Are we really doing the green thing? Think again.

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The young cashier responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to be green so we have a long way to go to clean it up."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

 

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of a small country. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took a tram or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

 

Isn't it pathetic that we are so busy lamenting how wasteful the old folks were, just because they didn't have the green thing back then? 

This is a great story because it offers each us a good reality check about how green we think we are and how green we actually are not. I check out what I do on a daily basis, and I wonder about my own and all our own behavior in the present. 

How many highly educated executives like us do you know who may be buying organic food and lamenting the state of the Planet, but meanwhile using an iPod, writing on an iPad, phoning on an iPhone and working on a Dell, Toshiba, Apple laptop... all at the same time? Do you have any idea what the negative environmental impact is of doing that? 

Check out how toxic your seemingly harmless electronics are online, for example via Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics. 




The guide ranks the 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TVs and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change. 


The three goals for this guide are to get companies to:  

1. Clean up their products by eliminating hazardous substances.
2. Take back and recycle their products responsibly once they become obsolete.
3. Reduce the climate impacts of their operations and products.
 
Apple, just for the record, is in 9th place and dropping. 

So much for the "cool" factor on our i-Everything gizmos.
These guys need to ramp up their commitment to Cradle to Cradle design.

Take the example of Nike. 
Since 2000, Nike has been working toward a cradle-to-cradle manufacturing and product life cycle system. A two-phase collaborative effort between MBDC and Nike, is setting new design guidelines and auditing all of the company’s major material suppliers. Since 2001, research has focused on the chemicals used in the manufacturing process and the development of a list of materials that will comprise a positively defined materials palette.
 
“Our goal,” said Winslow, “is to take responsibility for our product through its entire life cycle.” To do so, Nike has begun to “align the life cycles of all its footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories as closely as possible with
natural cycles.” By 2020 Nike aims to:
• Eliminate the concept of waste in product design, using materials, energy, and resources that can be readily recycled, renewed or reabsorbed back into nature.
• Eliminate all substances that are known or suspected to be harmful to human health or the health of natural systems.
• Close the loop and take full responsibility for its products at all stages of product and process lifecycle, including the end of a product’s useful life when consumers are likely to dispose of it.
• Develop financial structures that promote greater product stewardship in design, engineering, and manufacturing, as well as create new financial models to reflect the full cost of doing business.

   
So now, back to you and me. 
If we are the new generation, the younger generation, the generation with the future in our hands, the ones who can "save the world" from the wasteful older generation, we can ask ourselves, honestly:
 
Do we really do the green thing right now? 

Do each of us personally take responsibility -- this means taking action not just talking about it -- to put companies that produce the right things in the wrong ways under pressure, and get committed to helping producers to improve?

Do we even know how half our stuff gets produced, how it ends up in double plastic packaging in neat rows in our over-air conditioned mega-stores? 

And what kind of company do you work for? Do you dare to ask? 

What kind of stocks, shares, investments, products and services are you and your company buying or creating? Are you willing to NOT buy into this stuff if it's obviously the opposite of anything even close to sustainable?
 
See, that's the hardest part. If we want a change, it starts with you, with me, with each of us. That, my friends, is the only bottom line that counts.

Sustainable Brands

This blog post profiles a fascinating company in the USA called Sustainable Life Media, a leading producer of sustainable business conferences and educational events, with supporting products and services that include targeted e-newsletters, an online learning resource and community and more.

SLM says, "we are here to inspire and support innovation for sustainability by linking people with ideas and solutions that are creating positive change in the global business marketplace." The company aspires to be an example of the kind of business they hope to encourage, seeing business basics like customer focus and quality to be just that -- basic. 

They believe that the bar is being raised for tomorrow's business leaders, and want to be at the front of the train -- not the back. This means extending commitments beyond the basics, to things like a pursuit of both purpose AND profit. To being transparent, to collaboration, and to being more environmentally aware. 

SLM notes "We're serious about reducing our impact on the environment, and as a company whose business will result in air travel and congregation of thousands of people each year, we realize we have a responsibilty to be part of the solution. For this reason, we're eliminating hand outs in conference sessions, offsetting our carbon emissions, and in other ways, will continually look for ways to improve our environmental performance."

SLM knows that their preferred Suppliers can help drive business-to-business demand for more "sustainable" (environmentally or socially beneficial) products and services. For this reason, they give preference when possible, to partners and service providers who are also on the path to sustainability.

One of SLM's main events, Sustainable Brands ’11, which runs from June 7-10th, in Monterey California. This is where the sustainability, brand & design communities come together for the 5th year to discuss how better brands can succeed by helping shape a brighter future.  Reawaken your sense of the possible as you learn how sustainable brand leaders are making smarter strategic moves, developing new problem-solving skills, and inspiring others to help them bring healthier, smarter brands to market.

They will have 750+ Attendees, 120+ Speaker and  80+ Sessions on issues like

• Business Drivers and Innovation Strategy     
• Sustainable Design & Packaging              
• Brand Communication, PR and Marketing Best Practices              
• Supply Chain, Sourcing, & Community Partnerships              
• Culture & Brand.

See the interactive program guide here.

Download the Green Event Guide to learn more about how SLM tries to consider the environment when planning their events, as inspiration for your own!

Trends to watch in sustainability

Welcome to BSL's news and updates on sustainable business. 

Everyone affects the sustainability of the marketplace and the planet in some way. The reason we created a blog dedicated to the topic of building sustainable business, is that BSL wishes to support students, sponsors and relations as much as possible to make the future sustainable. A sustainable business can create value for customers, investors, and the environment. A sustainable business meets customer needs while, at the same time, treating the environment well.

According to wikipedia, a sustainable business is an enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the "triple bottom line"  of benefiting people and the planet, not just going for profit. 

Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, a business is described as "green" (more than just sustainable) if it matches the following four criteria:
    1.    It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.
    2.    It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replaces demand for nongreen products and/or services.
    3.    It is greener than traditional competition.
    4.    It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.

Building a sustainable business involves a process of assessing how to design products that will take advantage of the current environmental situation and how well a company’s products perform with renewable resources. Sustainable businesses with a supply chain try to hit the triple-bottom line by using sustainable development and sustainable distribution to impact the environment, business growth, and the society.

Over the past years, a few pioneers have led the way in the design of sustainable business. 

One of the most important companies to know about in this arena is MBDC (McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC), a global consultancy helping clients create a positive footprint on the planet by implementing the so-called Cradle to Cradle® framework. This framework has been formalised as an internationally acclaimed Cradle to Cradle sustainability certification for business, which shows the global industry’s deepening commitment to re-think and re-design products and processes for human health, environmental health and recyclability. MBDC’s international client base includes companies in Spain, Germany, Italy and Japan, Chinese urban developers, and clients like Nestle Waters North America, Method Products, Kiehl’s Since 1851, Aveda Corporation and Van Houtum Papier BV.

Last year, MBDC certified more than 100 products, bringing the total number of products certified to more 300 since the program launched in late 2005. Lauded by governments and industry around the world, more and more companies are going for Gold-level certification, Cradle to Cradle’s second highest level of achievement, which implies that product manufacturers have eliminated chemicals assessed by MBDC to be a high hazard to human and environmental health, and final assembly processes are powered by 50 percent renewable energy. 

“Over the past year, we’ve noticed more companies coming to MBDC because they see an opportunity to be recognized as leaders in sustainability from governments and NGOs, but also by consumers,” said Jay Bolus, VP of Technical Operations at MBDC. “Even in challenging economic times, sustainability is becoming more central to their way of doing business, and they’re willing to put in the work.” 

An organization pursuing sustainability as a growth opportunity engenders a focus on enhancing benefits (not only reducing costs) through its decision-making and actions -- taking an approach of optimization rather than minimization. The organization can understand the perspective of “people, planet and profit," as expansionist and enabling leadership through the achievement of advanced success metrics. For example, the concept of ‘good design’ of products and services should move beyond typical measures of quality -- cost, performance and aesthetics -- to integrate and apply additional objectives addressing the environment and social responsibility.

Co-founder of MBCD, the reknowned architect William McDonough, was named by Vanity Fair magazine as one of the Top 100 Influential People in 2010, and named by Design Intelligence the No. 1 “role model” for sustainability in the world. McDonough has crusaded since the 1970s with an uncompromising environmental credo—he believes in re-using just about everything—and has inspired some of the highest-profile green projects of our time, including his big cool buddy Brad Pitt’s Make It Right houses in New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward.

He developed the Cradle to Cradle® framework to move beyond the traditional goal of reducing the negative impacts of commerce (‘eco-efficiency’), to a new paradigm of increasing its positive impacts (‘eco-effectiveness’). MBDC has developed a white paper that compares the approach of eco-efficiency (or minimization) and a more comprehensive, sustaining approach that integrates eco-efficiency within the larger eco-effective goal of optimization.