Columns

This time, the shift to green may keep its sheen

I'm all for saving the Earth. So I'm happy that, over the past few weeks, I've gotten to write about the green movement and what it means for business.

By Christina Rexrode, Times Staff Writer
Published October 28, 2007

I'm all for saving the Earth.

So I'm happy that, over the past few weeks, I've gotten to write about the green movement and what it means for business. The people I've talked to - people who are shelling out for hybrid cars, cajoling their co-workers to recycle and pressing their employers to minimize their carbon footprints - have made me optimistic that we can consider and mitigate our environmentally destructive behaviors.

Think I sound quixotic? Don't roll your eyes and tell me that you've heard this before, that there was already a green movement back in the '70s, sweetie, and it petered out.

This time, going green is not a passing fad. Joel Makower, the executive editor of GreenBiz.com in Oakland, Calif., puts it best: "This is a bell that you can't unring," he told me.

Here's why:

lt In the '70s, the green movement was largely limited to idealists and government groups. This time, Big Business is coming on board. Among the Fortune 500, it's mainstream to have some kind of green strategy.

"We can say every day, 'Please, please, please do this,'" said Sharon Hanna-West, who co-chairs the sustainability track at the University of South Florida's business school. "And then a giant corporation says, 'You must do this,' and things do change."

Sure, those businesses might just be saving face or saving money. But that only makes them more likely to stick with their new, environmentally friendly practices.

- The last green crusade was about cleaning up pollution and making (second-rate) green consumer products. This time, the whole supply chain is involved.

Here are two examples, both from Wal-Mart: Love it or hate it, the retail giant installed power units in its trucks so that drivers don't have to idle their engines during overnight breaks. Wal-Mart has also said that it will buy wild-caught seafood only from certifiably sustainable fisheries.

- Last time, the necessary technology wasn't in place. It's only in recent years that solar panels, compact fluorescent light bulbs and similar products have become cheap enough and effective enough to be worth the average consumer's consideration.

Witness the Toyota Prius: It shows that cars can save fuel, run smoothly - and sell like crazy.

This time, sustainability can be sustained.

[Last modified October 26, 2007, 20:51:03]