The fundamental benefits of green business are simple

Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of Seventh Generation, the fastest growing brand of environmentally friendly cleaning and personal care products in the U.S., with sales over $100 million annually, explains: “You generally make more money when you do the right thing. When you do the wrong thing, people sue you, governments fine you, sales plunge, disgusted employees sabotage you, community groups start picketing you, reporters show up . . . . And, ultimately . . . pollution is waste; waste represents inefficiency; and inefficiency is simply not profitable. It’s that simple.”

Business owners are often lulled into a feeling that the current status quo is a permanent condition—that what has been true in the past will be true in the future. History, of course, teaches us just the opposite. Change is the only real certainty. In the modern world, where technology is changing daily and other very powerful forces—from population, to health care issues, to religion, to peak oil, to climate change—are putting increasing pressure on society, those businesses that are able to act on change, in fact, thrive on change, will be the ones that will prosper. Greening your business is ultimately about changing your business—about making your business better. Greening your business is a long-term commitment to enter into the process of continually moving your business in a new and sustainable direction. It is a direction that you will find is highly rewarding, both for your business and, ultimately, for yourself personally.