The drive to build a sustainable company starts at the top, and is actively led all along the way by the CEO. Readers of this article will learn how the CEOs of two very different companies embraced sustainability and embedded the best practices for achieving it in their respective organizational cultures
Once a year, employees at Burt’s Bees, the maker of natural, personal care products, sort through two weeks’ worth of the company’s trash. CEO John Replogle believes that the lessons learned from this company-wide “Dumpster Dive,” where all employees have a chance to identify missed recycling and reuse opportunities, build the company’s culture of sustainability in addition to saving tens of thousands of dollars a year. When the company first measured its trash in 2007, it was creating 40 tons of waste a month. By the end of 2009, Burt’s manufacturing facility achieved its zero-waste goal, an important milestone in its quest to be a zero-waste, zero-carbon company by 2020.1
Measurement and Reporting: Along with setting goals, companies will find measuring and setting baselines essential to creating a sustainable and financially successful business. As Burt’s shows, measurements can quickly have an impact. In 2006, Burt’s started to outline its sustainability goals and standardize the process of collecting data on energy consumption, water use, and waste. CEO Replogle believes the key benefit of measurement was an increase in awareness and thus encouraged employees to find solutions: As he said, “What gets measured gets done.” For example, after Burt’s began measuring waste, workers on the production line observed that less water would be wasted if the company used steam to clean the production containers rather than fill them with water. Water consumed by this task was thus reduced by more than 90 percent.
Still, attempts to change deep-seated consumer habits can be challenging. For example, Wal-Mart started selling square milk jugs. The company was excited – the square jugs saved packing space, and were cheaper to ship and better for the environment. Wal-Mart expected that customers would be excited too – the milk was fresher when it came to the store, and cost less. It seemed like a win-win. But surprisingly, Wal-Mart experienced backlash against the change. Specifically, many buyers spilled milk when first trying to pour milk with a square jug. Shoppers wanted their old milk back. Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart, lured shoppers with chocolate chip cookies to demonstrate the “rock-and-pour” technique the square jugs needed (as opposed to the “lift-and-tip” that worked for their old milk jugs)13. It is still to be determined whether or not these square jugs are here to stay.
Reprint from Ivey Business Journal
[© Reprinted and used by permission of the Ivey Business School]