Sustainability In Business
What is Sustainability: human sustainability has become increasingly associated with the integration of economic, social and environmental spheres to “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Wikipedia)
What is a definition of Sustainability as it is related to business: Business sustainability is the increase in productivity and/or reduction of consumed resources without compromising product or service quality, competitiveness or profitability. (bschool.washington.edu/cie/PDF/Business_Sustainabiliy.ppt)
In businesses that are sustainable, one business will manufacture something from the waste of another business. The man who fixes our vehicles burns used oil to heat his shop in winter. One of the by-products of growing wheat or oats is straw. Farmers use it for bedding their cattle, we use it for mulch on our gardens. Manure that is produced is used for fertilizer, or in someplaces now, the methane captured, off the manure, is being used to make electricity.
Recycling, reducing your carbon footprint, building green and car sharing are all sustainable practices.
Sustainability requires that human activity only uses nature’s resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally. (Wikipedia)
Here in this article are examples of what some people are doing (from: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.feature/id/1621 )
“Here’s how it works in Hardwick, Vermont:
Brothers Andy and Mateo Kehler make prize-winning organic cheeses at nearby Jasper Hill Farm. Their whey byproduct is a key ingredient in a new, nontoxic wood finish manufactured by Vermont Natural Coatings, a company owned by their friend, Andrew Meyers. Vermont Soy, co-located with the wood-finish company, makes drinks and tofu from soybeans developed by High Mowing organic seed company owned by a neighbor, Tom Stearns.
Pete Johnson of Pete’s Greens also plants those seeds in his company’s greenhouses, and he uses High Mowing’s byproducts – squash and pumpkins from which the seeds have been extracted – to manufacture soup. Meanwhile, Claire’s, a popular community-owned restaurant, features Jasper Hill cheese, but also sources much of its salad greens, soup, and other foods from Pete’s Greens and neighboring farms. Several other complementary businesses add to the ferment, including, naturally enough, a composting facility.”
Maybe you could start a business using what is left over from another business – like making items from plastic yarn (made from used plastic grocery bags). Many restaurants will buy local produce or locally picked wild fruit. In this manner people support one another, one grows crops, another cooks them, both are businesses supporting people and families. A friend of mine bought goat milk from a farmer to make soap, and she bought lard to add to the soap. So one produced a product, and another made a product from the first product. This concept is really prevalent in the cottage industries.
Sustainability is helping our world sustain itself, by not using the natural resources faster than they can be created. Buy paper made from recycled paper products, landscape items made from recycled tires, use newspapers for mulch in your gardens.