Business has officially entered "The Age of Sustainability."

Most people relate sustainability to climate change and our efforts to sustain Earth's limited resources.

In the corporate world, it means businesses are being asked -- or even expected -- to take Earth's climate into consideration in normal business operations. In this new age, business strategy has been required to adapt to profound changes in how consumers and partners buy, use, interact with and view their products and services. This is particularly true over the last 10 years and will likely continue for at least the next 20 to 30 years.

We have all heard of the phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle," as the call to think about environmental sustainability when making decisions about products and services. But have you considered that this directive may be in conflict with the common business goal of selling more to achieve higher revenues and profits?

Recycle and Reuse

In general, businesses have adapted reasonably well to recycling. In many cases, it is an integral part of the business model. There is high consumer awareness of what and how to recycle, and there are great examples of businesses profiting from this trend such as the recycling of certain plastics to make outdoor furniture or recycling paper products into boxes.

The trend to reuse is more of an individual attitude. Awareness of reuse has increased significantly over recent years. Secondary markets are quite mature with reuse today. If you look at the success of eBay, Amazon, and craigslist, you can see how this trend has taken off and how businesses have taken advantage of the reseller marketplace.

Reduce

Less in use today, however, is the reduce portion of the formula. There are few business models or strategies that take advantage of a reduction in consumption. Using fewer resources in the first place, makes reduce strategies among of the most effective for increasing sustainability.

Here are some of the ways to practice the reduce philosophy, according to an article from the National Resource Defense Council:

• Choose energy-efficient electronics and appliances.
• Ditto for cars. Try sharing a car and rides, and try to combine trips.
• Buy local. Purchase items made close to home. Less energy was used transporting them to the store. This includes food grown locally.
• Avoid goods made with materials whose extraction or processing are especially destructive to the environment, such as tropical woods and most gold jewelry.
• Avoid overly packaged goods. The packaging is a total throw-away.
• Cut back on water use.
• Waste less energy on lights and related equipment. Using smart everything (grids, meters, switches, clean energy, etc.) can significantly help reduce energy consumption.
• Eat less meat. The environmental footprint of a pound of meat is 10 times or more greater than that for a pound of grain or produce.

What is interesting about these recommendations is that when consumers change their behaviors, the impact on virtually every industry and type of business will be profound.