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It seems like every company has gone green these days, but in spite of the abundance of corporate commitments and initiatives, the environmental and social news is not getting much better. What can the next generation of business leaders do to truly make a difference, while still taking care of the bottom line?
In order to better understand what's next in corporate sustainability, I recently brought together four experts for a panel discussion with Net Impact San Francisco: GreenBiz Group's own Joel Makower, Jamais Cascio, research fellow at the Institute for the Future, Michael Kobori, vice president, Social and Environmental Sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co., and Glen Low, principal at Blu Skye Consulting.
What I took away from the discussion is that while it's important for companies to continue taking bigger and bolder steps towards reducing their footprint, the long-term goal of business leaders should be regeneration, not just zero impact. Companies should create more clean water, more clean air, more wealth, better health. In order to achieve this goal, it may be time to start thinking about a new economic paradigm, one based on resilience instead of growth.
First of all, it's important to recognize that many companies are taking bold steps to reduce their impact. For example, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are competing to make their plastic bottles with the most plant material, Unilever recently committed to halving the environmental footprint of its products by 2020 and Walmart wants to help Americans eat healthier.
In addition, Makower noted that "today, businesses are walking more than they are talking."
"In conclusion, what the next
"In conclusion, what the next generation of leaders need to do now is to continue reducing their footprint while rethinking the economic model in which they operate. We need both evolution and revolution for business to become a regenerative force in the world"
said it all right there.
Businesses and Residents
Businesses and Residents alike need to lead the way, we cannot wait for government to show us how. We have a very powerful tool in our hands that can influence politics and businesses, that tool is $.
If we direct our hard earned dollars towards real green initiatives and green solutions the market will follow.
More and more states support energy deregulation and new green energy companies are now offering businesses and residents the chance to support local green energy by switching to them for their energy needs. Nothing changes except your energy rate, the utility stays the same, you still get one bill and still receive the same emergency service from your utility.
Viridian offers residents and businesses two choices, 20% green or 100% green energy. No contracts, no fees, no minimums just great rates. So when thinking of switching why not switch to a company that is making a real difference in the US and the world. To find out more go to: http://www.greenurhome.com