Fromdark‐greytobright‐green

(Insevensteps)

Stefaan Vandist | www.trinity-planning.be

Thisisthestorytoldfromabusinessexecu:veperspec:ve…

Sustainability is all very nice, but I’m trying to run a business here (the boss)

butwithageeks’horizon…

ABertrackingsustainabilityini:a:vesof30Fortune500companies(ref.InnovaStrat.US),itseemsthateverycompany

goesmoreorlesstroughsevensimilarsteps…

Thesustainabilityladder

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1DENIAL

1DENIAL

Asaneconomist,you‘manage’environmentalandsocialconsequencesas

externali:es.YoukeepyourboNom‐lineop:mizedbydenyingresponsibility.Why

shouldyoucareanyway?You’rerunningabusiness,notacharity.Especiallynow,youdon’twanttomakeanythingerodeyourcompe::veness

1DENIAL

Youconsiderthegreenmovementas‘soixant‐huitards’,hippiesandac:vists.

Pervertseven!Theyareannoying.Youwanttosewthemiftheyshowupagainat

yourdoorstep.Thepublicassociatesyourcompanywithsomebadbehaviours.Thereason?Ac:vism!It’stheirfault.Theyharmthecompany.

2PRETENDING

2PRETENDING

Onabrightmorningyouconcludesustainabilityisthenextbigthing.Youhaveto.

It’sinyourlatesttrendreport,insmartmagazinessoldatairports,aBerseveral

mouse‐clicksandinnewspapers.Evencarmanufacturersfinallyjumponthebandwagon.Yourmarke:ngmanagertalksaboutpromising,new,

youngandhigh‐educatedtargetaudiences.Youcalltheagency!

2PRETENDING

Youcomeupwithexpensivecampaignswithinspiringimagingandasweet

soundtrack.YourmessagingpimpsyoursinglebestenvironmentalaNribute,blurring

theaNen:onofthecompletepicture.YoubuildawarenessonTV,innewspapers,inairportsandinterna:onalrailwaysta:ons.Youseeyou’renotalone.

2PRETENDING

Youtraveltoapoorna:onwhereyourrawmaterialsaregrown.Anair‐condi:oned

bustakesyoutoareforesta:onprojectthatcollaborateswiththelocalcommunity.

Ayoungboygivesyouaspade.Youplantatree.Youlookgoodonthepicture.Youfeelabitsilly.Yougohometopickuptheseriousstuffagain.

3COMPLIANCE

3COMPLIANCE

Thatbringsyoubacktozero.Sustainabilityiss:llandforemostamaNerofcompliance

toindustrystandardiza:onandregula:on.Compliancecostsmoney,butincompliance

costsmore.Communica:onisrepor:ng.

VLAREM | REACH | ISO 9000 | ISO 14000 | EFQM | SA 8000 | GRI | GRI G3 |

AA 1000 FRAMEWORK | AA 1000 AS | AA 1000 SES | SIGMA |

EMAS

3COMPLIANCE

Buttherecomesthenicesurprise.Whencompliancemeetstheeconomiesofscale,it

seemswelowercostsreducingexpensiveinputs.Anditseemsthatifwearethefirsttocomplywithmoststringentrules,ourcompe::venessgoesup.LikeHPwhohasset

thenewindustrystandardsbeingthefirsttobantoxicleads,andgotaheadofitscompe::on

with5yearsofadvantageintheuseofsolders(amalgamof:n,silverandcopper)

3COMPLIANCE

ImagineGMhadembracedtheemissionstandardsfortheautomo:veindustryfirst

proposedin2002,itwouldbetwoorthreedesigncyclesaheadofitsrivalstoday.

4LCA

4LCA(Lifecycleanalysis)

YouarecompletelyobsessedwitR‐words.Inanindebtlifecycleanalysisyoudiscover

opportuni:estosaverawmaterials,costs,energy,increasecontactspointswithclients

thatresultinbusinesscon:nuityandmanyothersurprisesthathaveaposi:veimpactontheboNom‐line.Youfeelverycomfortable.Sustainabilityjus:fiessaving.

You’reinthelandofefficiency.Youfeelhome.

Recycle | Reduce | Re-use | Reconsider | Rebuild |

Rethink | Re-feed | Reflect React |  

4LCA(Lifecycleanalysis)

LikeUnilever,whopartneredwithenvironmentalorganiza:onstofindouthowtogrow

palmoil,soybeansandcacaoinalesspollu:ngway,withlesspressureonbiodiveristy.

Thishasresultedintechniquestoimprovecropyieldsandseedproduc:on

4LCA(Lifecycleanalysis)

LikeWal‐Mart’sCEOLeoScoN(2008),whogavemorethan1000Chinesesuppliersa

direc:ve:cutpackagingcostwith5%by2015andincreaseenergy‐efficiencywith25%

inthreeyears.

4LCA(Lifecycleanalysis)

LikeFedexwhorolledoutitsGlobalFuelSenseProgram,op:mizingaircraBschedules

andlogis:cswithhigh‐endsoBware,replacedaircraBs,trucksandvans.

Result:reduc:onof36%ofenergyconsump:on,increaseof20%capacity

5Design

5Design

Asyouseethatasizablenumberofconsumersprefereco‐friendlyofferings,you

believeyourbusinesscanscoreoverrivalsbybeingthefirsttoredesignexis:ng

productsordevelopnewones.SoyoubringinaclubofET’sandkickstartaneco‐(re)design‐process

5Design

Eco‐designisexci:ng,alsoforlargecorpora:ons.P&Gfoundouttomakean

amazingdifferenceifpeoplewouldwashatlowertemperatures(80billionfewer

KWh/J).That’swhythecompanymadethedevelopmentofcold‐waterdetergentsapriority.In2005itlaunchedArielCool.

ResultUK:2002‐2%>2008‐21%ResultNL:2002‐5%>2008:52%

6Newbusinessmodels

6newBusinessModels

You’vereadBlueOceanStrategy,andyou’veseenthesuccessofItunes,Amazon

andothernewstarsandicons.Youunderstandthatsuccessfulmodelsinclude

novelwaysofcapturingrevenuesanddeliveringservices,likelyintandemwithothercompanies.

6newBusinessModels

LikeFedex,whopartnerswithKinko’stocomeupwithaprintanddeliver‐service.

Theyaskscustomersiftheywouldliketoelectronicallytransferthe

mastercopytooneoftheKinkoofficesnearbythereceiver

6newBusinessModels

OrlikeSonywhopartnersupwithGreenSquadtocollectelectronicwastevia

schools,torecoverusefulrawmaterials.

7NextpracQceplaRorms

7NextpracQceplaRorms

Byques:oningtheobvious,weinventthefutureanddisrup:veinnova:onis

possible.Canwehaveaposi:veeffectonnaturetoo?Ifthreesproduceoxygen

andpurifywater,canhousesbetrees?Canci:esbeforests?Cancleaningproductsbegoodfortheenvironmentinsteadof“lessbad”?

7NextpracQceplaRorms

Canwecoolourbuildingswithoutairco?IfantscandoitinthehoNestplaceson

earthsincemillionsofyears,whycan’twe?Biomimicrytriestounderstandthe

designofnatureandtransportsthedesignpaNernstoengineering,architectureanddesign.

7NextpracQceplaRorms

Whatifweremakethewaywemakethings?

Ifwedevidetechnicalcyclesfrombiologicalcycles,andredesignourfabricsand

materialsonamolecularleveltogetridofalltoxicsanddesignnotproductsbutcycles,sellnogoodsbutservices?Thenweclosetheloopjustasinthenatural

World.Zerowaste.Zeroemission.BigcompaniessuchasNike,Aveda,Ford,

Timerland,Interface,AkzoNobelandHermanMillertakecradle‐to‐cradleveryseriously

ThanksforyouraSenQon!Inspired by research of InnovaStrat - Santa Cruz.

Written, compiled, Arranged and visualized by Stefaan Vandist – www.trinity-planning.be – stefaan@trinity-planning.be