Sustainability and Business

The Washington State University department of ecology has explained sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This goal could as easily apply to businesses as it does to the environment. Any activity that consumes resources so fast that it cannot sustain itself has created a trap that becomes difficult to escape. Today’s large corporate business models ignore this basic concept by planning constant growth into the future even though the world’s resources will not last forever. For businesses to be truly sustainable so that future generations can benefit from their products, business leaders must develop a long-term plan for the environment the same as they do for future profits.

In the mid-1800s in Butte, Montana, a generation of industrialists grew wealthy by dominating the silver, gold, and copper resources in the region. These copper barons, William Clarke, Marcus Daly, and F. Augustus Heinze, became the most powerful people for as far as one could see from Butte’s town limits. But the metals did not come out of the ground forever, and by the middle of the 1900s the copper barons’ fortunes and Butte’s future plummeted. How difficult is it to draw a parallel between Montana’s mining industry and today’s oil industry? Though the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has predicted that new technologies will find another 76 billion barrels of oil in the United States by 2025, no one knows for certain the volume of oil still available. That is because the science of locating and measuring the size of as-yet undiscovered oil reserves contains a wide margin of error. Scientists do know that regardless of the volume underground, the oil will someday run out. Global warming that results from burning fossil fuels such as oil may well choke the planet long before the oil disappears. It is therefore in everyone’s best interests to adapt to sustainable practices as soon as possible.

The most daunting challenge for businesses’ conversion to more environmentally sound decisions comes from the business community itself. Bjorn Stigson, president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, remarked in 2008, “They [business leaders] know they cannot solve these problems alone, but have to work with others to develop solutions, even when this means learning to listen to their critics and those who oppose their actions.” Each business’s customers might hold the greatest power in getting industry leaders to listen.

Perhaps slow, steady improvements in business might give communities the best chance of success in converting to sustainability. Drastic changes often present big risks for business, but smaller steps toward sustainable practices balance environmental needs with business needs. For example, many companies have already reconfigured their activities to save on raw materials, reduce waste, conserve water, and conserve energy. These small steps have proven to be easy to implement and have a big impact over time. New business methods such as just-in-time production and more efficient distribution chains already help build profits while offering benefits to the environment. Meanwhile, companies have been expected to follow laws on emissions, waste discharges, and hazardous waste management and reporting. The next phase of decisions may incorporate some of these innovations:

1. conversion from coal-fired power plants to renewable energy sources such as solar
2. use of only alternative fuel for shipments
3. participation in waste recycling programs or transfer of waste to other industries
4. new technologies for handling water that cools production machinery and for returning the water safely to the environment
5. waste-to-energy processes
6. conversion from chemical synthesis methods to biological methods
7. redesign of packaging to reduce waste
8. redesign of products to biodegradable materials
9. conversion of offices to use of recycled products and alternative materials and energy

 In business, the decisions that will make these innovations possible are referred to as front-end decisions, because they must be planned before the production process is designed, built, and operated. End-of-the-line activities, by contrast, refer to activities that try to make things better after all the production has been completed: disposing of wastes, installing devices to clean gaseous emissions, filtering discharge water to remove most of the pollutants, and taking back unsold products so they do not end up in landfills. The success of sustainability in business revolves around eliminating end-of-the-line activities by putting more emphasis on front-end decisions. Today, almost all major U.S. cities have sustainable business networks that help businesses implement sustainable practices. At this point in history, industries large and small have no excuse for sidestepping sustainable practices.

Harvest Green - Business Success in Harmony With Our Environment

Our ecosystem is an interrelated organization of life, where each individual aspect contributes to the grandeur of the whole. It is an elegant system of life and a source of inspiration. As Businesses and Professionals, you are in the perfect position to be creative leaders and Harvest Green. You can embrace the very same model as our ecosystem and by doing so; you can increase your prosperity, success and customer loyalty.This is a perfect time to find and convey new ways to reconnect with our dear planet, to celebrate her beauty, diversity and power and to Harvest Green. Imagine the first light of dawn glistening over the oceans. Imagine a sweeping panorama from the heights of mountains. Imagine the sweet scent of flowers or the deep fragrance of forests. Our environment lifts our hearts, while it provides the particles of our bodies, the food on our tables and the means to nurture our lives.As I share suggestions to help you expand your green horizons, think abundance ... think health ... think growth. Green for Abundance
Green is the metaphysical color for abundance. Greening your business can attract and maintain a greater flow of energy and prosperity. If you are in retail, choose fantastic recycled gift boxes, shopping bags, wrapping papers and biodegradable peanuts for packaging. Your customers can have beautiful wrapping paper and signature bags, while knowing that you are contributing to the well-being of our planet. Your store, spa and business can be a great place to increase your eco-efficiency. Make sure that you take advantage of recycling in your area. Replace the bulbs in closets and storerooms with low voltage, low energy bulbs. Using less and thus receiving more in value creates abundance.Small, in-house events are an excellent opportunity to increase your green presence and abundance. Have a "green give-away." Give-away a low voltage florescent light bulb every time someone purchases a book about the environment or purchases a natural product. Abundance flows in all directions and these are all excellent incentives to bring a full circle of abundance and support. Green for Healing
Green is a healing color. Every business has an opportunity to be a source for eco-friendly products and education. There are so many things you can do to create a healing environment for your business, staff and customers. Your Spa and Healing Center can switch to and promote organic and environmentally friendly products. A beautiful display featuring your organic and healing products will support those manufacturers and pamper your customers, while you receive the compliments and sales. Introduce a newsletter for your staff and your clients with eco-tips and thoughtful ways to reduce waste and increase energy efficiency. If you replace all of your cleaning supplies with safe, organic cleansers; use quality air and replace bottled water with filtered tap water, you will increase the environmental quality of your offices. Your clients and staff will appreciate your attention, services and products by giving you more support and sales. That is all part of the healing and greening process. Green for Growth
The color green signifies growth. You can expand and grow your business by adding green products and services. You don't have to wait until Earth Day to celebrate the environment. Your retail store can feature books about the environment. Have a rotating "Green Display" that showcases books, products and services that increase the environmental awareness of your clients and your staff. Your Spa and Healing Center can have "Green Weekends." Pamper your clients with an exclusive weekend celebration of all organic, natural and healing products and treatments. Even traditional businesses can Harvest Green. If you see clients at your office, then make sure you serve them organic teas and coffee. Replace the high sugar, high fat snacks in your vending machines or snack room with organic snacks, sodas and juices.If your clients and customers have a choice between products that are good and products that are good and eco-friendly, they will naturally purchase the green products. Buying a green product brings additional benefits. If your clients and customers know that you are paying attention to their needs and paying attention to the health of your world, you give them another great reason to do business with you.Being a little more green helps your customers, helps your staff, helps the world and it helps your customers and your staff to help the world. Make today the day to Harvest Green.Copyright 2008 Lumari. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Green Business Ideas

In today's world, many people are worried about our environment. This concern is valid with all of the things that are happening in the world around us. It is key to remember that we live in the world we create. We can make a choice to be part of the solution or become a part of the growing problem. The problem that we are talking about is environmental issues.There are two types of business. One type of business creates garbage and another type does something to improve the environmental issues. Which type of business do you want to be? Have you ever thought of starting your own business doing things that will help to reverse the harmful effects of environmental pollution? Well, perhaps it is time.There are many business ideas that you can use to create an environmentally friendly solution. First take a look at your strong points and find out what talents you have that can be used. There are so many things that can be recycled and turned into wonderful products if you start to think outside of the box.Let's take a look at an old car tire. What do you do with it when it can no longer be used on your car? Most people just throw it away or let the new tire place take care of it. However, it has other uses. You can make things from that old rubber. You could make a business by collecting types of rubber trash and reusing them.You can use this rubber to make things like bags, hats and berets, gloves, jewelry, wallets and many other handy things. Rubber is not the only thing that can be recycled. You can recycle almost anything with the same unique business idea.Here is another idea for you that could start a great business. Harvest rain water run off. They do this in places where water is not readily found. You could create a rain water storage system and sell them. Place them around the town and show people how to use them.You can use things like old wood that people throw out to create things. These created items can be put up for sale with ease. Many people love to buy stuff that looks old. Here is another one for you to consider, rebuild old bikes and toys. Take parts from one and add them to another to create a new bike or toy idea. It is just another spin on re-cycling.You do not have to throw out something like a bike just because it does not work in its current condition. You can use these other parts to mend it and get it back on the road to being useful. By starting your own green friendly business you are doing your part to help correct the environmental issues that many people want to help fix but don't know how. Think about how we are taught to throw things away. Did you ever notice that no one teaches us how to recycle? Perhaps you could with your new business. You have the opportunity to become part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Green Business is Good Business - Sustainable Resources Keep Businesses Viable

We hear a lot about "green marketing" these days. Small businesses to major corporations are trying to appeal to the greater environmental consciousness of consumers. Why? There's money to be made. Research suggests that eco-minded consumers are willing to pay more money for green products, services, or even to deal with companies that demonstrate having an environmental conscience.It's Not Easy Being "Green"Being a green business can mean much more than making a quick buck because of clever marketing playing on the current social climate. Creating environmentally friendly products or running an overall eco-friendly business can involve higher overhead costs (which may or may not be fully accounted for in increased prices - either way, it takes a bite out of those profits).When a company decides to go green, they also take on a new image and social responsibility. They have to continually live up to the image they create, making sure other aspects of their business aren't counterintuitive to the environmentally friendly mission their customers come to expect. Even one bad decision can become a green PR nightmare that alienates a company's target market.Green Business can be Good BusinessIf going green is more expensive, involves launching completely new marketing campaigns, and has the potential to make or break a company's reputation with each little decision, why would companies invest so much time and money into being environmentally friendly?For some businesses, sustainable resources mean more than happy customers. They mean sustainable business - ensuring that the resources needed to create their products (especially at prices consumers are willing to pay) don't become depleted.Case Study: Faraway FurnitureFaraway Furniture is a UK-based company offering contemporary indoor and outdoor garden furniture. We use grade A Javanese teak in the development of our teak garden furniture, because it is incredibly strong and nearly maintenance-free (making it an ideal choice for customers).While the use of teak keeps customers happy, it's a natural resource, and natural resources can become depleted. If this happened, we would eventually be out of business. This is a reason we only use sustainable plantation wood - limited amounts of trees can be cut down each year, and that must be met with equal restoration. We're not only interested in appealing to our environmentally conscious customers and helping the environment. We know that doing both of those things is actually essential to our survival in business.While going green is good for our business, we also have a genuine interest in the global community and doing our part to help the environment. Because of that, we have so far planted over 2500 trees through the Billion Tree Campaign of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). We make sure our customers keep coming back, and we make sure we'll always have the resources necessary to satisfy their demand for our products. That's what it means to go beyond green marketing and be a truely green business.

Green Business Ideas

In today's world, many people are worried about our environment. This concern is valid with all of the things that are happening in the world around us. It is key to remember that we live in the world we create. We can make a choice to be part of the solution or become a part of the growing problem. The problem that we are talking about is environmental issues.There are two types of business. One type of business creates garbage and another type does something to improve the environmental issues. Which type of business do you want to be? Have you ever thought of starting your own business doing things that will help to reverse the harmful effects of environmental pollution? Well, perhaps it is time.There are many business ideas that you can use to create an environmentally friendly solution. First take a look at your strong points and find out what talents you have that can be used. There are so many things that can be recycled and turned into wonderful products if you start to think outside of the box.Let's take a look at an old car tire. What do you do with it when it can no longer be used on your car? Most people just throw it away or let the new tire place take care of it. However, it has other uses. You can make things from that old rubber. You could make a business by collecting types of rubber trash and reusing them.You can use this rubber to make things like bags, hats and berets, gloves, jewelry, wallets and many other handy things. Rubber is not the only thing that can be recycled. You can recycle almost anything with the same unique business idea.Here is another idea for you that could start a great business. Harvest rain water run off. They do this in places where water is not readily found. You could create a rain water storage system and sell them. Place them around the town and show people how to use them.You can use things like old wood that people throw out to create things. These created items can be put up for sale with ease. Many people love to buy stuff that looks old. Here is another one for you to consider, rebuild old bikes and toys. Take parts from one and add them to another to create a new bike or toy idea. It is just another spin on re-cycling.You do not have to throw out something like a bike just because it does not work in its current condition. You can use these other parts to mend it and get it back on the road to being useful. By starting your own green friendly business you are doing your part to help correct the environmental issues that many people want to help fix but don't know how. Think about how we are taught to throw things away. Did you ever notice that no one teaches us how to recycle? Perhaps you could with your new business. You have the opportunity to become part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Green Business - Change Your Business Into an Eco-Friendly Business

These days business circles are abuzz with the talks of eco friendly practices. New start ups and small businesses are keen to jump on eco-friendly bandwagon by adapting environment friendly practices like recycling, green manufacturing, sustainable development or renewable energy. Not only these practices provide small businesses with good projection, but the technologies like recycling or renewable energy are also beneficial to the businesses in terms of cost reduction. "Green business" is a recently introduced phenomenon and it is much more than placing a greenish logo on your products or packaging. In actual fact, Green businesses are enterprises that use natural products, reprocess materials and try to be as energy efficient as they can.Efficient Use of Energy:Businesses are keen to minimize energy cost and emissions. Businesses can save a handful on bills by taking initiatives like switching off unnecessary lights or using appliances which are much more energy efficient than the older ones. Energy efficient electronics like computer monitors, cooling systems or lighting systems have in-built programs along together with different kinds of sensors, which helps them save energy in various ways. Buying these appliances or installing new cooling systems may sound a little squandering, however when you look at the amount you can save on bills, it is easily justified.Environment Friendly Manufacturing:Manufacturers are quickly realizing that adapting an eco-friendly approach is actually more beneficial for the business itself than it is for the environment. A green manufacturer will focus on the longevity of the products, it won't pile up unnecessary inventory, it'll think of ways to recycle scrap and it wouldn't be wasting resources in over production. As you can see, these are all commonsensical practices. Therefore, green manufacturing is not some useless hoopla; it is in fact a more sensible approach of doing business.Working for the waste reduction and Recycling:Waste reduction should be added into the job description of managers or supervisors as an added responsibility. Take the example of paper wastage, which can be reduced significantly by taking small steps. For example, using electronic mail for internal communication or printing on both sides of the paper. Stop purchasing or making use of color printers when you can do with black and white copies. Read the instruction manuals of your electronic appliances like Air Conditioners, generators or printers and follow the instructions, it will maximize their performance while increasing their lifespan. Manager or anybody else who is in charge of purchases should make sure that the need exists before authorizing any purchase.