BUSINESS: Going Green Helps Defeat the Competition

Posted on | October 2, 2008 |

The sizzle-word of sustainability conferences for the last year has been ‘greenwashing;’ that is, the practice of making a business, product or service seem sustainable or eco-friendly through smart marketing, packaging or vague copy, but without actually walking the walk when it comes to being green.

It’s easy to understand why alleged greenwashers would take the stance that they have. Going green is big, nay, huge, economically, with organic produce alone displaying profit gains of about 35% per year, with a percentage that is growing steadily.

Certifications, like LEED for buildings and ISO developing general best-practice standards for all kinds of businesses and government organizations internationally, have definitely done their part to validate what might otherwise be arbitrary points of reference in determining just how sustainable something is.

The cost of going green in your home, business or mode of transportation can be substantial, and some studies have shown that payback on the extra costs associated with going green (which ranges from about 9-19% depending on the industry) may not be realized in a buyer’s lifetime, much less within a few months (or years).  In fact, an Edmunds study has found that the premium paid for the Toyota Prius (poster child and media darling of the hybrid scene) over a Toyota Corolla takes 13.6 years to pay off.

Then again, the outlook isn’t all that bad, and many of the doom-sayers are merely balking at the idea of a massive shift in dozens of industries, rather than at the actual sustainable products and services that are being announced nearly every day. That same extra cost of a Prius over a Camry only takes 2.1 years to pay off, which perfectly illustrates a problem that many new green technologies are running in to: there is nothing in mass production right now that one can accurately compare them to, making it difficult to gauge their exact benefits quantitatively.

Solar panels don’t have nearly the oomph that coal-burning power plants can pump out. Wind power is unreliable when compared to readily available fossil fuels. Organic vegetables are not as easy to grow, harvest and store as genetically modified and chemical-treated produce.

The major, deal-sealing benefit that sustainable products and services enjoy over their non-sustainable competitors is shown in their namesake. To have a sustainable source of energy means that it will not run out. Fossil fuels can reach their peak and become more difficult to find and mine, but there will always be wind and sunlight; the only thing standing in the way of further profits are the costs of increased innovation, which would be expenses to endure even if mining for coal.

This benefit can be had by any business, though each will have a different method of achieving sustainability based on the needs of the individual industry. Each and every move toward sustainability is a move toward increased long-term profits since sustainable practices turn expenses into assets (very Rich Dad, Poor Dad), allowing the more sustainable company to lower its overhead costs and instead invest that money on innovation, over time out-developing the competition.

If you are the kind of person that needs to see to believe, and wants to know more about how different industries are measuring up where sustainability is concerned, head to Green Biz and download a copy of the State of Green Business 2008 (it’s a great read, and free in exchange for some information about you and your business).

Have a story about how sustainability has helped your business? Post it below.

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