Everything you need to know to green your business and grow your profit.
• The truth about what climate change means for your business
• The truth about running lean and green
• The truth about future proofing your business
Simply the best thinking
THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
This book reveals 52 PROVEN GREEN STRATEGIES and bite-size, easy-to-use techniques that get results.
“This little book is inspiring in its range and practicality—not just for CEOs, but for every member of the enterprise…an exceptionally useful guide for ‘going green’ at any scale of enterprise.”
CHIP CONLEY, CEO, Joie de Vivre Hospitality
“In a world where green business advice is rampant, this is the one resource you need: a field guide that combines insight and inspiration with a solid, actionable path forward.”
JOEL MAKOWER, Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com
Introduction ix
Part I: The Truth About Green Business
TRUTH 1: What is a green business? 1
TRUTH 2: Why green your business? 5
TRUTH 3: How to approach greening your business 9
TRUTH 4: Why now? 13
TRUTH 5: Climate change and your business 17
Part II: The Truth About Green Strategy
TRUTH 6: Profit and purpose 23
TRUTH 7: How green is good enough? 27
TRUTH 8: Green regulations 31
Part III: The Truth About Green Operations
TRUTH 9: Secrets hiding in plain sight 35
TRUTH 10: Eco-efficiency: Good for business and the environment 39
TRUTH 11: Waste? Not! Eliminating non-product 43
TRUTH 12: EcoAudits can guide your course 47
TRUTH 13: Running lean and green 53
TRUTH 14: Carbon footprinting 57
TRUTH 15: Reducing your carbon footprint 63
Part IV: The Truth About Green Marketing
TRUTH 16: Green branding and messaging 67
TRUTH 17: Creating strong EcoLabels 71
TRUTH 18: Green marketing claims 77
TRUTH 19: Reaching conscious consumers 81
Part V: The Truth About Green Products and Services
TRUTH 20: What makes a product green? 85
TRUTH 21: Product take-back 89
TRUTH 22: Product to service 93
TRUTH 23: What makes a service green? 97
Part VI: The Truth About Green Design
TRUTH 24: Biomimicry–learning from life
TRUTH 25: Reducing your product footprints 105
TRUTH 26: Cradle to cradle 109
TRUTH 27: Design with nature 113
TRUTH 28: Innovation is at the heart of greening 117
Part VII: The Truth About Green Procurement
TRUTH 29: Environmentally preferable purchasing 121
TRUTH 30: Supply chain management and partnerships 125
Gil Friend is founder, President, and CEO of Natural Logic, Inc. Natural Logic provides advisory services in strategy, implementation, and performance measurement that help companies and communities prosper by embedding the laws of nature at the hearts of enterprise.
A systems ecologist and business strategist with nearly 40 years experience in business, communications, and environmental innovation, Friend combines broad business experience with unique content experience spanning strategy, systems ecology, economic development, management cybernetics, and public policy. Tomorrow magazine called him “One of the country’s leading environmental management consultants–a real expert who combines theoretical sophistication with hands-on, in-the-trenches know-how.” He is a founding board member of the Sustainable Business Alliance, Sustainable Berkeley, and the California Sustainable Business Council and serves on the executive board of OpenEco.org and the advisory boards of CleanFish, WattBot, Green World Campaign, and (past) San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Clean Tech Advisory Council. Friend served in the California Governor’s Office, developing early sustainability policies and programs, was a founding board member of Internet pioneer Institute for Global Communications, was founder and Executive Director of Foundation for the Arts of Peace, and was cofounder and codirector of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a leading urban ecology and economic development “think-and-do tank,” where he pioneered the current “green roof” trend more than 35 years ago.
Friend lectures widely on business strategy and sustainability policy and writes “The New Bottom Line” (www.natlogic.com/new-bottom-line) offering strategic perspectives on business and environment. He has contributed chapters to several books, including Worldchanging: A User’s Guide to the 21st Century, Sustainable Enterprise Report,Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook, Sustainable Food Systems, and Stepping Stones, and is the author of the forthcoming book Profit on Purpose: Risk, Fiduciary Duty and the Laws of Nature. He holds an M.S. degree in systems ecology from Antioch University, has a black belt in Aikido, and is a seasoned practitioner of “The Natural Step” environmental management system.