LewisPerkins

Reposted fro Fastcompany.com
BY FC EXPERT BLOGGER LEWIS PERKINS
This blog is written by a member of our expert blogging community and expresses that expert’s views alone.

As a consultant, speaker and blogger on corporate social and environmental sustainability, I am often asked about the embedded or hidden costs of “going green.” While many companies are manufacturing products made from plant or corn based polymers, others are quick to point out that the corn industry may use as much – if not more – petroleum in the process of growing, watering, harvesting and shipping the corn as they would if petroleum based plastics were used in the first place. There are other perceived hypocrisies, such as electric cars which run off a coal burning grid or Compact Florescent Light bulbs (CFL) and solar panels which are manufactured without environmental regulations in China or other countries on the other side of the planet.

In response, I am reminded of the Voltaire quote oftentimes used around environmentalism, “don’t make better the enemy of the good.” Is it too easy right now to become gridlocked on decision makes because we are worried about what move is the best? Most companies are undergoing the process of determining the life cycle analysis (LCA) of the products they manufacture and the services they provide – so they can actually attach a unit of energy or water to a specific product or service. If a true LCA is conducted, they will look at the entire life of the product right back to where they sourced the raws materials for production. In this case, you would include all aspects of impact. In doing so, we can reveal the best solutions, such as corn over petroleum, CFL’s from china over incandescent light bulbs running on a coal burning grid – or my personal favorite – should I dry my hands with the hand dryer (using electricity) or the paper towel (using paper from trees and creating waste which could go to landfill)?

My opinion is that we continue to shift to more environmentally friendly business practices and push forward to gather all of the information on environmental footprint. Full disclosure from manufacturers will eventually reveal the best possible answer. In the meantime, my concern is that if we do not begin to change our behaviors and reduce our impact with what we can do, we will be “throwing the baby out with the bath water.” Progress and innovation comes from moving forward. Sometimes those decisions are not the best ultimate answers, but they move us forward. Without moving into action, we having nothing to learn from. Even our mistakes are part of the process. As long as we push companies to continue mapping their footprint – including the entire supply chain – we will ultimately move the needle forward much faster than if we sit still out of fear of making the wrong decision. What do you think?

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

Take this quick and easy survey to help us find out what we are all thinking about… SIMPLY HIT “JOIN THE CONVERSATION” BELOW TO SIGN UP AND TAKE THE GULF COAST SURVEY!

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

“In order to move the needle for humanity we need to do things together”

Sustainability Strategist Lewis Perkins discusses his most important post-recession trend: Partnerships for sustainability.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

On Friday, March 26, Laura Seydel and I will be speaking at the Georgia PRSA Chapter on the role of corporations in advancing environmental missions via communication & messaging. Below is a list of favorite books Laura and I will discuss at the end of the talk. There are SO MANY books to include – but here are a top list for those who want to improve their Spring reading list and educate themselves. These are in no particular order.

1. Organic Manifesto – Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc., sheds new light on the state of 21st-century farming.

2. The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick – And What We Can Do About It – Robyn O’Brien – the story of how one brave woman chose to take on the system and a call to action that shows how each of us can do our part and keep our own families safe.

3. Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home ~ Christopher Gavigan – the essential guide for parents! All parents want a happy and healthy child in a safe home, but where do they start? It starts with the small steps to creating a healthier, less toxic, and more environmentally sound home – and this is the definitive book to get you there.

4. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America ~ Thomas L. Friedman - Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America’s surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests.

5. Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization ~ Lester R. Brown - explores both the nature of this transition to a new energy economy and how it will affect our daily lives.

6. Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the Worlds Problems ~ Michael Strong, John Mackey – In BE THE SOLUTION, Michael Strong (with an assist from John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market) makes a case for common-sense, do-it-yourself, entrepreneurial capitalism in a way you’ve never seen before. His discussion of free enterprise as a way of doing good in the world is as far removed from today’s headlines, featuring greed-is-good corporate capitalism, as the America of today is from the ideals laid down by our founding fathers.

7. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto ~ Michael Pollan -Pollan provides another shocking yet essential treatise on the industrialized Western diet and its detrimental effects on our bodies and culture. Here he lays siege to the food industry and scientists’ attempts to reduce food and the cultural practices of eating into bite-size concepts known as nutrients, and contemplates the follies of doing so.

8. Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered (Hardcover)
~ Woody Tasch – Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money presents the path for bringing money back down to earth—philosophically, strategically and pragmatically, and with an entrepreneurial spirit that is informed by decades of work by the thousands of CEOs, investors, grant-makers, food producers and consumers who are seeding the restorative economy.

9. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit – Daniel Quinn – Winner of the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship, a literary competition intended to foster works of fiction that present positive solutions to global problems. Ishmael, a gorilla rescued from a traveling show who has learned to reason and communicate, uses these skills to educate himself in human history and culture. Through a series of philosophical conversations with the unnamed narrator, a disillusioned Sixties idealist, Ishmael lays out a theory of what has gone wrong with human civilization and how to correct it, a theory based on the tenet that humanity belongs to the planet rather than vice versa.

10. Our friends, The Frogs – Laura Elizabeth Seydel – In this colorful book, Laura Elizabeth Seydel introduces her readers to an array of interesting frogs in her quest to educate and save her slimy friends from extinction. Full of beautiful photography, expert knowledge, and optimism for the future of frogs, this is the perfect book for kids wanting to make a positive impact on the planet! All proceeds will be donated to Amphibian Ark (www.amphibianark.org), a global conservation community that is working endlessly to save our frog population.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

PODCAST ON GREEN TECH: PODCAST on Green Tech with Paula Collins

For more information on Our Green Value or to contact Paula Collins, click here.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

PODCAST ON CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM: Sustainability Is One Tenet of Conscious Capitalism

For more information on Our Green Value or to contact Paula Collins, click here.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

Many have asked me to share where I like to get my information. While I subscribe to many RSS feeds and podcasts, much of my information comes from trusted friends, such as my co-author, Laura Seydel in our upcoming Green Heroes Book and Multi-media project (Stay tuned for more information on this exciting project).

But when I am not tapping into the brilliance of my fellow eco-warriors, I enjoy checking for the latest “green” news and info on the following sites:

Treehugger.com – Partial to a modern aesthetic, it shares sustainable design, green news and solutions.

HuffPostGreen – Green News and Opinion on The Huffington Post.

MNN.com – MNN is the leading resource for daily environmental news, green commentary and simple steps to save money, stay healthy, and support the environment.

ecofabulous.com – The authority on stylish, sustainable living – your inside source for all things both eco and fabulous!

EWG.org – EWG is a nonprofit environmental research organization based in Washington, DC and a leading content provider for public interest groups and concerned with public health and the environment.

gengreenlife.com – Find everything you need to live a sustainable life: Local green business directory offering products and services; Events and classes where like-minded people.

grist.org – Environmental news and green living tips from Grist, the most recognizable voice in environmental journalism.

Healthy Child Healthy World – Igniting a movement that inspires parents to protect young children from harmful chemicals.

Check out the sites and let me know what you find. It is sure to be good information whatever it is.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

Join PRSA|GA and renowned environmentalist, Laura Turner Seydel, for an inside look at the evolving environmental movement and the role of communicators in today’s “new sustainable world,” where corporations and non-profits not only co-exist, but collaborate.

Traveling the world for the last 20 years to learn about and communicate the importance of sustainability, Seydel has long believed that a truly sustainable future would only be possible through a collective effort of corporations and community advocacy groups.

Today, she says that collective sustainability effort is not only a reality but also an important marketing tool for both corporations and non-profits.

Focusing on the importance of effective communications in this growing collaboration between business and non-profits, Seydel shares real-life anecdotes from her work as a leader with three Atlanta environmental community organizations – Captain Planet Foundation, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and Mothers and Others for Clean Air, as well as her national efforts

Kicking it up a notch, she’ll be joined by leading sustainability strategist, Lewis Perkins, for a lively discussion of:
why corporations are collaborating with non-profits in their sustainability initiatives;
why environmental stewardship has moved to the forefront of many corporations’ marketing strategies, and even become part of overall brand identity, in some cases.
how communications creates an educated public , which influences decisions of corporations on sustainability issues.
their upcoming book, Green Heroes
Perkins and Seydel will discuss the concept of partnership for larger social impact using examples from the work they have both done with Captain Planet Foundation, Global Green USA, US Green Building Council, Upper Chattahocchee Nature Center, and more.

Speaker(s)/Panelists:
Laura Turner Seydel is Chairman of the Captain Planet Foundation, co-founder of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and Mothers and Others for Clean Air. She serves as: Chairman of Zero Waste Zone; Vice Chair of the League of the Conservation Voters Education Fund; Executive Committee Member of Defenders of Wildlife; Trustee to the Turner Foundation and Jane Smith Turner Foundation; and Advisory Board Member of Environmental Working Group, Georgia Conservancy, Earth Share of Georgia, Ron Clark Academy and Water Keeper Alliance.

A long time advocate for ‘doing the right thing’, Lewis Perkins is a champion for sustainability – personally and professionally. Perkins works with companies both big and small creating programs and awareness for environmental and social initiatives. Over the past several years, Perkins has led the ‘green’ charge as director of sustainable strategies for The Mohawk Group, a leading carpet manufacturer and commercial division of Mohawk Industries. Prior to his current consulting projects, he served with The Clean Air Campaign. Perkins holds a Master of Business Administration in marketing and strategy with a focus on social responsibility from Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington & Lee University. In 2009, Perkins was honored as one of three speakers in Forbes Magazine Green Visionary Series.

You can follow his corporate sustainability insight on his Fastcompany.com blog “Semantics of Sustainability”.

Day and Date:
Friday, March 26, 2010

Location:
Maggiano’s Restaurant – Buckhead location
3368 Peachtree Rd NE,
Atlanta, GA, 30326-1008
404-816-9650

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

In today’s business community, many new conversations are emerging, sounding much more like the type of dialogue you would expect from ministers, rabbis and other people of faith than your typical corporate leader. Words such as authenticity, transparency and truth are infusing corporate speak, but perhaps more significantly their mission statements. Corporate culture is evolving – for the better.

As corporations analyze and strategize their ability to remain profitable for the future, they are having the types of conversations within their organizations that previously belonged to a smaller sector seemingly dominated by health and wellness companies such as the organic food or outdoors equipment or clothing industries. It would not surprise us to learn that conversations about consciousness are taking place within companies who have social consciousness in their DNA, such as Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s or Tom’s of Maine, but would we expect to hear from within the Fortune 500’s? Perhaps we should.

The Call for Conscious Capitalism

Since the executives of Enron were exposed in 2001 for accounting fraud to the more recent Wall Street scandals, such as Madoff Investment Securities, citizens around the world view corporate leadership in the U.S. with a significant level of distrust. All you have to do is visit the Gallup Web site for statistical proof that disapproval of our nation is at an all time high.

Couple this with the shenanigans of the “Big 3” automobile executives and Wall Street’s infamous golden parachutes, and we have a country clearly in great need of a strong dose of good old fashioned ethics.  The thing is, the top business schools have been teaching ethics for well over a decade now and Corporate Social Responsibility has been in the lexicon of companies for even longer. If we have all been talking about it, and in many cases doing it, what’s the problem? Could it be that corporate responsibility is simply an afterthought of major corporations or used as a way to mitigate risk with key stakeholders who could prevent us from doing business in the most profitable way? Clearly, the old way of doing business has not been serving the greater good. And maybe the old way of corporate social responsibility was not serving us well either.

Here enters a new movement called Conscious Capitalism. In short, this new model promotes that businesses can and will exist in the world not only to create products and services that benefit humanity, but in the process of doing so, they can be a part of the solution for the current social and environmental issues that exist in our world today. In the old business model, corporations existed to increase profits and thereby increase shareholder wealth.  In the new model, corporations exist to provide wealth and a better way of living to all stakeholders – customers, employees, vendors, all partners and shareholders alike.  It’s no longer “Company PLUS cause,” it is “Company IS cause.”

Champions of Conscious Capitalism

These ideas are not new and there are many leaders writing and speaking about conscious capitalism.  Even some of our old corporate legends are stepping up to support the new stakeholder centric business model.  Earlier this year, former GE Chairman and CEO,    Jack Welch, publicly stated that running a corporation merely for the purpose to increase shareholder wealth was a “dumb idea.”  He said, “The idea that shareholder value is a strategy is insane. It is the product of your combined efforts – from the management to the employees.”  Welch also says that “our main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.”

Other companies who are leading this conversation are Whole Foods Markets.                   Co-Founder John Mackey writes the forward in author Michael Strong’s book Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the Worlds Problems. And Mackey himself has an audio CD called “Passion and Purpose: The Power of Conscious Capitalism.”  Both of these works outlines conscious capitalism and led to the creation of an organization called HYPERLINK “http://www.flowidealism.com” Flow Idealism. Mackey and his group believe that you can create a business model which helps to grow your industry in a socially responsibility manner.

In the case of Whole Foods Markets, consider all of the organic food producers and makers of organic textiles, cosmetics and home products (7th Generation included) that have had a venue for shelf space. This kind of conscious capitalism has led most grocery stores chains in this country to add an organic food aisle to their stores. It has also driven companies such as WalMart to call out their vendors and create mandates on consumer packaging that could prevent a company from even working with the world’s largest retailer if they did not meet the reduced consumer packaging material guidelines placed forth.  Other examples include Clorox, which launched its Greenworks natural cleaning products line in late 2007 and purchased Burt’s Bee in 2008; Häagen-Dazs has led a large campaign to save the honey bees, whose product is not only a critical component of several of Häagen-Dazs’ ice creams, but also a major contributor to the health of our agricultural industry.  These companies understand that solving issues of the environment and society means that we will all be around longer to benefit from their corporate offerings – be that a product or a service.

I was recently introduced to the co-founder of an organization called  B-Corp (http://www.bcorporation.net), Jay Coen Gilbert. From Gilbert I learned that B-Corp is built on the idea to create a new category for companies. In addition to the traditional types of incorporations (such as S-Corps, C-Corps and LLC’s), a company can chose to organize as a B-Corp, which operated to create benefit for the environmental and society as a result of its creation or existence.  As it states on its website, the “B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.”  B Corporations are unlike traditional responsible businesses because they:

Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards.

Institutionalize stakeholder interests.

Build collective voice through the power of a unifying brand.

Another prime example is Mohawk Industries and its vast recycling initiatives. The largest floorcovering manufacturer in the world, Mohawk has committed to recycling more waste than it products. Each year, it diverts more than 3 billion lbs. from landfills, and recycles its own products, its competitors’ carpets and purchases other waste including home demolition waste to used soda bottles. In fact, it saves 3 billion lbs. of soda and water bottles from landfills annually, and uses these PET bottles to produce millions of pounds of recycled carpet, which is then used to manufacture its floorcovering products. The company recognizes the significant environmental footprint of the products it produces, but its efforts are dedicated to minimizing that impact as much as possible while also helping the communities in which it works and lives.

The Future of Corporate Capitalism

So where do we go from here? Can we really expect to witness such a significant transition of the corporate mindset at the heart of our major corporations?  Can and will this shift to a shareholder centric business model take place? I believe it already has. Just watch: corporate transformation is rapidly occurring to meet the demands of a shifting society.

###

A long-time advocate for “doing the right thing,” Lewis Perkins is a champion for                   sustainability – personally and professionally. A sustainable strategies consultant to corporations and businesses, including The Mohawk Group, a leading commercial carpet manufacturer, Perkins draws on this passion to help advance companies’ missions of environmental and social responsibility. He has recently spoken on the issues as part of       Forbes’ Business Visionaries Series, the Sustainable Brands conference and the Lifestyles of Health and the Sustainability (LOHAS) forum. To learn more about Perkins, visit  http://www.lewisperkins.com” www.lewisperkins.com and follow his insight on environmentalism and corporate citizenship on his blog, “http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/lewis-perkins/semantics-sustainability-0″Semantics of Sustainability, on FastCompany.com.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post