This is the catch phrase that caught my attention from a seminar by Neil Drobny when he spoke at TechColumbus last week. Neil is about sustainability and teaches it from a business point of view at The Ohio State University. It is not about just profits now, but long term shareholder value. In other words, we have to use our natural resources wisely, for they are finite but can be infinite.
Waste used to be considered the necessary by-product of the manufacturing process. What if there was such an efficient way to produce the "widget" and have no waste? Besides affecting profit, communities would benefit, the economic development in the area would benefit, and a stronger economy would likely occur. Nature has no waste, why can't our processes have no waste also? Strategic planning is the way to go and Neil's classes are successful because these students want to be business owners and start their companies using these more profitable and sustainability models in mind from the beginning.
Neil has found that this business model change of waste to sustainability has to be driven from the CEO. The CEO has to dedicate time over and over again so everyone is on board and know they contribute to making a difference. It cannot be delegated. The CEO has to lead meetings at every level, get everyone behind the concept, and continue to motivate until the negativity is completely gone. This takes time, but the outcome is worth it. See the CEO for Interface Global speak about sustainability, profit, and employees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qrQKA0xMko&feature=endscreen&NR=1
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