This is the third in a series of posts exploring the growing opportunities of strategic sustainability. The first summarised 10 hidden opportunities and the second explored 4 levels of sustainability strategy. Now we’re starting to work through those 10 opportunities hidden by 20th century thinking. Neurobiologists have confirmed in the last few years what philosophers have suspected for millenia – …
One of the “who would have thought!!!” solutions for reversing global warming is reducing food waste. It’s not just about the “starving Africans” your mum might have nagged you about when you wouldn’t eat your dinner – reducing food waste could save 70.53 gigatons in reduced CO2 by 2050.
Are you looking for business development opportunities? If you’ve been ignoring sustainability because you’ve been sold the “cost” myth, here are some recent reports that could give you new insights and innovation possibilities:
To most people getting on with their lives and listening to the mass media debates about climate change, ocean plastics and deforestation, “this sustainability thing” can seem overwhelming, frustrating and hopeless. But concern about climate change and environmental damage has been growing for decades (if not centuries – the problem of climate change was identified back in the 19th century). …
There have been some fascinating examples of regenerative thinking in action through my Inbox recently. Here are a few that illustrate the great ways that rethinking systems and technologies delivers profit, community benefit and environmental benefit. Innovators are applying physics and biology, not just engineering Native oyster beds are being regenerated in South Australia, not only improving the coastal ecosystem, …
What can we do differently when we realise that climate change solutions don’t REQUIRE government policy action? What else is possible when we recognise that expensive consumer frugality isn’t “the big answer”? (NOTE: I’m not saying that these aren’t useful – I’m asking “is this the only powerful source of innovation?“) I listened to the same old conversation on my …
“A watery by-product of fruit and vegetable processing, which used to end up in the sewerage system, is now being served at restaurants as premium drinking water.” Yes, this article is about bottled water – but it’s also about a fundamental shift in how entrepreneurs are thinking differently and turning “waste” back in to high-value resources. You may not value …
Recent research into how our brains work is increasingly proving we see what we’re looking for. The continuing story of InterfaceFLOR’s sustainability journey is a great positive to tune in to, as told in their recent update on how they’re building community wealth in the Pacific by turning old fishing net into new carpet tiles.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Richard Buckminster Fuller Are you in automatic fight mode? One of our great modern philosophers – Humberto Maturana – has commented, that we live in an age where society’s prevailing mood is one of aggression. One of the …
Back in the 1960s, psychology researcher Martin Seligman and his team discovered how to create helplessness and passivity – first in animals and later in humans. Some sustainability campaigners could learn an important lesson from his research about how to present their message so it generates action rather than helplessness.
I’ve been watching a LinkedIn conversation about “taking the immense risk that Climate Change is posing” and watched it transform into a believe/don’t believe conversation about human-induced climate change. To me, sustainability advocates have a much more powerful challenge to make, especially to business players. We can ask them a different and more immediate set of questions: What does the …
(Originally posted June 2013. Most recently updated December 2018) I read a recent blog post which made the claim that “In the past 25 years, only lip-service has been paid to SD, particularly around the use of fossil fuels.” I don’t agree – I believe that we’re much further down the track than most people know. To me, the past 25 …
I was inspired by ‘Cradle to Cradle’ when it first came out – as a business analyst in the manufacturing game it just made so much sense. Good to see a followup – “The Upcycle” is going on my reading list – after I get through “The Blue Economy”. As an Ontological Practitioner who believes that we create new realities …
One of the early books that hooked me into Regenerative Business was “Cradle to Cradle” by Michael Braungart and Bill McDonough. I loved it – not just for the cool plastic “paper” it was printed on, but for the exciting ideas inside it. I tried to share it with some of my executive coaching clients, but they handed it back …
Joel Makower’s recent blog “Why aren’t there more Ray Andersons?” was an interesting read with great insights into who Ray was from other famous sustainability players. The ongoing conversation from that article is the basis of this post. There was a PROCESS behind Ray Anderson’s “aha” moment on sustainability… I only met Ray through his books, including “Business Lessons of a Radical …
My ideal iPhone wouldn’t be mine… My ideal iPhone would be a product of service. It’s body would belong to Apple and I’d lease its services – as an entertainment and communication platform. My data (music, notes, apps, movies, etc.) would be on a removable memory card in the same way the SIM card is removable. It would be upgrade-able …
It’s great to have a local story to combat “yes – but it’s different here”. A favourite story of ours is that of InterfaceFLOR – a commercial carpet manufacturer making a big difference. So hearing about the case study of Sydney carpet maker Ontera at a workshop last month was great. Ontera has profited significantly from their sustainability strategy, and their five …
“The past belonged to the labor-efficient… but the future is going to belong to the resource-efficient.” – Ray Anderson in “Confessions of a Radical Industrialist“ As global population grows and recognition increases that business and industry operate inside a closed and finite ecosystem, new design criteria for our products and services are emerging. Doing profitable business inside a finite ecosystem …
At least two interesting principles at play here: Regenerative Business Principle #2: There are NO wastes Regenerative Business Principle #7: Think smart, small and local. Gundersen Lutheran Hospital, in La Crosse, Wis., aims to be energy independent by 2014. Hospitals use a ton of energy, so that’s a tough goal to meet. But Gundersen is getting there by piggybacking on …
While efficiency is a critical element of sustainable business, it’s not the be-all and end all. Corporate Social Responsibility can be useful if it’s used as a source of strategy (not treated as a costly obligation). The real end game of sustainability is a big one – to re-invent how we make and deliver our products and services so that they’re …