LewisPerkins

Over the past several weeks, I hit the last round of conferences and expos focused on sustainability. My experience was one of joy as I witnessed my colleagues working to improve process, efficiency, costs and environmental impact. Human drive and ingenuity are hard at work, and this was clearly evidenced by the men and women I encountered this month. A year ago, these conferences felt like a collection of people who were interested in play and owning the “green” game. Today, if feels like a smaller and more focused set of business leaders who plan to be around in 5, 10 or 20 years. It’s less about competitive advantage and more about survival. Not only the survival of our individual businesses, but a great understanding of the survival of capitalism and the ability for mankind to integrate growth and abundance into the laws of nature.

My first stop was Opportunity Green on the UCLA campus in early November. I had been asked to lead a panel on “Trends in Green” with some very impressive friends: Adam Lowry, founder of Method Cleaning Products, Fashion Macon, senior manager of partnerships and promotions for T-Mobile USA and Jason Kibbey, founder of Wear PACT. Each of these panel members had much to contribute to the topic of green trends, but the overall takeaway was that we have moved into a more solid position of sustainable operations and away from one-off marketing gimmicks. Trends in green product design are following closely with the LOHAS descriptor of “in me, on me, or around me” which speaks to the overall health and sustainability of a product, as opposed to simply the environmental practices in creating it. Each of these leaders discussed their plans to move toward more intelligent and sustainable design. I look forward to sharing more from these individuals in future blog entries.

My next trip took me to one of the most exciting gatherings of the year, the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. I was there with Mohawk Industries, a company who is in the middle of its own renaissance for improved operations and long-term sustainability. (You can read more about the direction of the company from the President of the Commercial Division, Al Kabus, in this recent article in IndustryWeek.

With over 27,000 people in attendance, the Green Building movement is shifting from a standard to the way of building. I was most impressed with the time I spent with my friend Jayni Chase who has been dedicated to the greening of our schools for many years. Jayni, a founder of the Center for Environmental Education, has partnered with brilliant leaders in the space such as Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials and Rachel Gutter, senior manager of the education sector for the USGBC. If there was any big takeaway from Greenbuild for me, it was about partnerships and that leadership occurs in it.

Finally, I spent a few days in Chicago at the 3rd Annual Good and Green Conference. Numbers were smaller this year, but dedication was at a high. Those who were present felt like a strong core of task masters ready to understand the next move for green marketing. From groups such as The Shelton Group, Gfk Roper and Earthsense, the audience learned about the current marketing trends in green. The major takeaways were: Make it Practical, Affordable and Doable. The best way to get your customers, vendors and all other partners to embrace change in retooling and designing their current operations, homes, businesses is to provide solutions that make sense. While people want to care about doing the right thing, it must match up with the ability to make sense for their needs.

So, overall, we can expect to see our “green” leaders become more clear, visible and focused. Many companies will stay behind in the dark while these beacons of change lead the rest of us who are willing and able to view business in an entirely new manner.

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In my last blog entry, I wrote about the 2009 Newsweek Green Corporate Rankings. Soon after this issue was published, I had the good fortune of spending some time with HP’s Director of Environmental Sustainability, Bonnie Nixon, on a recent trip to Northern California. After seeing HP on the “Newsweek” list at number one, I was very interested to learn about the woman behind its corporate shift. What was confirmed to me is that behind every major corporate transformation story, is a truly heroic man or woman. While I am sure HP has a team of hundreds who have contributed strongly to this position as number one on the “Newsweek” list, I was certain after spending more time with Nixon that she was an integral part of it. According to “Newsweek,” HP leads the pack because of its “strong programs to reduce GHG emissions. The first major IT company to report GHG emissions associated with its supply chain.” As more companies review the impact of GHG across their entire supply chains and learn how to make significant reductions, we can expect companies such as HP to serve as a road map to how to best transition their processes to lower emissions.

What makes Nixon’s story so interesting is that not only was she responsible for HP’s transformation, but she has had an enormously positive influence on many other industry sectors as an active participant in multiple cross-sector consortiums. When she was given the reigns at HP for supply chain social and environmental sustainability, she deeply analyzed the practices of companies such as Nike, Levi Strauss, Gap, Disney, McDonalds, Tylenol, Nestles and Exxon. She was able to define their sustainability stories and also acquire a deeper understanding of what was required of companies who had to manage stakeholders’ expectations during difficult times. To avoid HP falling down the same path, Nixon leaned on her previous professional experiences to guide her through her current challenges. While HP was not in a crisis mode, Nixon had the foresight to see that HP could face a crisis regarding the GHG impact, toxic materials in products or global manufacturing practices if it did not prepare to address these issues. Bonnie’s experiences in environmental work run deeper than her time with major corporations.

During our meeting Bonnie shared that during her collegiate years in Pennsylvania she experienced the 3 Mile Island event of 1979. This incident marked her significantly and she spent the next 20 years of her career fighting social and environmental injustices – first for the Boston Harbor Clean Up and then by creating her own environmental mediation, planning and communication firm in California. Along with her partner, she was instrumental in tackling major issues in transportation, utilities, hazardous waste and the protection of California’s water systems. She was recently asked to represent the Institute of Business and Human Rights as their lead for Global Water Justice. This experience with large public sector environmental projects allowed her to better understand the impact of all forms of energy – hydro, natural gas, oil, nuclear and transportation – knowledge that would later help her drive HP’s macro understanding of its GHG emissions impact. “Fast Company” has always been my favorite business magazine as it highlights innovations in corporate design, leadership and practice. I can’t imagine a better innovation than bringing a person with Bonnie’s experiences to the table to help mediate and develop policy for vendor relations which address both social and environmental issues globally. Her work style and dedication have led to her trusted relationships with NGOs, vendors, customers and other stakeholders who could have blocked HP’s leadership in environmental and social justice. Early on she understood that an adversarial approach to problem solving just simply did not work. Bonnie’s work has directly led to a standard code of conduct and implementation measures – developed during her time at HP – for the entire electronics industry. Companies, such as Apple, IBM, Dell, Xerox, Sony and Phillips now all use this set of guiding principals and assurance system. She understands that her role is bigger than just HP or even her industry. Her dedication is helping to change the way business is conducted on our planet and will have a long-lasting effect on global impact.

Bonnie also understands that if she ran her division with a shareholder-centric model alone, the company would not have made many of the decisions which ultimately led to its current leadership style. It was only through her understanding of all stakeholders in the vendor and supply chain relationships that HP was able to advance better conditions for both the environment and the individuals making the majority of electronic products we Americans use in our homes and businesses. So what was the HP GHG emission reduction? Over 40 percent. For this reason, it is no surprise to learn that HP leads the Green Corporate List in 2009 and will most likely maintain that position when benchmarked against other Fortune 500 companies. With all that has occurred in our country over the last 12 months, it is easy for many to find fault with big businesses role in economic, social and environmental issues. For that reason, it is always reassuring to find a company like HP who has made conscious capitalism a part of their mission and found a leader like Bonnie Nixon to drive change. Reprinted from Fastcompany.com “Semantics of Sustainability.”

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Opportunity Green in Los Angeles, Nov 7 -8 at UCLA.

http://www.opportunitygreen.com/

Perkins leads panel with Sharon Greene (RISC International), Adam Lowry (Method) and Tashion Macon, T-Mobile.

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