Sustainability critical to future of business

Mon, October 26, 2009 |

Transforming the way companies do business to ensure their sustainability is not only essential for the future of humanity, but also will be critical for long-term profitability, sustainability experts proclaimed during Valparaiso University's Oct. 23 forum "Leading the Future of Sustainability."

Keynote speaker Ray C. Anderson, author of Confessions of a Radical Industrialist, told an audience of hundreds that society can no longer advance at nature's expense.

"The system that takes from the Earth whatever it wants and produces things that soon wind up in landfills simply cannot go on," said Anderson, founder and chairman of floor manufacturer Interface Inc. "We must grow up as a species and think beyond our own trivial lifetimes."

Anderson noted that for 25 years, he didn't think about the environmental impact his company was making. In the mid-1990s, however, customers began asking questions about the sustainability of Interface's products and Anderson determined that without radical change his company would be complicit in the destruction of the Earth's environment.

Anderson set a goal for Interface to eliminate all negative environmental impact by 2020, and in the past 15 years the company has reduced its landfill waste by 83 percent, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 99 percent and uses 89 percent renewable electricity in its plants.

"Resource efficiency is the route to affluence for all humanity," he said.

Cutting waste has saved the company $419 million since 1994, more than paying for Interface's sustainability initiatives.

"It's a false choice between the environment and the economy," Anderson said.

At the same time, Anderson said achieving a truly sustainable society will require people to reassess their priorities and replace the desire for ever greater affluence with happiness that their needs are being met.

Also speaking at the forum were Sandra Nessing, director of sustainability for American Electric Power, and Margie Flynn, a principal with consulting firm Brown/Flynn.

President Mark Heckler opened the forum with a video greeting asking students, business people and community leaders in attendance to consider their collective responsibility to be active and conscientious stewards of the Earth's resources.

"Environmental sustainability has been defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs," President Heckler said. "This is both a noble and ethical goal and is part of our vision for Valparaiso University."

The event was hosted by Valpo's College of Business Administration.