Helping to pull our planet out of the red: An environmental report of BSO/Origin

Abstract

After disclosing an annual report for children the year before, in 1990 the Dutch computer software company BSO/Origin published an environmental report along with the usual financial statements. At this company it has become standard practice to discuss a new topic in each annual report, and this year the honour was conferred upon the environment. Although it will not be denied that BSO/Origin has acted out of enlightened self-interest, this article also illustrates that its environmental accounts provide an interesting attempt to quantify and measure in financial terms the direct ecological effects of the company in question.