Green Industry ECOnomics - LandcareNetwork.org

Don’t think that the concept of sustainability applies only to the outside environment
— the world of soils, plants, and water — or that it is just an
initiative to be pursued by owners and managers. While management must
lead the charge and is ultimately responsible for defining a company’s culture,
the most important component in any company’s “innovating toward
sustainability” is its employees.
Fairmount Minerals operates in one of the most environmentally challenging
industries in the world, mining. Even so, it’s an example of a company that
challenges employees and involves them in more positive and (if we can
stretch the term a bit) more sustainable choices and behaviors.
The company signaled its intent to become one of the most environmentally
friendly and socially responsible mining companies in the United States in
August 2005 with a two-day kickoff known as an Appreciative Inquiry/Sustainable
Development Summit at its Ohio headquarters. This was no small
undertaking. With 300 employees and annual revenues of $300 million, the
company has mining operations in eight states.
Based on methodology adopted by David Cooperrider, Ph.D., Appreciative
Inquiry (AI) is a particular way of asking questions and envisioning the future
that fosters positive relationships and builds on the basic goodness in a
person, a situation, or an organization. David Cooperrider, a professor at
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, is an internationally recognized
advocate for AI, which is based on acknowledging an organization’s
core strengths and identifying what it wants to accomplish in terms of both
business and sustainable development. Then, with stakeholders’ input, it
lays out action steps.
This Fairmount Minerals’ innovation, a $15 sand filter for drinking water, is now
being used in underdeveloped countries worldwide. The idea came out of the
company’s Appreciative Inquiry/Sustainable Development Summit, held at its Ohio
headquarters in August 2005.
82 Green Industry ECOnomics