Energy
Sustaining momentum
Get the rundown on sustainability before your resources run out.
By Jessica Tremayne
Smart Business Los Angeles | February 2009
Page 1 of 3
Chris Veronda
manager of corporate communications, Eastman Kodak Co.
Sustainability isn’t about saving the planet. It’s about saving your business.
Conducting business in a sustainable
manner means you can spend less and
increase revenue.
While sustainability does help the planet,
the incentive of reducing your business
costs by half is a strong reason to pay attention. The buzz is that traditional energy and
other resources will be in tight supply in
the future, resulting in volatile prices. By
investing in sustainable efforts now, you
can help ensure your business’s long-term
success.
“Revenue and cost are affected by sustainability,” says Steve Glenn, a board member
of the Sustainable Business Council, Los
Angeles, and CEO, Living Homes LLC, a sustainable home developer. “Customers are
making purchasing decisions based on the
way products are made and used.
Sustainability practices will continue to
increase as the demand for it grows.”
Americans compose 5 percent of the
world’s population, yet contribute almost
25 percent of the greenhouse gas pollution,
which scientists believe causes global
warming. If everyone used and wasted
energy and other resources this way, we’d
need four planet earths to keep up with the
demand. Consumers are finally taking
notice of this egregious waste and are looking to buy from sustainable businesses,
while more and more businesses are looking to obtain products from other businesses using sustainable practices. This is a
time when your business can not only
streamline production but also increase
revenue by drawing in new customers.
“Barack Obama was so specific about
forming an energy plan, we’ll be seeing
things change soon,” says T. Boone
Pickens, founder and chairman of BP
Capital Management. “This means businesses have to get going on where they’ll
be standing when this comes in to play.”
Eighty-nine percent of readers polled by
Smart Business say being green is an
important part of their corporate philosophy, yet 70 percent report that they’re willing to invest nothing or less than $5,000 in
greener practices. Experts say spending
money on green initiatives isn’t paying for
an image; it’s a direct investment in a more
economic way of running your business.
