The Teenage Years of Sustainable Business

I had one of those experiences this week that causes reflection.  While driving to church with my 3 children in the car, I got distracted and did not slow down while merging onto a state highway from the freeway.  The result was a pleasant conversation with local law enforcement about my driving and lack of attention to the local speed limit.  As I continued on my way to church, now on the verge of being late, but not wanting to push my luck in making up time, I realized how much our perspective changes with experience.

As a teenager, I lived in a small town.  My friends and I had the city figured out.  The police station sat in the middle of town and the town had exactly 6 police cruisers.  Quickly, we all learned that if we paid attention while driving, we could easily exceed the speed limit without fear of a ticket.  Most trips through town required that you pass the station, and, on average, there were no less than 4 cruisers at the station.  By counting cars, the risk of being caught dropped to manageable levels and speeding became a part of the drive through town, once the count  of cruisers reached 6.

Fast forward to today.  While I have moved far beyond counting cars and attempts to evade the law, sustainable business practices are still in their teenage years; attempting to get away with doing as little as possible, for maximum impact.  Companies today see dollar signs when they associate and assimilate green/environmental marketing into the overall strategy.  Companies participate in green with varying levels of commitment.  Some do just enough to add a green leaf to their logo, others make firm commitments to improve, while a select few actually act responsibly and improve environmental performance.

Several months ago, I shared my thoughts on transparency in business.  In order to truly adopt sustainable practices, companies need to speak openly with customers about these changes and share successes and failures.  Unfortunately, businesses continue to hide behind a guise of proprietary business practices to avoid showing the gap between what they say and what they do. 

Many organizations are popping up to help hold us responsible for our claims.  They set standards and monitor progress, but much of the reporting is still subject to human error and even intentional inaccuracy.  When no one is watching, many organizations slip back into the old ways of operation.  Some even “count the cars” to know when it is ok to return to “business as usual”. 

While my situation turned out favorable (apparently local law enforcement has a soft spot for a father of 3 on his way to church) and only a warning was issued, can we afford a warning in business?  Can sustainable efforts thrive if business continues to take the path that leads to minimal action?  Do businesses really live up to their marketing message, advertising sustainable practices?

Help your business grow up and mature past the teenage years of evading discovery.  Recognize your shortcomings.  Plan, Communicate, Act and Report.

“Less Bad” vs. Eco-Inventive

As a society, we are standing on the edge of another revolution. In the19th and 20th century, the industrial revolution changed forever the landscape of our world through improvements in manufacturing, transportation and standards of living and business. As a world society, business evolved to go beyond the few blocks or, at most, miles surrounding a location to a truly global economy. In addition to the many positive effects, many unintended detriments accompanied the rapid industrialization of the world. However, today, another change, and change to undo some of the negative affects, is before us and requires immediate action to prepare for the next century.

In Cradle to Cradle, authors William McDonough and Michael Bruangart share the secrets of the next century and the need for not only immediate action, but also change from the current systems to something new. Several key points are shared throughout the book that are expanded below.

The first concept that seems to be a common thread in today’s society is the notion of doing something, even if it is only “less bad”. Some actions include replacing a gas-guzzling SUV for a more fuel-efficient compact car or buying a home that is 20% more efficient that your previous homes. Not to minimize these actions, but each of these solutions only partially addresses some of the issues facing the world today. A more fuel-efficient car reduces dependence on fossil fuels, but does not eliminate it and might add additional concerns over the disposal of battery technologies in the future. Similarly a more efficient home can reduce dependence on dangerous fuel sources, but it only addresses a small part of the problem, missing air quality, destruction of surrounding ecosystems, etc. The real solution is not in simply doing better today, but finding a way to change the way in which products are used in the future.

Giving new life to products that up-cycles is a key component to understanding the concept of Cradle to Cradle living. Simply recycling will not do enough for the future. Designing products that can be recycled into a better product, fully utilizing the original materials should be the goal of future product development. This is the concept that waste is not waste, but food for the next cycle. A great example of this was represented at the International Builder Show in Las Vegas this year. Several manufacturers provided detailed information about a product or service on paper that is designed to be planted after the information has been “consumed”. The papers will then breakdown into the soil, improving the soil, and activating the seeds within the paper to grow natural grasses or flowers. The paper is fully utilized by the next, and arguably, more beautiful process of creating life.

An underlying theme throughout the book is the need to re-evaluate packing, processes and products used in everyday life to find opportunities to redesign and up-cycle. At times a frustrating theme in the book is the little time is spent on solutions. However, towards the end of the text, the intentional writing is made clear. Solutions still have to be found, and as with many products mentioned in the book, there are no one-size fits all answer to these questions. Solutions to the packaging problem cannot be addressed and solved in 200 pages because the solution for one product, in one geographic area, is drastically different than for another.

By the end of the book, the concept of “Less Bad” vs. Eco-inventive changes to starting at “less bad” with plans to progress to something new. Making better decisions with the information available today is a responsible step as long as future plans include not just a re-design, but re-invention. For housing, simply re-designing current structures is only the “less bad” approach. To change housing to be a positive contributor to the ecosystem, old ways should be set aside and new concepts explored as part of a completely new design for future homes. Similar to the authors’ admonition to not just build a better car, but to build a “nutrivehicle” that goes beyond zero-effect to positive effect, homes need to be reinvented, from development forward, to create structures that work now and in the future and provide a positive addition to the surrounding ecosystem.

Environmental Actions TODAY!

About a month ago, I published a piece on the EcoHome Magazine website entitled Shades of Green. In the article, the concept was presented as a means of beginning to green your life, your work, or your world - one day, one small change at a time. Often, the media talks about the need to change everything today. For most of us, we lack the means to change everything today, so we do what we can and continue to improve each day moving forward.

Different from my Decoding Green Building Blog, Shades of Green will delve more into the political and socio-economic news that is so hotly debated in all forms of media. I will share a lot more opinion here, keeping my other blog for information about programs, products and implementation.

This discussion needs to start on a much-debated topic, found in numerous media forms in many different stories. The economic crisis continues to affect more and more families and individuals each day. Bailouts seem to be a dime a dozen as each day another industry, State or organization petitions the federal government for capital funds to continue their work. Some groups are calling for tax increase on non-renewable energy to make newer technologies viable and the theories surrounding Global Warming and Climate Change are constantly under attack.

Who has the right answer? Is it wise to increase spending, while cutting taxes? Should job creation happen in the public or private sector? How will the economy recover with increasing debt, rising unemployment and continued uncertainty in the market?

As it pertains to this forum, a great deal of information of late is centered around the subject of Climate Change, which evolved from Global Warming. A heated debate, with no clear-cut answer from either side, with one small exception. Several outlets recently have poked at the term climate change because the nature of any climate is to change. Seasons change, weather patterns move on a weekly, daily and sometimes hourly basis. Climate Change is inevitable because it is all around us. Beyond that, do we really know what affect we are having.

On the Global Warming side of the debate, the implication is that without human activity, warming temperatures and carbon levels would not be an issue. By shear existence, we are causing radical climate change. On the flip side, anyone suggesting we have no impact doesn’t understand science. I am reminded of a line some Star Wars Fans might recall. While speaking with the Gungan’s about the Naboo, Obi Wan states, “You…form a symbiont circle. What happens to one of you will affect the other. You must understand this.”

Our world is no different. All living organisms are dependent on each other. What we do affects the rest of the world. There is so much wasted energy debating over who is right and who is wrong, little time is spent on viable solutions; solutions that work in relation to cost, environmental impact and ease of use. Technologies that replace coal and crude oil exist, but many are not viable because of cost or ease of use constraints. Fixing cost through taxation and price fixing does not fix the technologies, only makes the current versions more palatable.

The answer for today is simple. Many of us need only return to what we learned as Boy Scouts, “Leave No Trace”. Change your attitude, not simply actions, to reflect a feeling of conservation and eco-responsibility. Inaction leads to nothing so waiting for resolution in the debate is pointless. Make efforts to change TODAY! Then, commit more energy and resources to responsible living tomorrow, changing your own Shade of Green.