Why would business be a good sustainability advocate? Because they can act more logically than an individual. They can also take into account a more long-term view and their actions have a bigger impact.
Making Logical Decisions
Humans make buying decisions on emotion. They might use logic to explain to themselves why they should buy something, but the essential decision is made emotionally.
In business this is different. A business is for profit. Therefore any purchasing decision is made based on its financial merit. If it does not increase the revenue or reduce the costs (thus leading to greater profit) it does not make sense doing it.
And here is where I see the biggest chance. Financial analysis is logical, not based on emotions.
A Long-term View
Financial analysis also always includes time. The return does not have to be immediate, it only needs to be there overall.
Bigger Impact
When you compare anything a business does with what an individual does, the business usually does it in a bigger way:
- they use more power
- they use more water
- they have more waste
- they transport more
- their impact on the community is bigger (just from the amount of people who work in a company)
That means two things:
- It will be cheaper to deliver a sustainable solution and
- the direct positive impact is greater
- there is an indirect positive impact through the team carrying the solution forward into the community
So sustainable solutions for business. That is necessary to push sustainability forward.