The Inspired Protagonist

A New Design Imperative

Inspired Protagonist — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Recently I had the pleasure of exchanging ideas with a great group of people at an event hosted by Smart Design. As a design firm, SMART Design has helped clients see the value of developing responsible products, while drawing on a deep understanding of consumer behaviors and a simple, intuitive approach. At their Smart Salon, I focused on how transparency, authenticity and sustainability are driving a new design imperative in this age of responsibility.

Attendee and Glimmer author Warren Berger wrote a blog post that summed up the thoughts expressed during the evening. If you are interested in how design and corporate responsibility can work together to guide successful business, it's worth a read.

Bridging The Sustainability Literacy Gap

Inspired Protagonist — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:05:20 -0400

Authentic corporate sustainability is about a lot more than simply "going green," but how many employees at the typical company really understand this point? The short answer is not many. In fact, whenever the Sustainability Institute poses the question to organizations that have made a commitment to do better, most say only 10% or less of their staffs understand the systems. And these are companies that are trying to implement the concepts that are at the heart of sustainability, along with their strategic and operational importance.

These low levels of "sustainability literacy" can hurt a business. Given the consumer expectations, investor requirements, and regulatory demands now changing the marketplace, they're a hidden weakness that will render companies less competitive and less profitable.

The good news is that the business community has begun to acknowledge the risks and potential lost opportunities associated with today's sustainability literacy gap. In a 2008 Economist Intelligence Unit study, "Doing Good: Business and the Sustainability Challenge," a majority of the 1,200 executives surveyed worldwide identified a "broad lack of understanding of what sustainability means to their organization" as a major barrier to executing a sustainability strategy. A 2010 study of CEO views on sustainability sponsored by the UN Global Compact and Accenture found that 86% of CEOs interviewed believe that "companies should invest in enhanced training of managers to integrate sustainability into strategy and operations."

The real question, then, is not whether sustainability training is needed but how companies can best accomplish it. That work involves five basic steps:

Raise Awareness. Companies must create and maintain a general sustainability awareness through targeted communications, meaningful volunteer opportunities, lunch-and-learn events, and other programs. A workforce regularly reminded about sustainability's importance will be more receptive to formally articulated sustainability goals.
Communicate Vision. Senior management needs to set the tone with consistent, clear support for sustainability programs. Frequent communication that aligns programs with core business objectives will help employees make the connection between their area of expertise and the organization's sustainability strategy.
Build Literacy. Once awareness is heightened, literacy training can begin. This training should emphasize the interconnected systemic nature of authentic sustainability and its triple bottom line (environmental, social, and ethical) while encouraging a deeper, more thoughtful engagement with all issues from the macro to the micro.
Incentivize Employees. To boost sustainability performance, companies should complement training with an incentive and recognition system for sustainable thinking and practice. The motivation it provides will accelerate the adoption and innovation of sustainable practices.
Develop Networks. Networking should be promoted as a way to reap the full benefits of a sustainability commitment. The facilitation of quick and efficient knowledge dissemination will create an engaged staff that's willing to learn and interested in collaboration.

As these steps unfold, employees will move from vague, fragmentary notions of sustainability to a far more holistic understanding. This "big picture" thinking will widen their perspectives and engender appreciation for the way even the smallest decisions ripple out into the world to create much bigger impacts and greater contributions to the bottom line.

You can learnmore about sustainability literacy and how to build an effective training program at the Kaplan EduNeering/Seventh Generation Sustainability Institute, which offers an online library of how-to courses and other resources.

Keeping a Green Home Requires Legislative Reform

Inspired Protagonist — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:43:38 -0400

Do you know how many substances in your household products are potentially dangerous? Well, neither does the U.S. government. As I've mentioned before, a piece of legislation called the "Safe Chemicals Act of 2010" introduced in April aims to change this and bring regulations governing chemicals into the 21st century.

Currently, chemical safety is regulated by the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. Designed to grant the EPA the power to control toxic substances, this 34-year-old law has not produced the information needed to identify hazardous chemicals and asks regulators to meet an absurdly high burden of proof before taking positive action against a given substance. In this scenario, new chemicals on the market are considered safe unless regulators can prove otherwise. As a society, we are paying an incredible cost for not vetting new chemicals before including them in all manner of products from cosmetics to household cleaners, to plastic containers and baby toys.

Take for example, the results of a recent study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). They tested the umbilical cords of ten babies -- and found almost 300 chemicals in the blood of these pure, innocent newborns. Do these chemicals cause any harm? The fact is: no one knows for sure. But the current legislative scheme requires EPA to prove that there is harm before these chemicals can be regulated. Protection of the public devolves into an argument about the sufficiency of scientific evidence.

Currently there are only guidelines for how industry must use the signal words "Caution," "Poison," or "Danger" on consumer product labels. Companies are left to interpret the guidelines, and it is not in the interest of the companies to put such scary words on labels. So the communication of potential risks suffers under the conflict of interests.

The Safe Chemicals Act, on the other hand, takes the position of "The Precautionary Principle," which says that industry must have sufficient evidence to prove a chemical is safe for the intended uses. The new legislation would empower the EPA to demand complete safety data, set safer exposure thresholds, place the burden of proof of chemical safety on manufacturers prior to introduction, take immediate action to reduce risks created by those substances already proven harmful, and encourage the development of green chemistry alternatives.

At Seventh Generation, we don't buy the "regulation stifles innovation" argument put forth by so many manufacturers, unless of course they mean stifling the development of more toxic chemicals.

Current chemical control laws typically create incentives for innovation by substituting "safer" alternatives for chemicals known to be hazardous. The law of unintended consequences ensures that many of these attempts result in the substitution of "unknown" chemicals for chemicals with known hazards. Often, the substitutes are chemical cousins of the bad actors, likely to have similar hazards -- but not yet enough science to "prove" the danger.

Seventh Generation is behind The Safe Chemicals act 100%, believing it to be a huge positive step forward for industry and consumers alike. I believe that elevating the safety of our customers and planet to the highest level has only made our company more competitive, not less.

I also believe that this legislation is what's best for our economy. Most of the industries fighting this bill have not been job creators. However, when you look at the statistical growth of the sustainable segment, you see a sector that has grown very significantly and which has proven itself resilient in a downturn. If our system continues to count illnesses like cancer or disasters like the Gulf oil spill as creating positive growth of the GNP, it will leave the United States increasingly uncompetitive.

I encourage everyone to take action on this legislation and let their voices be heard. For the good of families, the economy, and the planet, please write your representative; contact NGOs and let them know this an important issue for you; and finally vote with your dollars. Write CEOs of companies fighting the reform and let them know that you'll be boycotting their products because of their stance on the issue.

You can find out more about toxic chemical legislation at Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.

The Global Implications of Our Ethical Decisions

Inspired Protagonist — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Thomas Friedman wrote several weeks ago about our interconnected yet uncertain future.

"In a world where our demand for Chinese-made sneakers produces pollution that melts South America's glaciers, in a world where Greek tax-evasion can weaken the euro, threaten the stability of Spanish banks, and tank the Dow, our values and ethical systems eventually have to be harmonized as much as our markets. To put it differently, as it becomes harder to shield yourself from the other guy's irresponsibility, both he and you had better become more responsible."

Friedman cites Dov Seidman, the C.E.O. of LRN and author of the new book the "Era of Behavior." Friedman notes,

"More and more of us are behaving by, what Seidman calls, 'situational values': I do whatever the situation allows. Think Goldman Sachs or BP. The opposite of situational values, argues Seidman, are 'sustainable values': values that inspire in us behaviors that literally sustain our relationships with one another, with our communities, with our institutions, and with our forests, oceans and climate. Of course, to counter this epidemic of situational thinking, we need more and better regulations, but we also need more people behaving better. Regulations only tell you what you can or can't do in certain situations. Sustainable values inspire you to do what you should do in every situation."

Friedman's got it in a nutshell, and I couldn't agree more. We need now more than ever before to make sure that every action we each take and every deliberation we engage in is done so with its potential impact on the next seventh generations first and foremost in our minds.

The Seventh Generation

Inspired Protagonist — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:23:00 -0400

We live in an endlessly interconnected world but every day all too many of us don't consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations yet alone the next six, five, four, three, two, or even one. Historians will write about ours as the generation of great unconsciousness. How despite all the warning signs and red flags waving violently in front of our eyes, we failed to see the writing on the wall.

Remaining hopeful in the face of our willful inaction is a daily challenge. Hope lives in the certainty that there is always the possibility that we might still be able to stop the huge momentum that is propelling us ever faster toward our plunge over the cliff. Hope lives in knowing we can if we choose to.

In the midst of the recent violent turmoil in Greece, Tom Friedman observed a piece of graffiti left by a 10-year-old child, who wrote on wall, "In what kind of a world will I grow up?"

We are responsible for the answer to that question and for whether or not she'll want to bring children of her own into the world she inherits from us.

Later this week, I'll deliver another speech. I was asked to be hopeful. I promise to try. I'll focus almost entirely on a one issue.

We must move from "Siloed Interests" to a "Shared Purpose." What I mean by that is that we can no longer afford to advocate for "our" issue rather than "the" issue. We must stop organizing ourselves into categories that separate those who fight for global climate change, human rights, health care, environmental justice, or any of the countless other challenges we face.

There is now only one issue: redesigning the systems that govern our societies to ensure they are sustainable, just, and promote wellbeing for all the world's living things.

photo: David Boyle

Getting the Sustainability Imperative Right

Inspired Protagonist — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The Harvard Business Review has consistently tackled the many issues related to business and sustainability, and done it from a more deeply strategic perspective than most others. David A. Lubin and Daniel C. Esty's recent article on The Sustainability Imperative is a thoughtful yet somewhat uninspired approach to the same territory. For those just beginning to think seriously about corporate sustainability, the article provides a good foundational guide. But as someone engaged in a business that's already embarked on this journey, I find that it fails to take on some of the more difficult challenges involved.

The article begins with a sad but accurate fact: "Most executives know that how they respond to the challenge of sustainability will profoundly affect the competitiveness -- and perhaps even the survival -- of their organizations. Yet most are flailing around, launching a hodgepodge of initiatives without any overarching vision or plan."

Lubin and Esty describe sustainability as a "megatrend" (as in the book by John Nesbit), and they validate its importance by noting that environmental issues are now limiting businesses' capacity to create value for stakeholders and workers -- environmental pressures are increasing business' liabilities; governments are introducing greater levels of new regulation; and the rising power of China and India has intensified competition for natural resources.

Yes, we know that. That's the business case for change in a nutshell. The real question is what do we do about it, and on this count, the article falls short of articulating a path to genuine sustainability.

One important omission is the crucial issue of externalities, which receives barely a mention -- even though business' general failure to financially account for the true environmental costs of its operations and the real price of its products' impacts is a root cause of environmental degradation. If the auto and oil industries, for example, were actually responsible for cleaning up the damage their technologies produce and ameliorating the widespread atmospheric and human health effects that result, you can bet we'd be living in a world of zero-emissions transportation today.

Other key pieces of the sustainability puzzle are missing, too. New forms of collaboration, the importance of corporate missions, the primacy of transparency, and many of the other principles that Bill Breen and I articulate in The Responsibility Revolution are entirely left out of the equation, including:

Adopting a holistic and systemic approach to sustainability efforts. At Seventh Generation, we use our Global Imperatives to frame our business strategy. This ensures that everything we do on a corporate level is advancing our broader environmental and social agenda (or at least staying out of its way).
Driving change from the top down and the bottom up. IBM exemplified this in 2003, when it refused to rely on some top-level cabal to redefine its values and instead invited its entire global workforce to participate in the process via a massive, online brainstorming session.
Doing work that matters now matters more than ever. We can see this idea in action at Organic Valley, whose core purpose (to preserve the country's fading network of family farms) has fully leveraged its employees' passion and creativity to make the company the nation's second largest producer of organic dairy products.
Learning to function as a community in order to unleash people's potential. This is a critical element that all too many commentators ignore. Every sustainability imperative must start with a management imperative to create great workplaces that inspire people to give their all.

Unless it fully embraces ideas like these, the business community is doomed to repeat its present widespread sustainability failures. We'll simply see more of the same anemic, too-little-too-late brand of "corporate responsibility" that has been defined by incremental change where revolutionary transformation is needed; greenwashing and cause marketing that burnish corporate reputations and distract consumers from deeper problems while doing little to fuel meaningful innovation; and companies that strive merely to be "less bad" instead of aiming for "truly good."

One need only look to the examples of "success" cited by Lubin and Esty to find ample evidence of the deficiencies created by a corporate responsibility movement that has yet to think big, go deep, and get serious. GE's Ecomagination program may deserve some credit for its $2.5 billion investment in environmentally preferable technologies, but the authors neglect to report on how GE's undercuts this accomplishment by engaging in clearly irresponsible activities like lobbying against cleaner locomotives and greenhouse gas reductions.

They also mistakenly note that Clorox's Greenworks line of eco-friendly cleaning products has generated billions of dollars of sales. Clorox can only dream of such success. According to a report in the Orange County Business Journal, during the 12 months through early August of 2009, the brand brought in $36 million in sales -- hardly a billion-dollar business.

The article does, however, end on a perceptive and accurate note, one that we at Seventh Generation must work hard to remember, "Don't rest on your green laurels. As we have seen in other business megatrends, early leaders are not guaranteed enduring competitive advantage. Continued innovation is required to stay in front of the pack. Thus, even for those who manage a megatrend well and emerge at the top of a transformed market, the premium does not last indefinitely."

Some Big Steps Yield a Small One of Our Own

Inspired Protagonist — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Here's a retailing truth: You can't be in the business of selling consumer products without thinking about Walmart. The merchandising behemoth sells so much of what so many North Americans buy -- from groceries to tires -- that to not seek it as a customer is like trying to grow a garden without water. Yet at the same time, many of the company's actions and attitudes have historically left much to be desired, all of which tends to put a socially responsible business like ours between a rock and hard place.

This stark reality was brought home when I spent several hours with David Cheesewright, President & CEO of Walmart Canada in both private conversation and on stage as we discussed the future of sustainable retailing in front of several hundred people at the GLOBE Conference in Vancouver. Several things struck me during my encounter with this very human face of the world's largest company. David, a Brit by birth, has spent the majority of his career in Europe, a vastly different and far more progressive arena for corporate responsibility. This was made immediately apparent by both the depth of his familiarity with every aspect of Walmart's success and his understanding of its failures. His personal passion and commitment is abundant. He is open and humble about the immensely challenging work that lies ahead of him, never avoids a controversial topic and is almost shy about what has been accomplished so far.

Many of Walmart's most recent achievements -- from a warehouse powered by geothermal energy to stores that operate with no lighting or air conditioning and purchase virtually all their produce, meat, and baked goods from the local community -- were new to me.

Believe me when I say that around here, Walmart is discussed more often than not. And over the last few years, these conversations have been increasingly dominated by (dare I say it) actual praise for a series of fairly remarkable developments at the company. One of our own corporate responsibility experts, someone who knows a poseur when he sees one, even suggests that Walmart has become a legitimate sustainability leader.

Those are pretty extraordinary words, but I think they're being earned. In February, for example, the company announced its intention to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 20 million tons by 2015. That's like taking 3.8 million cars off the road, and one and a half times the current projected growth of its carbon footprint over the period, a laudable goal for any corporation, let alone Walmart.

A decision like this demonstrates my belief that business is the most powerful potential instrument for positive change in the world. When a company the size of Walmart decides to do things differently, the effects are huge, and they ripple out into the world with speed and impacts that even governments can't match. Just look at last month's Atlantic Monthly, which found that the chain's Heritage Agriculture program could very well do more to boost the fortunes of small and medium-size farms than government programs and non-profit agencies dedicated to the cause. Think about the company's commitment to compact fluorescent lighting, which singlehandedly put 137 million energy-saving bulbs in consumers' hands during its first year. Or its push to get detergent makers to introduce ultra concentrated liquid laundry formulas, a move that remade the industry overnight and now saves some 25 million pounds of plastic resin, 140 million gallons of water, and 40 million pounds of cardboard each year. That's just the kind of quick, efficient, and meaningful change we're seeking.

Lately the retailer has mandated other shifts, too. They've embarked on a product lifecycle analysis program to spur innovation, create a transparent supply chain, and reduce consumer impacts. They've started energy efficiency and renewability initiatives at their facilities, including an environmental demonstration store in Burlington, Ontario whose 60% lower energy needs are met entirely by renewable sources. They're helping vendors reduce their own carbon outputs, they're asking suppliers to trace the cotton they use in order to avoid child labor, and introducing fair-trade goods. Last June, they even joined the Center for American Progress and the Service Employees International Union in sending a joint statement to President Obama on the need for health care reform that comes closer to the Canadian model.

Does that make Walmart a perfect or even a sustainable company? No, far from it. But for the world's largest business, it's moving much quicker than most. Certainly many more environmental and labor improvements need to be made, and we're committed to providing any encouragement and help the company might need to keep making progress. Yet taken together, the existing changes go beyond token gestures. They put Walmart in an unexpected leadership position in the retail sector and provide reasonable proof that the company is committed to sustainability. As someone who has informally advised Walmart executives about what they need to be doing, I can tell you they've been listening hard and taking things seriously.

The result is a company putting increasing distance between what it once was and what it's becoming. Because we like this new direction and because Walmart would certainly make it easier for more families to use our products to create much healthier homes, we're excited to explore this relationship by selling our diapers in 100 Walmart stores in Canada.

If the company keeps making steady tangible progress toward sustainability, we look forward to the possibility of expanding the relationship. What we won't do is compromise our standards on things like accountability, transparency, and engagement. But as long as Walmart keeps making advances in these areas, we'll continue to keep our minds open and our hand extended.

I hope that's what happens. Not only would countless families become healthier thanks to the access to our products the company can provide, but Walmart's enormous size and influence holds the potential to create the tipping point the corporate responsibility movement has been waiting for. In both cases, everybody wins. And we've reached a tipping point of our own where we think the evidence suggests that's now worth the benefit of the doubt and some tentative support that encourages further change.

I realize that our decision will not come without controversy. But I also know that we have been as thoughtful about our choice as we have been about any we've ever made. In the end, it came down to making the decision we feel has the potential to do the most for the next seven generations. That's always been our bottom line, and we're hopeful it's finally becoming Walmart's, too.

From Manual to Manifesto

Inspired Protagonist — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

When co-author Bill Breen and I wrote our new book, The Responsibility Revolution, we intended it to function as a how-to manual that would introduce the corporate community to the new brand of corporate responsibility that's now emerging at renegade companies around the world, a model for positive change we call Corporate Responsibility 2.0.

Along the way to the book's recent publication, that manual became a bit of a manifesto that not only showed companies how to change but explained to them why they should. At the end of the day, our new book is as much an overview of what companies need to be doing as it is a look at the enormous advantages, competitive and otherwise, that are waiting for every business with the wisdom to aim for something bigger.

Recently, we took these ideas and distilled them down into a new call to action that's just been published at the website ChangeThis. It serves as an excellent introduction to what The Responsibility Revolution and Corporate Responsibility 2.0 itself are all about.

Taking these ideas to heart is the necessary first step of the work ahead. There's a lot of that work to do if we've got any hope of creating a sustainable world before forces beyond our control do it for us. Those forces aren't going to be gentle when they come, and they're likely to leave us with a planet that's not nearly as hospitable as it would be if we remade it ourselves. That makes the new Change This essay something every executive, manager, and employee needs to read and share with others. Think of it as the first shovel of precious earth way you'll move as we all come together to dig ourselves out of the hole we're in.

Unilever Axes Air Pollution

Inspired Protagonist — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:52:33 -0400

A few months ago, the Environment News Service reported that Unilever was fined for polluting California air with fumes from its AXE Deodorant Bodyspray for Men. The California Air Resources Board imposed a penalty of $1.3 million for sales of product that failed to meet the state's clean air standards for volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

It may seem odd that environmental officials in a state beset by legendary air pollution and filled with obvious large-scale emitters like vehicles, factories, and industrial farms would spend their time policing something as seemingly harmless as deodorant, but they're right to do it: according to the Los Angeles Times, the VOCs released by household products like paint, cleaners, and personal care products are second only to tailpipe emissions as the L.A. region's leading source of air pollution

Unilever behaved very responsibly in the aftermath of the charges. Instead of fighting the penalty and refusing to budge, the company cooperated with investigators, paid the fine, and altered its formula.

This is a refreshing change of pace from the usual corporate recalcitrance, especially given that the violation was reportedly caused by a packaging error that mistakenly labeled products deodorants instead of body sprays, which are subject to different VOC rules. Theoretically, the company only had to correct its marketing. Instead, it adjusted the ingredients, which was no doubt a more expensive fix.

This is exactly how companies should respond when faced with product-related public health issues, and Unilever should be commended for acting in the public interest. The company's actions set an example for others to follow, and have created a breath of fresh air that smells good all around.

Books That Really Matter

Inspired Protagonist — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:16:34 -0400

Hazel Henderson is an old friend and a world-renowned futurist, evolutionary economist, syndicated columnist, sustainable development consultant, and author.

She's also the founder of Ethical Markets Media, an independent media company that promotes the emergence of a more sustainable, green, ethical, and global economy. The company's website has one of the best lists of books worth reading that I've seen anywhere.

Whether you want to explore the things everyone really needs to know or are just looking for something illuminating to read, this is the place to start.