Inspired Business

Business Building

Cover for The Future of ValueIn today’s podcast we hear a great story from Eric Lowitt about how he is following his dreams and helping move sustainability forward in the business sector. I can’t wait to get my hands on his new book “The Future of Value” when it comes out in late September.

Eric has a passion for sustainability that is unstoppable. He also has that rare set of business experience and real world school of hard knocks that makes his story great. We’ll hear what seperates his book from the others and what his clients are doing to become more sustainable.

Eric has done what so many entrepreneurs would love to do. He has taken his passion, written a book, and is now out there doing the work he loves. It is good for his customers, good for the economy and good for Eric. A true win-win-win. Best of all, he is just a great personable guy.

Please pardon the poor editing and less than perfect sound quality. I was trying some new equipment. Regardless, the content is top notch.

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Jim Boyle shares an inspirational story of how he put his vision of a sustainable society into action by creating the Progressive Business Leadership Network, and then went on to create the Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. (www.sustainround.com).

The Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. provides a new model of sharing that allows companies and governments to reach sustainability goals faster and at less cost through collaboration.

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Want to Turn Your Business Around… Go Green

Whatever business you are in, the best way to put yourself on a track to long term success is to master the green trends of your industry. Are you a builder? Green building is the only growing trend in the space. A pest control company? People want green solutions over the conventional. Parts supplier to a [...]

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Green pays big for GE

If you want to look at a great company by most traditional business school measures, GE gets top billing. Hence, business people should follow their lead. GE’s Ecomagination line now has annual sales of $20 Billion. More importantly it is one of the fastest growing business lines in the company so its influence will continue [...]

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Stages of ROI on Eco-efficiency

Eco-efficiency pays dividends year after year. Various practitioners have different titles and phases for implementing sustainability in organizations (and buildings for that matter). I have taken those stages and put them in financial terms. The good news is the more mature you get in the phases, the more money you make over time. 1. Pre-compliance [...]

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Employees forego pay for carbon neutrality

Think employees only care about money and time-off. Think again. New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins Colorado is most famous for its wonderful Fat Tire Amber beer. But it is also one of the leading companies in the world for creating a sustainable business. But the story of how it went to clean renewable energy [...]

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Sustainability Vision

If you think sustainability is important in our human systems, then you have some vision of what your company should be doing about it. Whether you are a line worker, middle manager or senior executive, your vision has some relationship to current reality. Here is a graphic I absconded from the excellent book “The Sustainability [...]

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Taking Green Business to the Bank

Want to make your company more profitable with each transaction AND worth more during your exit? Then make it truly green and the money will follow. As of January 2008, a 0.15 oz tube of Burt’s Bee’s lip balm cost $3.00. The same size tube of Chapstick cost 1.69. Sure, Burt’s production costs were about [...]

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Hard Proof: Social Responsibility Adds to Bottom Line

Are you still stuck in the old paradigm that acting ethically might hurt your bottom line? Think again. “Between 1995 and 2007, socially responsible investmanet assets expanded by 324 percent, sharply outpacing growth in the broader universe of investments, which increase by less than 260 percent over the same period. Social Investing is thriving as [...]

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Green Business or Not, Wise Advice

I found this a great guide for starting any venture; green, high-tech or low-tech. Brand new or spin-off. Rock band, green business or non-profit venture. Key Points: Get a great team Get committed partners Offer something unique that meets a need Build slowly with low risk tests/installations/engagements Continue to improve Scale when ready Thanks to [...]

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