The Seven Seas of Sustainability

The premise behind every post in this blog is that the only sustainable environmental initiatives are ones that find value in our links to the world and its inhabitants. In this view sustainability grows out of relationships, not the use of any specific technology nor the accumulation or avoidance of any ”stuff.”

Since the concept of sustainability was first introduced in the 1990′s, it has consistently been billed as a three legged stool. Those legs are most often labeled Environment, Social Equity and Economic Development. Yet defining what actions are required to create three equivalently strong legs has not been easy. Thus as people and companies have dabbled in sustainability, they have invariably placed more emphasis on whichever leg seemed easier to build and thus have had wobbly, inconsistent successes.

Now as an engineer I am not interested in building stools. Stools are for kids! And stools are way too easy to knock over. So I propose we think bigger, like monuments. Building a large monument is much more fun than building a stool. And there are other cool differences. Monuments require pillars instead of legs. Those pillars need to rest on one common and strong foundation. Finally, monuments must be attractive (have showy elements) as well as withstand the unpredictable pressures of environment and time (have defensive elements). What good would defensive design be for a stool? It is still just a chair that bullies will always try to knock over.

The point I am trying to make is that doing sustainability right will never be as simple as making a 3-legged chair. Sustainability requires input and assistance from many people, and inherent to sustainability is the ability to fend off enemies. So my message to sustainability professionals is this: “Take more risk, build bigger platforms, give them strength and harmonize them with the eCosystem that supports your family or company. Above all, never look at sustainability as the product of just one eGo (yours or your boss’s).”

The blueprint for creating such a monument to sustainability can be the strategic sustainability plan… and the components of that strategic plan should be built around what I call The Seven C’s of Sustainability.

• Commitment (The Foundation) - If those who control the culture and cash flow of your family or organization do not believe that sustainability deserves visibility and attention, then no matter how many pillars you construct, the slightest tremor will bring down all of the structures you build. How do you know you have commitment? When statements such as the following can be professed without blushing or failing a lie detector test:
  • (Showy element) “We recognize that we cannot exist alone. Our prosperity and longevity are predicated on the strength and flexibility of our relationships with others and the resources we each steward. Furthermore we recognize that every relationship requires both give and take. To those who seek mutual benefit from dealing with us, we will strive to be a most trustworthy partner.”
  • (Defensive element) ”To those who think they can take advantage of us, use our commitment for your personal gain and our loss, we will be on our guard to stop you. To us sustainability is a platform in which we seek to ensure long term prosperity through mutual trust; it is not about setting ourselves up to lose.“
•  Compliance (Pillar 1, Relationship with authority) – The basis for almost all environmental activity in the past 4 decades has been: (1) government passes a law, (2) administrations write regulations specifying how to comply, (3) regulators give a time-frame within which to comply, and (4) enforcers penalize those who don’t. In my mind, those laws and regulations define the basic expectations communities set for us to live and work within them.
  • (Showy element) There isn’t much to brag about here. All you try to do is keep the compliance pillar clean with as few and insignificant scars as possible. My advice: never use whitewash to cover those scars… accept them as a sign that you were not always perfect, and as motivation to always do better.
  • (Defensive element) Invest as necessary to try and achieve 100% compliance. And when you find imperfections, invest to improve them. Finally, when there are rules that create unnecessary inefficiencies, seek to change them through public dialogue instead of backroom deals 
• Cost (Pillar 2, Relationship with cash) – Money makes many environmental professionals queasy maybe because they have not made a lot of it during their careers. So they approach money like the girl (or guy) that they aren’t pretty enough to date… asking them out, they get goofy and make a fool of themselves. My advice to the sustainability professional: “Get over it. If what you do today does not generate enough cash to do something different tomorrow, then your entire venture will fail.”
  • (Showy elements) The generation of positive cash flow that more than covers cost especially from the sale of products and by-products sought by customers because of their sustainable elements (e.g. “organically farmed”).
  • (Defensive elements) The never-ending quest to reduce expense (including depreciation from capital investment) and improve efficiency so that the cost of doing business stays low, and the promotion of tax policy that adds the cost of externalities to non-sustainable products or reduces the price of sustainable products by the same amount.
• Cooperatives (Pillar 3, Relationship with environmental stewards) - Many people (e.g. competitors, your neighbors, naturalists) stake claims to the same environmental resources you depend on. Participating in cooperatives where the health of the environment you are interested in is paramount, where you can work with others to protect it as a resource for generations, and through which you can implement low-impact sourcing will give you the access, credibility and right to use renewable portions of those resources in your ventures.
  • (Showy elements) Ability to control your own supply chain with like-minded organizations; commitment to use recycled materials and clean energy in your products and processes; pledges backed with funding to protect from all development related critical habitats.
  • (Defensive elements) Fund research to identify unknown environmental risks of your activities and to manage known risks that current systems manage inadequately.
• Community (Pillar 4, Relationship with people we live with) – The towns you work in, the states and countries that you offer products and services in, the family members who make your dinner and provide you shelter, the employees who contribute to your success… they all have desires and requests that go beyond regulation and the provision of occasional free products. The more their health and happiness matter in your health and prosperity, the more you need to support their needs.
  • (Showy elements) Funding development of social infrastructure (buildings and organizations) so that the communities that matter most will be able to satisfy their own needs into the future.
  • (Defensive elements) Building security walls so that “scarier” elements of those communities will not cause you harm.
• Customers (Pillar 5, Relationship with all who promote, sell or want our products and services) - People that seek “green” products and services, and families that want to do better by the environment are increasingly interested in learning from you… how what you do is good for the environment and good for the people within it.
  • (Showy elements) Eco-blurbs on products, demonstrations and free samples to ease transition to “green,” assistance to increase the eco-credentials of your business partners and neighbors.
  • (Defensive elements) Ability to fight green-washing claims with statements like “nobody is perfect but we are committed to becoming better, and what we do today is only one step in that journey,” plus voluntary dialogue to test your proposed claims among objective scientific peers before going public.
• Communications (Pillar 6, Relationship with Everyone Else) – In almost every discussion of sustainability, the word “transparency” appears. This means that you are willing to share your goals and your journey honestly with anyone that asks and not just shareholders, regulators and customers.
  • (Showy elements) Sustainability reports, Call centers, Mobile vans, all ready to promote your sustainability practices and infect others to join you.
  • (Defensive elements) Attorney-mediated dialogue with those who just don’t trust you.

The next C: Comments, anyone?