Is corporate sustainability

possible?

Ed Groark, Chairman

Do you remember this moment?

Life was simpler in 1968

Carbon dioxide in the air was at 324 ppm.

Today it is over 400 ppm.(We are advised to keep it below 350 ppm)

Overall, civilization was living in balance with the capacity of the earth to support it.

Now there are more of us

• Earth’s population DOUBLED since 1968!

Each of our ‘footprints’ was smaller

• Average house size has doubled since 1968.oRemember 1 car, 1 phone, 1

bathroom?oOnly TV per American family?

• Air-conditioning? Maybe a window unit.

• Only 20% of Americans had ever been on an airplane.

Less than 50 years later

• The Earth’s capacity to support all of us has been exceeded by 50%!o We now need 1.5 Earth’s to support us

• However, we need 6 to 8 Earth’s to support the average American lifestyle for everyone.

• The rest of the world longs to be ‘just like us’!

How did we get here?We have all stood by as corporations EVOLVED

to scour the planet to satisfy our consumer desires.

It’s happened so quickly

Industry of our grand-parents did not have the technology to create such

waste.

Where is this going?Is it possible for corporations to EVOLVE again

to support our grandchildren's society sustainably?

Corporate sustainability

“To take from the earth ONLY that which can be

replaced naturally by the earth”

-Ray Anderson, Interface, Inc.

Ray AndersonFounder and CEO of Interface, Inc. in GeorgiaConverted his carpet making factory into a

clean, sustainable operation.Forbes Magazine, Entrepreneur of the Year,

1996TIME Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment,

2007Served on Worldwatch Institute Board of

Directors

Ray’s version of true sustainability?

Corporations should take responsibilityfor all resources used

for their entire product life cycle

o To create all their raw materialso During the manufacturing processo Manufacturing waste, by-products generatedo Packaging, transportation for entire supply

chaino Post consumer waste / re-cycling

Interface sustainable practices

1. Recycling material NOT Extraction2. Renewable Energy NOT Fossil Fuel

3. Waste free production NOT Wasteful4. Cyclic systems NOT Linear systems5. Resource NOT Labor

Productivity Productivity

Linear System

RAW MATERIAL

SFACTORY

WASTE

HOME

WASTE

ELECTRICWATER

Cyclic system

RECYCLE

RAW MATERIAL

SFACTORY

WASTE

HOME

WASTE

ELECTRICWATER

Resource Productivity NOT Labor Productivity

Efficiency is NOT how few PEOPLE are required to make the product

Efficiency is how few RESOURCES are required

How is sustainability possible?

The drive for corporate growth and profitability

will not go away

Infinite growth not possibleThe Earth is a small planet

All corporations cannot all grow forever

Two visions of the future

Business will be forced to evolve

Business will respond to new market forces:• Pay for use of the commons• Market adjust to scarcity• Consumers will be more educated

Force 1: Pay for use of the commons

• Taxes on carbon o Tax those who release carbon into the airo Reward those who sequester carbon

• Taxes on water, wetlands, forests, etc.o Tax those who use them for commercial purposeso Reward those who reclaim / restore them

Force 2: Adapt to scarcityScarcity stimulates conservation

As prices go up, business seeks substitutesSustainable substitutes become ‘affordable’

Cheaper to recycle / re-furbish used products

Force 3: Smarter consumers

Advocacy groups force better labeling Consumer groups educate consumers to read

labelsConsumers change their buying patterns

These forces will disrupt ‘business as usual’…

Established companies always react slowly

Innovators adapt more quickly

…creating winners and losers

Businesses slow to change become non-competitive

Innovators have the advantage for survivalSurvivors will grow as their competition

shrinks or dies

Sustainability Profitability

Companies with sustainable practices will prospero Increased energy efficiencyo Less waste in production material o Re-purchase / re-condition of used

products

COST PROFIT

New industries will emerge

• Transformation to renewable energy systems

• Overhaul urban transportation systems• Movement to greener industrial food

production• Reclaiming wetlands, forests, fisheries• Mining landfills and recycling contents

Summary• Business always adapts to new forces placed

on them in the marketplace.

• We must apply new forces in the marketplace…

• …to give corporations with sustainable practices a competitive advantage.

• …then corporations, in their own self-interest, and in a free market, will evolve to sustainability.

Long term goal for society

“More happiness

with less stuff, all made

sustainably”

-Ray Anderson, Interface, Inc.