This paper describes how to succeed in profitably transforming the sustainability of organisations. Or you could look at this as how to sustainably increase profitability. Included in the document are:

• A sustainability transformation roadmap describing the building blocks of a successful program of action
• The three major challenges along the sustainability journey and how to overcome them
• Guiding principles which provide five simple tenets for success

The paper has been written recognising that every organisation is on its own unique journey, but often (from our experience) facing similar hurdles. We therefore hope that it offers something for every reader who is interested in sustainability. Click here to read the paper.

Our 2011 predictions were about 80% right. So we have made 4 predictions for 2012: Sustainability as a profit driver; Focus on the ‘how’ of sustainability; Innovation, and; LED lighting.

To see whether our predictions for 2012 are worth reading, let’s see how 2011’s predictions fared (for the original predictions see http://drgreglavery.wordpress.com/5-low-carbon-predictions-for-2011/).

Thursday, December 15, 2011 - The Colorado Environmental Film Festival (CEFF) announced today that it will host a Sustainablity Expo and Call To Action programming in conjunction with the 6th annual festival which will be help February 23-25th in Golden, CO at the American Mountaineering Center.

CEFF celebrates the power of film to inspire, educate, and motivate audiences. CEFF presents thought-provoking films and dialogue that raise awareness of a wide variety of interconnected ecological, social, and economic themes. The Festival provides an experience for the audience that goes beyond passive film viewing: CEFF inspires audiences into awareness and action. Earth Protect is a sponsor of the Festival. 

Mainstream business is catching up to what the sustainability community has intuitively known for a long time: a sustainable approach is more profitable. From KKR (the private equity firm) to manufacturers such as Interface FLOR (famous amongst the sustainability community but not often known outside it) to household names like Xerox, corporations are beginning to embrace the profit benefits of taking a more considered approach.

Why? Because reducing emissions saves energy costs, reducing waste saves raw materials, recycling avoids manufacturing costs, meeting changing customer needs wins market share, giving staff a cause improves productivity and morale, raising the bar for competitors creates competitive advantage, and addressing long term risks is good business practice.

Friday was an important day for everyone, and I’m not speaking of religious circles. Friday was Earth Day 2011. And whether you think about it or not, or you care about it or not, I believe we are lucky to have people out there who do care enough to do what’s best for our planet. We need it to survive, after all.

Earth Day started in 1970, the idea of a then U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson. The massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. the year before spurred his enthusiasm for becoming an activist in the fight to clean up our water and air.

by Greg Lavery, Ph.D.

Who will drive sustainability in the future? Government, community or business? This thought-piece suggests that supporting business transformation to more sustainable practices may be our best hope. If we look at the avenues for change that exist in the world – those ways in which large scale change can occur to reduce our impact on the world and less privileged sectors of our society – change is occurring.

cross-Posted from The Point News, the campus paper of St. Mary’s College of Maryland

While the United States Congress has yet to pass comprehensive climate change legislation and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change seems to like negotiating more than creating legally binding treaties, students have been very successful at tackling climate change on campus.  Two weeks ago in Kansas City, Missouri, I gave a presentation at the National Collegiate Honors Conference with fellow SMCM students Rachel Waldron and Jimmy Ferioli titled “Cross Currents of Environmentalism: Academics and Activism” that reminded me that colleges and universities really are being forces for change, cutting carbon, and helping to build the clean energy economy.