Green Industry ECOnomics - LandcareNetwork.org

Preface
cat·a·lyst [kat-l-ist] — noun
1. Something that causes activity between two
or more persons or forces without itself being
affected.
2. A person or thing that precipitates an event
or change.
This is what you are holding in your hands,
pure and simple. This is not the complete text
on how to be “sustainable.” You are not going
to become “Mr. or Mrs. Sustainability” by
reading this. Our goal was simply that this be
a catalyst to help you find a new business
model to make money and do good things for
our world — Do good, do well.
Crystal Ball Committee Chair
Jim McCutcheon
We have all heard the call for environmental responsibility and sustainability.
The problem is that most of us do not know where to begin or, for that matter,
what it really means. We are also faced with the very real possibility that
our attempts to be environmentally responsible and sustainable could negatively
affect our businesses. As a result, we look at this concept very warily.
At least I know I have.
But, I also see a great change coming in our world, and I want to be on the
front end, helping to drive that change in a sane way that makes sense for
business. As I told the Crystal Ball team during our meeting, I don’t care
which side you’re on in the global warming debate. Our purpose was not to
continue the debate. However, we can all agree that we can use our resources
more wisely and that change is coming. Our mission was to be a
catalyst for positive change, and our focus on sustainability in the green industry
had to be centered on an approach that made good business sense.
After all, if you can’t sustain profits, you can’t sustain a sustainable company.
I believe we have succeeded in creating this catalyst. Our efforts helped us to
discover many paths to success for our member companies and created a
starting point for the refocusing of our industry. We also discovered that
sustainability is not just about the environment but that it also includes our
employees and our profits. This helped to focus our discussion around the
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Green Industry ECOnomics