In the early 90s I spent six months traveling throughout Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma. While I was struck by the extreme poverty and poor living conditions of the majority of people in these countries, I was also impressed by their creativity in making full use of what little they had.

Old equipment is kept running as long as possible and broken machines are scavenged for parts and recycled back into the market. Every part of an animal is used for food. While some of the things they ate challenged my western palate, I certainly admired their ability to follow the principle of “waste not, want not” to its utmost degree.

I contrast this with the five years I spent in Japan where regular dai gomi or “big garbage” days saw some streets near my home piled two feet high for a full block with ‘fridges, stoves, stereos, televisions, dishes, desks, kitchen tables, chairs and even computer equipment that was in perfect working condition.

While my other gaijin (or western) friends and I did our best to liberate as much of this merchandise from the landfill as we could, by giving select pieces a new home in our apartments, we barely made a dent in the piles. In this process we discovered an important idea that mainstream businesses are finally beginning to embrace: that recycling (and energy conservation) can, and does, have a positive effect on the bottom line. We saved money, while diverting some of the “garbage” from the landfill.

Although the population density of Japan made the wastefulness of an industrialized society painfully evident, I was aware that back in Canada our per capita waste was likely equal, or not far behind.

It was the juxtaposition of these images of affluence and wastefulness in Japan that led me to enroll in graduate courses in sustainable business and economic development that first exposed me to a different way of thinking about the fundamentals of doing business.

While I recognize that new technology can benefit us in our lives and work, the “planned obsolescence” that is a central part of the profit models of many businesses today, is no longer sustainable.

The following statistics on cell phones and computers – two now indispensable but seemingly infinitely disposable business tools – gives reason for concern.

• Between 1997 and 2004, 315 million computers worldwide are expected to be ready for disposal, potentially ejecting 550 million kilograms of lead, 900,000 kilograms of cadmium and 180,000 kilograms of mercury into the environment.

• Producing the average PC uses 10 times its weight in materials, chemicals and fossil fuels before it even leaves the factory (BAN 2004).

• An estimated 130 million cell phones will be discarded in the United States by the year 2005, resulting in 65,000 tonnes of cell-phone waste.

In studying how to build a truly restorative economy, I have discovered that there are many alternatives to our traditional thinking – ways we can create profit without wreaking havoc on our health and our planet.

Models such as ‘product stewardship’ and ‘closed-loop manufacturing’ are two core concepts that are shifting the thinking of leading businesses today.

Product stewardship calls for all parties involved in designing, manufacturing, selling and using a product to take responsibility for environmental impacts at every stage of that product’s life.

Closed-loop manufacturing refers to reengineering the manufacturing process so that it eliminates all forms of waste in the manufacturing cycle. This might involve using different chemicals that do not give off toxins, or looking at the waste products generated and finding ways to use those waste products in further production.

Recycling is a part of both of these models, but it is no longer seen solely as the mandate of the end user. If companies learn to manufacture their products in ways that consider how they will be re-used or recycled most efficiently from the outset, it makes the end-user’s role more effective and also generates possibilities for the company to profit from such redesign. These models involve organizations taking responsibility for eliminating waste and dramatically reducing environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of their product.

A traditional bottom-line view sees this process as an added cost in the manufacturing process. There are many companies today, however, who are turning this outdated perspective on its head: where creativity in reducing waste and using non-toxic materials is actually generating profits.

Interface, an Atlanta-based company that is the largest commercial carpet manufacturer in the world, applied the principles of product stewardship and closed-loop manufacturing to create Solenium, a carpet that lasts four times longer than conventional ones, uses 40 percent less material than ordinary carpets, is free of toxic materials, virtually stainproof, and easily cleaned with water. This product is so superior for endusers that the company doesn’t even bother to market it specifically as an environmental product. This and similar waste elimination activities have resulted in a cumulative global savings of over $231 million since 1995.

Taking this thinking one step further, Interface has also shifted its business model from selling and installing carpets to providing floor covering services. They launched this product as the Evergreen Lease which provides a floor-covering service for a monthly fee, complete with monthly inspections to detect and replace worn carpet tiles. As 20 percent of the carpet area gets 80 percent of the wear, this method minimizes waste as well as the disruption necessary to replace whole carpets, and provides the tax benefits of leasing versus owning.

No matter what industry you are in, you can tap into your creativity and rethink your organization, both for increased profits and for the common good, by being willing to question the assumptions you make in your everyday endeavours.

Andrea Jacques (aka. kyoseigirl)

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