The Sustainable Future

Green companies = More satisfaction + more revenue

Besides the feelgood factor, is there a compelling reason for companies to go green? According to a new study, the answer to that is a resounding yes.

U.S. workers favor green companies, and green companies have higher performance, according to two new studies.

A new report reviewing buyer preferences and the performance of green brands found that top performing companies with strong green practices have three times more customer satisfaction than poor performers, as well as 4.7 times more employee satisfaction and 1.7 times more revenue per employee.

"Business people have worried about the cost of being green," said Peter Brockmann, President of Brockmann & Company, the consulting firm that released the report. "We provide evidence that companies that focus on recycling in the office, reducing energy consumption in the office and use video conferencing or telepresence technologies intensively, also have higher customer satisfaction, higher employee satisfaction and higher revenues per employee."

Not only do companies with a green approach yield more satisfaction and higher performance, they're also in line with what employees say they want, according to another recent study.

In a separate survey, commissioned by National Geographic magazine, more than 80% of U.S. workers polled said they believe it is important to work for a company or organization that makes the environment a top priority. Yet, only 53% currently work for a company or organization that implements environmental or sustainable programs in the workplace, the poll revealed.

[hat tip to Sara Moore for the link]

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Co-op America's Green Business of the Year finalists

Looking for some business role models to admire? Want proof that the business world isn't really inherently evil and actually has a great potential for good? Want to just plain ol' feel warm and fuzzy about what what entrepreneurs come up with as green thinking starts to permeate our culture?

Look no further than Co-op America's People's Choice Awards. Here are the ten finalists for Green Business of the Year:

1. Flexcar
2.  Greenfeet.com: The Planet's Homestore
3.  Green Living Now
4.  Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils
5.  Mountains of the Moon
6.  Only Natural Pet Store   
7.  Pizza Fusion   
8.  ReusableBags.com
9.  UsedCardboardBoxes.com 
10.  Yoga Nine/Buddha Body Fair Trade Store

Check out their web sites, then vote for them. The winner will be announced  at the Green Festival in San Francisco on November 10th.

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Tully's to use only organic, Fair Trade coffee

Here in Seattle, it's not uncommon to see a Starbuck's on one corner and a Tully's coffee on a corner across the street. Recently Tully's announced something they hope will give them a competitive edge, a switch to using nothing but organic, Free Trade-certified coffee, served in 100% recyclable cups.
 

Starting today, all espresso drinks sold by the chain will use only organic, Fair Trade-certified coffee beans. Those beans will cost the Seattle company 17 to 20 cents more a pound than it has been paying.

Tully's also will spend 1 to 1.5 cents more for each of its cups, which beginning today are compostable and recyclable. Most paper coffee cups are not recyclable because of a plastic lining that keeps them from getting soggy. Tully's new cups, made by International Paper, use a plastic lining made from corn.

Tully's hopes the new espresso and recycled cups will attract new customers.

"People demonstrate a willingness to travel for products that support their personal beliefs," said Tully's spokesman Rob Martin.

Because Tully's has only 138 stores, fewer than most multistate coffee chains, the company is hoping it will be alone among those that can offer organic, Fair Trade espresso.

"It's a limited crop, so Starbucks couldn't follow us," Martin said.

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Electronics manufacturers trying to go green

There's a green storm a-brewin' in the electronics industry as more and more companies make an effort to green up their products.

PC and electronics makers, in their quest for the fastest, coolest and most powerful devices, have never given much thought to environmental issues, says Barbara Kyle, national coordinator of the Computer TakeBack Campaign, an advocacy group. Not surprisingly, their products are often chemical-laden, power-sucking nightmares, she says.

Now, for the first time, almost every major PC and electronics maker is trying to change that, says Zeina Al-Hajj, an environmental campaigner at Greenpeace.

The industry is brimming with new green initiatives. Dell (DELL) in June announced a plan to become "the greenest technology company," by beefing up its recycling program and building more Earth-friendly PCs. Weeks before, rival Apple (AAPL) made a similar pledge to become "greener." Panasonic has taken the lead out of its plasma TVs. Motorola (MOT) made its cellphone chargers energy-efficient. Sun Microsystems (SUNW) has even begun posting the amount of electricity it uses in each of its office parks, by month, on the Internet.

It's easy to demonize electronics manufacturers for environmentally unfriendly manufacturing, but part of the blame rests with those of us who buy the products. For example, are we willing to pay more?

It's still unclear whether often-costly environmental programs generate enough goodwill to be worth it.

"If everything else is equal, a consumer will choose to purchase a product that's more socially responsible," says Stewart Mitchell, chief strategy officer for Sharp Electronics. "But I'm not going to say they'll pay more for it."

And does the environment even enter our thought process when we buy electronics? As Panasonic found, time and money invested in green alternatives don't necessarily mean the products will get snapped up at the stores.

Panasonic spent six years and $75 million developing lead-free solder to connect parts inside its electronics, says Thompson. Lead solder is hard to duplicate because it has a relatively low melting point of about 180 degrees, he says. Panasonic struggled to come up with a replacement that wouldn't melt every computer chip it touched.

The lead-free solder was a key component in Panasonic's line of lead-free plasma TVs. Yet the initiative "hasn't resonated" or sparked an uptick in sales, Thompson says.

David Thompson, environmental director of Panasonic sums it up when he says, "Consumers do not buy products for their greenness." 

How about you? Do you consider environmental factors when purchasing electronics? (I have to confess, it hasn't been on my radar screen in past purchases.) Are you willing to pay more for more environmentally friendly options? How much more? 5%? 10%? 20% When does it become too much?

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5 practical steps for building a sustainable business

How do you build a sustainable business? This article outlines five ideas for building a sustainable business from Karlin Sloan, author of SMARTER, FASTER, BETTER: Strategies for Effective, Enduring, and Fulfilled Leadership:

1. Measure more than the bottom line
Think about the big picture and the impact your business has on the community and the environment. Then take action to improve in weak areas.

2. Practice sustainable working styles
Happy, healthy employees are more productive. Many companies offer employees perks such as ‘movie days’ or free car washes. They also advocate a balance between work and home life. Remember, lower absenteeism and job turnover also save money.

3. Get everyone working together
Collaborate as a company to improve sustainability and generate a sense of teamwork, excitement and ownership. Plus it enhances your ability to attract the best people.

4. Give back to the community
Create employee matching programs, encourage community involvement and corporate philanthropy. People in your community help keep you in business—return the favor!

5. Reduce your carbon footprint
Take stock of your energy usage and invest in alternative ways to power your operation or reduce your consumption. ‘Think green’ and incorporate simple changes such as reducing paper usage, recycling and switching to energy saving light bulbs.

What I like about these ideas is that it doesn't fall prey to limiting sustainability to a mono-dimensional concept like being green. The truth is, sustainability is a 360 degree system, one that runs from the individual employee all the way through the impact the business has on the planet.

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Bank of America's $20 billion sustainable business initiative

Bank of America is jumping on the sustainability train in a big way with a $20 billion initiative to support environmentally sustainable businesses:

Bank of America Corporation has today a $20 billion initiative to support the growth of environmentally sustainable business activity to address global climate change. Bank of America's ten-year initiative encourages development of environmentally sustainable business practices through lending, investing, philanthropy and the creation of new products and services.

"Over the last decade, Bank of America has implemented programs that have significantly reduced the environmental impact of our own operations," said Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America chairman and CEO. "Today, we have a tremendous opportunity to support our customer's efforts to build an environmentally sustainable economy -- through innovative home and office construction, new manufacturing technology, changes in transportation, and new ways to supply our energy."

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Top 20 sustainable stocks from Sustainable Business

Who are the superstars in the world of sustainable business? It's hard to know which companies are making efforts that actually have substance and which ones just have effective PR agencies.

That's why Sustainable Business puts out a yearly pick of the top 20 sustainable stocks. They publish the list "to showcase the companies that have either made substantial progress toward driving sustainability through their business or are leading the way with a technology that can significantly contribute to a sustainable society."

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Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy: Green technology is the next Big Thing

Bill Joy is co-founder of one of the monsters of the IT world, Sun Microsystems (and is now a partner at the VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers), so he knows a thing or two about seeing potential and building it into something big. In an interview with Business Week earlier this year, he said that the potential of the green technology field is enormous:

Kleiner partner] John Doerr said to me: "Are we going to have any more Googles?" And I said: "You're damn right we are, because we are at the point of new wealth creation when it comes to green technology." John used to say Google is the greatest legal creation of wealth, and I think the greatest legal creation of wealth today is in the green area -- not just in the U.S. but in the developed world. We have been looking at a lot of things related to new fuels, such as ethanol, fuel cells, advanced battery technology, and new ways of using biotech to make fuels.... There will be an enormous amount of new [green] technology, new wealth, and we are trying to create the Googles, the Microsofts of the new era. [Even] the garbage stream has a high value.

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Sustainability themed advertising

The more sustainability filters into the mainstream, the more it's bound to show up in advertising. Here's a database of sustainability themed ads from around the world.

[via the ClickZ News Blog]

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Sustainable living tip: Buy recycleable

"It is important to familiarize yourself with your what types of containers and items can be recycled in your local recycling program. Once you know what you can recycle, look for products that come in the containers that you know you will be able to recycle when the products are all used up. Examples are products in commonly recycled containers made from aluminum, steel, #1 and #2 plastic, and glass. Check the Earth 911 Reuse and Recycling Services listings to see what types of containers/packaging you should look for in your community."

Source:
Sustainability Savings Guide

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