The State of Environment & Business

The blueprint for how business is conducted is shifting from Industrial Age operating assumptions of "take, make, and throw away" to fit the situation society faces today. It makes sense to use scarce natural resources sparingly and keep them circulating in the system instead of creating waste. "Institutions that ignore these trends will suffer economically due to concerned customers, stricter legislation, higher resource costs and waste fees, and tougher competition from companies who anticipate the narrowing limits and adjust accordingly," according to Interfact’s 1997 Sustainability Report. Companies these days find more freedom through adaptation and reinvention than by retaining the status quo.

Now, with global consciousness and social values coming to the forefront, the private sector is increasingly called upon to go beyond compliance and participate in fundamental ways as leaders of society. The focus is shifting to the use of renewable, cyclical, benign, wasteless processes and resource productivity. Surveys show that companies now consider sustainable business practices "the right thing to do."

A recent Arthur D. Little survey defined sustainable development as "the global push for companies to build their long-term business strategies around three inter-connected goals: economic growth, environmental excellence, and social responsibility." A growing number of firms understands that transitioning to sustainability offers them a true business opportunity. Such changes require courage and a major shift in consciousness, but finally the corporate world is on the path to sustainability.

People are now seeing that our lives will indeed be richer when we bring "values" into the picture, that there is limitless business potential in putting clean water, air, trees, animals, and people as top priorities. It is exhilarating to watch an "oil company" reinvent itself as an "energy company" that expands its prosperity by providing clean, renewable energy. Or a company that can look beyond "making cars" to providing clean, efficient transportation. Early Movers are stepping forward in every industry, from office furniture and equipment to elec- tronics, retail, and architecture. Universities worldwide are integrating sustainability into their core business curriculum.

As business learns to integrate eco-efficiency measures into core operations and philosophy, it sets the stage for dramatically reducing the quantity of materials used in production, product take-back and reuse, and the dematerialization of products. Financial and policy market incentives (such as Zero Emission regulations, alternative fuel fleet requirements, environmental due diligence in financing and credit extensions, taxes on environmentally-destructive activities) are emerging as drivers toward that end.

In the coming century, the transition to sustainability will change the types of businesses that exist and the products they produce. The way we structure and manage our economy will be fundamentally different. Sustainability is, in commercial terms, a business driver of immense significance.

Encouraging Signs Growth in the organic market Worldwide green building projects (energy-efficient design and recycled-content materials) Availability and choice of "green power" (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas) Shifts to tree-free or harvested timber products Corporate environmental reporting Source: MysticalPlanet.com's Why? newsletter; article by Rona Fried, Ph.D. (SustainableBusiness.com Excerpt, 06/99)