Make Sustainable Growth and Development the New Vision Statement

The use of natural resources has tripled in the last 50 years and could double again in the next 30 years. At this rate, we would need 1.5 Earth to sustainably support our current natural resource use.

Everyday…almost everyday, it’s in the news how our environment is sending out distress signals to stop the indiscriminate growth and development; whether it is the death of hundreds of manatees off the coast of Florida, or the heat wave that engulfed the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia and more recently the floods in Germany and Belgium. These calamities can no longer be dismissed as natural and cyclical. Natural disasters have been a part of the fabric of human existence on this planet; however, their frequency is unprecedented and the effects have been devastating. The recent sinking of the ship off the coast or Sri Lanka that flooded the beaches with micro plastics and the steadily declining Amazon forest cover are man-made disasters with real and serious consequences for our entire planet and these are just two recent examples from a long list that is sadly growing.

So, what does this mean for businesses in general? A shift in outlook is necessary to move beyond sustainability as an initiative to sustainability as a vision. And what does that entail? Business growth strategies should be planned and executed in synergy with the environment. A rudimentary example of a sustainability initiative would be the case of restaurants/restaurant industry developing creative and innovative ways of reusing or recycling the food waste. A business strategy grounded in the sustainability vision would focus on reducing the use of natural and man made resources through better planning and designing to eliminate waste and reduce carbon emission.

This might sound similar to the circular economy approach. The circular  approach emphasizes economic development that benefits business, society and the environment, i.e., it advocates a triple bottomline. It is restorative and regenerative as it recommends reusing, recycling remanufacturing and repurposing of products, components and materials so that they are circulating in the economy. I am suggesting that the focus should expand beyond managing end products of the key business process to include usage of raw materials in the manufacturing process so that there is less wastage and more importantly reduction in the use of finite natural resources.

When businesses start integrating sustainability into their vision, future business decisions, both major and minor, would inevitably be evaluated within the purview of its impact on the environment. Initially, the decision-making process would certainly require a conscious effort and later over several decision choices, it would become the established norm. As these decision choices permeate the culture of the organization, even minor choices such as installing water saving faucet or a solar powered light would become natural first choices. This approach does not require rethinking previous established practices at your business as it relates to the environment and pollution control but expanding on it. The maxim would need to change from let’s curb the pollution to let’s start conserving.

Since making sustainability a part of the vision does require commitment of resources, few suggestions to get you on the path

• Develop a blue print

• Start with a cost benefit analysis

• Create a position or a department (based on the size and structure of your organization) that has the prime responsibility for doing the groundwork and effecting this change

• Form partnerships with academics/academic institutions, which work in the area of environmental sustainability (Sponsor or support research that investigates innovations in the areas of production or manufacturing processes, sustainably sourcing natural resources, improvements in transportation and supply chain management)

• Learn from your peers or leaders in your industry (If not, be the first ones to lead) through trade associations, conferences, seminars etc.

• Share your knowledge, experiences, challenges with others through shared media

• Organize or attend conferences

• Create a repository

• Access knowledge contained in government databases, white papers etc.

Businesses and industries in all sectors need to challenge themselves on how they can reduce their dependence on natural resources while simultaneously continuing to reduce carbon emission.

We only have one earth…

Please share the challenges and paybacks of adopting sustainability practices, so that others might benefit from your experiences.