage companies led to a huge increase of soft drink consumption in the late 1980s. Having spent billions of dollars on advertising and having targeted even children under age 12 as well as elementary school children soft drink companies have managed to double their sales in 1988. Soft drink consumption soared via ads on children’s toys, movies, cartoons, videos and large displays on playgrounds and amusement parks. Besides, they have also targeted adults through TV, radio, magazines and Internet sweepstakes and contests.

During the 1990s, soft drinks corporations, in cooperation with fast food organizations, intensified their marketing efforts, putting American children on the top of their target customer list. Running advertisements on Channel One, large beverage companies had a direct impact on nearly 8 million children of age between 7 and 15. District 11 in Colorado Springs was the first public school to host Burger King’ advertisements in its hallways and on the sides of its school buses, which led to a 10-year contract with Coca Cola and a profit of $11 million over the life of the deal. Following the brilliant example of District 11, all Colorado schools signed similar deals with Coca Cola, and in the name of profit, students were encouraged to have a soda even in the classrooms. The eradication of a junked nation did not stop there. Coca-Cola was reported to have compensated the Boys & Girls Clubs of America $60 million for the exclusive marketing of its brand in over 2,000 school facilities.

After the scary statistics of 2004, there has been an organized effort from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and several consumer organizations to shift consumer preferences toward healthier dietary habits that would not involve the consumption of soft drinks to such a great extent. Indeed, by the end of 2004, the consumption of soft drinks had declined 12 percent, while the sales of soft drinks corporations and large beverage companies had declined 6.6 percent to 52.4 gallons from 56.1 gallons in 1998.

In 2007, the sales volume of soft drinks declined 2.3 percent and in 2008 declined 3 percent, recording the lowest volume since 1997. It seems like the fear for severe health conditions associated to soft drinks overconsumption such as obesity, heart diseases, strokes, cancer, osteoporosis, hypertension, high blood pressure and others, has shifted consumer preferences towards a healthier lifestyle. Admittedly, Americans do not consume as many soft drinks as they used to in the 1990s. The question, though, remains: is it a permanent trend?

Soft drinks consumption is soaring for the most part because they taste great, relieve thirst and come in a variety of flavors, sizes and shapes. At the same time, aggressive marketing and promotion from large beverage companies and soft drinks corporations, low pricing and caffeine being one of their main ingredients, has made soft drinks a complement of many foods and, ultimately, an addiction both for children and adult consumers.

However, soft drinks are often the culprit for a large number of severe health conditions associated with their excessive consumption, as a result of high fructose corn syrup, added sugars and high amount of calories contained in them. Scientific studies suggest that the overconsumption of soft drinks can lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, hypertension, tooth problems, bone weakening, bone demineralization, heart diseases, strokes and cancer, among others.

Although cutting back on soft drink consumption is not easy as consumers are addicted to drinking two or more cans of soda per day, reducing the consumption of soft drinks is a vital issue, related to improved health conditions, healthier lifestyle and an overall change of mentality. To achieve that, an organized effort on a domestic, local and national level is required.

“Barbarism begins at home”

If Americans consumers calculate the gallons of soft drinks they consume per year, it is certain that they will feel both disgusted and scared. Admittedly, the appealing pricing of container sizes in the super market and the 32oz soda in the fast food, along with the good taste of soft drinks are good reasons to prefer soda over water. However, spending nearly $850 per year on soft drinks and consuming on average 1.5 12-ounce cans per day is a scary 2004 statistic. Although consumption of soft drinks has been slightly reduced in 2007 and 2008, a shift of consumer preferences towards a healthier diet is absolutely required, primarily on a domestic level. Parents should guide their children towards drinking milk and fruit juices instead of soft drinks and they should make sure to full their stock with healthy beverages.

“Society is our broader home”

Schools should ban soft drinks advertisements from their facilities in order to protect children from the great impact of those ads on them. Scientific studies suggest that childhood obesity is directly related to soft drinks advertisements. In this context, schools and other pedagogic organizations should stop the promotion and sale of soft drinks and junk foods in their cafeterias and promote alternative, healthier food choices that would contribute to children’s better physical development enabling them to have an improved physical activity.

Similarly, organizations specialized in cancer prevention and anticipation, heart diseases, bone health and so on, should organize campaigns to inform consumers on reducing soft drink consumption.

“Nation can put things in order”

On a national level, the State should require restaurants to disclose the calorie intake of soft drinks on their menu. It is extremely important to mention nutrition information on the restaurant menus so that consumers are aware of the high amounts of sugar they consume every time they drink a 12oz soda can. Also, vending machines should declare the calorie content of each item they offer.

Besides, the State should require large beverage companies to declare on their labels that the overconsumption of soft drinks increases the likelihood of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and tooth decay, while it may displace nutritious foods from a balanced diet, thus resulting to osteoporosis.

U.S Senate is also considering putting a federal tax on soft drink consumption arguing that such a measure would raise $1.5 billion per year and will lower soft drink consumption 1 percent. The revenues from taxes on soft drinks will be allocated towards the promotion of a healthier lifestyle and diet. At the same time, governmental and federal agencies would continue sponsoring medical and scientific research to the further exploration of the impact of soft drink consumption on human health.

Soft drink consumption and its impact on human health is a highly controversial issue. Being a key contributor to obesity, excessive consumption of soft drinks is closely associated to severe health conditions such as heart attacks, cancer and strokes.

Obesity is one of the most evident and immediate effects of soft drinks consumption. People who consume more than one 12-ounce can of soft drink per day are more likely to gain up to 15 pounds on average per year. High intake of soft drinks is equal to excessive consumption of sugar in the form of fructose corn syrup that is contained in high amounts in each can of soda. Every time we consume an extra can of soda, we actually drink an additional 30 percent of sugar that should have been consumed within a week instead of a day. As a result, our body weight rises and we suffer from high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, along with numerous metabolic abnormalities.

Type 2 diabetes is also related to soft drink consumption. According to experimental and scientific evidence from a study that was performed between 1991 and 1999 by Harvard School of Public Health, women who consumed one or more soft drinks per day were twice more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who consumed less than one soft drink per day. When researchers replaced sugar-sweetened soft drinks with diet soft drinks in the study, the increased risk for type 2 diabetes was lowered. This suggested the positive correlation between soft drink consumption and type 2 diabetes.

Osteoporosis is another severe health condition to which soft drink consumption contributes significantly. Because of the excessive consumption of soft drinks, calcium levels in the blood are lowered, while phosphate levels are increased. This leads calcium to be pulled out of the bones and consequently a deficiency of vitamin K leads to osteoporosis. Soft drinks contain high amounts of phosphate, but no calcium at all.

Perhaps the most consistent finding in scientific experiments is the association between soft drink consumption and increased energy consumption. When we excessively consume soft drinks, the levels of energy increase in our body. This happens because our body needs extra energy from other foods for the energy it consumes in soft drinks. However, as added sugars decrease satiety and we don’t feel hungry, we simply calibrate our levels of sweetness in our preferences for other foods, thus, ultimately increasing the intake of sugar and total energy.

Soft drink consumption is also the culprit for increased levels of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. According to a 10-week study, people who consumed sugar-sweetened soft drinks over the experiment exhibited an increase in the levels of their blood pressure, whereas people who consumed artificially sweetened beverages demonstrated a decrease in blood pressure. Besides, another study suggested a positive correlation between soft drink consumption and hypertension.

Soft drink consumption is also positively associated to other health problems such as urinary or kidney stones, yet to a certain extent and provided that risk factors such as calcium and potassium are controlled. It is also related to dental caries as a result of the high intake of added sugars. Regardless of all above mentioned effects, soft drink consumption is responsible for a variety of health related issues. According to an experimental study conducted by Harvard, people who are totally healthy, but consume at least one soft drink per day are likely to develop within four years a 25% increased risk of high triglyceride levels, a 31% increased likelihood of obesity, a 32% higher likelihood of lower HDL levels and a 44% increased risk of metabolic syndrome.

Very few people drink soda because they believe it is good for them. In majority, people love soda because it is tasteful, quenches thirst and comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. However, there is an increasing concern in the scientific world in regards to the harmful effects of soda on human health. And this is because, in numerous experimental studies, intake of soda was associated with condensed bone mass, reduced calcium levels in the blood, and increased fracture risk. Besides, soda consumption is a key factor in the occurrence and prevalence of dental caries. SO, even if people do not realize the harm they do by consuming soda on a daily basis, still the harm is done.

Scientific evidence has shown that excessive consumption of soda is responsible for a variety of severe health problems. In effect, the high amounts of soda contained in soft drinks can increase the risk of muscle dysfunctions, bone softening, bone demineralization and tooth problems. Excessive soda consumption may also lead to hypokalaemia, in which the blood potassium levels decline to such an extent that cause an adverse effect on vital muscle functions. According to a clinical study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice, people who consume two or more liters of soda per day are more likely to exhibit one of the above severe health conditions.

One of the most commonly known adverse effects of soda on human body is its contribution to tooth problems. The overconsumption of soda may lead to tooth decay because of the high concentration levels of fructose, sucrose, and glucose on the teeth. Besides, the acid contained in soda can weaken the teeth, dissolve them and eat away at the protective enamel just twenty minutes after consumption. As soda is highly carbonated and contains high amounts of added preservatives, the risk of cavities and teeth erosion is increased. In the United States, the consumption of soda has caused the levels of tooth decay to increase accordingly.

Scientists also claim that high amount of phosphoric acid contained in soda interferes with the body’s ability to keep calcium intake, thus leading calcium out of bones. Inevitably, bone density is severely affected and bones are greatly weakened. In particular, scientists suggest that because soda's pH is close to 1.5 and a person's normal pH is between 7.2 and 7.4, it would take 32 glasses of water at a pH of 9 to neutralize one 12-ounce can of soda's acid level after the soda is consumed. Yet, as people do not normally drink 32 glasses of water per day, soda stays in the body and the phosphoric acid contained in it pushed calcium out of bones in order to normalize the body’s pH again.

According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, girls of 9th- and 10th-grade who consumed soda instead of water or any other healthy drink were five times more susceptible to have fractures. Moreover, girls that were physically active were more likely to break their bones than the girls who did not consume soda.

Overall, soda has many negative effects on human body and health. Although numerous campaigns have been organized and consumer organizations have been working towards the protection of consumers from their bombardment by large beverage companies, soda is being consumed to a great extent in the United States. To such an extent, that, pretty soon, there will be no adult without a bone fracture and no child without eroded teeth.

Although soft drinks are often the culprit for a series of health issues, they are, admittedly, vital vehicles of a balanced diet. After intensive work out, soft drinks are quicker absorbed than water providing to human body hydration and energy, while replenishing all the key vitamins and minerals that the body loses during exercising. Soft drinks typically complement fast food meals or pre-packaged foods, but the can also complement a healthy diet and be real catalysts to health and fitness. Besides, their balanced taste of sweet and acid, matched with their variety of pleasant flavors makes soft drinks appealing to all ages of consumers.

Being well aware of the effect that soft drinks have on consumers and the direct effect of advertising on them, soft drinks corporations and large beverage companies target from elementary school children to elder individuals aiming to meet their tastes and increase their profitability. From their point of view, soft drink corporations have a ‘competitive advantage’ over consumers in terms of being aware of the nutritional significance of soft drinks. Although they often exaggerate in the context of promoting their products and achieve highly profitable operations, still they have a point when they stress the nutritional value of soft drinks.

Without aiming to eliminate the negative effects of the soft drink consumption on our health, we have to be able to recognize any of the following positive effects that are derived from three major areas:

Energy: the formula of soft drinks is made in such a way to deliver a quickly assimilated energy that boosts the body. Soft drinks derive nearly 100 percent of their food energy from the high amount of fructose corn syrup they contain. In fact, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a highly misunderstood sweetener. There is no doubt that as a sweetener it is harmful if over-consumed. Particularly, as one of the main ingredients of soft drinks along with carbonated water and caffeine, high fructose corn syrup can be really harmful to human health. However, HFCS is quickly metabolized, almost as quick as regular sugar and therefore, it doesn’t have any greater impact on human metabolism, feeling of hunger, blood glucose levels or the energy intake than sugar. Besides, soft drinks contain high amounts of carbohydrates and are easily digested, while keeping the body’s energy in high levels. Carbohydrates maximize the body’s performance by fueling the muscles and ensuring their proper functioning.

Hydration: soft drinks replenish the fluids lost through sweating while working out. All those vitamins and nutrients that are lost through sweat cause the body to be dehydrated. However, our body needs these fluids in order to control its temperature and transport oxygen as well as other vital nutrients to its cells. Given that we lose water even without exercising, through breathing and through urine, it becomes evident how important it is to replenish all the fluids we lose after intense exercising. According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (IOM), adults should consume 11 to 16 cups of total fluids per day, while the requirements for children range between 9 to 14 cups per day. Soft drinks can replenish these fluids that are vital for the proper functioning of the human body.

Low calorie intake: some soft drinks are formulated to low calorie intake coupled with key vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber.

Overall, soft drinks are not considered human health’s best friends, but admittedly, they have some nutritional value provided they are consumed moderately and within certain limits. The overconsumption that occurred between 1988 and 2004 when Americans consumed two 12-ounce cans of soda per day was an extreme phenomenon that resulted in obesity becoming a national epidemic in the United States, among other severe health conditions. However, this should not undermine the nutritional significance of soft drinks, which can be exploited with moderate consumption and a balanced diet.

Sports drinks are beverages that contain high amounts of carbohydrates and vitamins to help the body replenish the fluids and nutrients burned during exercising and sporting events. The general notion that sports drinks are only beneficial to our body is wrong, for the most part because the overconsumption of sports drinks can cause real harm to our health.

One of the major advantages of sports drinks is that they replace the fluids we lose while exercising through sweating. Through sweat, we lose a lot of vitamins and nutrients that are vital for the proper functioning of our organism. By consuming sports drinks, we can replenish many of these vitamins. This is the most common reason athletes and active people consume sports drinks.

Another advantage of sports drinks is that they provide an alternative for people who don’t like drinking water after exercising. Normally, water is the best liquid we should drink to replenish for all the lost fluids while working out. However, for people who want to drink something more tasteful than water, sports drinks offer a great alternative for a total rehydration of the body after moderate or intense work-out. They come in a great variety of flavors and are, in majority, sugar-free as opposed to energy drinks that are full of sugar.

Sports drinks contain also high amounts of carbohydrates. Carbs are important in keeping our body’s energy high and particularly, when we exercise or playing sports it is vital that we keep the level of carbohydrates high in our system. Carbs also maximize our performance by keeping our muscles fueled, ensuring their proper function. Besides, the high amounts of carbohydrates combined with the high amounts of proteins contained in sports drinks enhance athletes’ performance further.

Another advantage of sports drinks is that they can be digested easier than food, particularly when our body undergoes any type of stress. We often consume protein bars as replacements for a meal. However, even these little bars cannot be digested as quickly as sports drinks because sports drinks come in the form of fluids that need to be replenished in our body after exercising and we digest the vital elements that we need in order to enhance our performance.

On the other hand, in spite of all the above mentioned advantages, sports drinks have several disadvantages too.

First of all, the fact alone that sports drinks replace water in situations that people prefer colorful drinks instead of pure water after exercising is the main disadvantage of consuming sports drinks. Indeed, sports drinks replenish the fluids and nutrients burned during working out, however this is not valid for all sport activities. Scientific research suggests that the advantageous use of sports drinks in relation to replenishing our system is reasonable after 45 minutes of strenuous cardiovascular activity, which is performed with aerobic, running, jogging or playing any fast-paced sport.

As already said, the majority of sports drinks are low in sugar, but this doesn’t mean that they don’t contain sugar at all. In fact, some of the most popular brands contain as much as 8 teaspoons of sugar per 8 ounces of fluid. Apparently, this amount of sugar is used to make the sports drinks taste good. However, consuming so much sugar on a daily basis over a long period of time can have a negative impact on our health and can cause serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, increased levels of blood pressure and obesity.

Besides, the acid contained in sports drinks combined with sugar can dissolve the teeth and eat away at the protective enamel. This happens because when we drink sports drinks, we are low in fluids because of intense exercising. As we are thirsty, the saliva that we have in our mouth and that normally protects our teeth, is not enough to wash away harmful substances. Therefore, sports drinks can erode our teeth up to 30 times more than water.

Finally, scientific experiments have shown that sports drinks contain high amounts of caffeine that can be extremely harmful to our nervous system if they are consumed over a long period of time. Even, if they are moderately consumed, they can cause dizziness, anxiety, sleeplessness and hypertension.

All in all, the overconsumption of sports drinks may cause a great deal of health problems to people who lead extremely active lifestyles. Particularly strenuous activities like playing tennis, running or jogging require replenishing the vitamins and minerals that are lost during working out. However, for people who are not very active, consuming sports drinks on a regular basis can cause more harm than good.