
A Note About Hunter . . .Getting On and Getting Gone–The Sustainability Trail
Hunter spent 2006 traveling the world. She keynoted conferences, taught MBA and high school students, and met with business and government leaders. She also took time to write a major paper, The Business Case for Climate Protection and to work with the NCS staff to produce the Climate Protection Manual for Cities (see article below). Often Hunter speaks about the forces that are driving companies and communities to innovate. These drivers should not come as a surprise to you: they include global warming, the erosion of the major ecosystems on earth that underpin the capacity of the planet to sustain life, high and rising energy prices, the vulnerability of our large centralized infrastructure in a time of turmoil and finally what we are calling the “sustainability imperative.”What is different, now is this last driver. It is actually shifting the business world, forcing companies to compete to appear more “green.” Ultimately, it will lead them to become truly restorative of human and natural capital if they wish to remain competitive.To help audiences understand how these changes are shaping our world, Hunter presents NCS’ concept of the “Integrated Bottom Line,” in which outstanding financial performance is achieved through behaving more responsibly towards people and planet. This contrasts significantly with the older formulation of the “Triple Bottom Line” in which companies are asked to bolt the additional cost centers of environmental and social responsibility onto their traditional financial bottom line. Using an Integrated Bottom Line, a company achieves durable competitive advantage by cutting its costs, enhancing worker productivity, reducing risks, differentiating its brand, creating customer loyalty and driving innovation and more. Communities can use this same approach to enable their governments to run more effectively. (Read more about LASER in the article below.)Hunter describes how companies that are leading the sustainability revolution are achieving each of these core elements of enhanced shareholder value to become “first to the future.” She has given dozens of interviews on radio, TV and for a variety of print media.Typically she speaks, then runs like hell for an airplane to. . . .well, somewhere else. Since our last e-lert this spring, Hunter keynoted conferences at Harvard, the University of Colorado, in Michigan, in Canada for the Alberta Department of the Environment, at General Electric, then a stop in Michigan to present at Herman Miller. She was in Wisconsin for the National Leadership Summit on Energy and Climate Change (see Climate Protection Manual article below), then in Vermont discussing LASER at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies Conference. In May she was in London, England. Then back to Canada for Shambhala Institute’s Authentic Leadership Program then on to New Zealand in June and July for a tour of the major cities in the country.In August, Hunter went to Honduras with Origo founder Jeff Hamaoui to keynote the World Business Council for Sustainable Development business leaders session in San Pedro Sula. This is the work that Hunter truly loves, bringing NCS ideas to the rest of the world, not just in the over-developed North.September took Hunter to San Francisco, then Virginia, a stop-off in Colorado to advise the Boulder County Energy Task Force and the Denver Mayor's Greenprints Council, on both of which she serves. While in town on that stop, she also shared the business case for climate protection to the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. Before heading east, she spoke to a group of Kansas City business leaders who are implementing the ideas of industrial ecology and Natural Capitalism in their companies.
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Climate Protection ManualNCS Writes the Book on Climate ProtectionIn June, 2006, the
National Leadership Summit on Energy and Climate Change, the first of fo |
Sustainability for National Security
Fifth Annual Fort Carson Community Sustainability Conference & Expo
Christopher Juniper has been helping lead Fort Carson’s sustainability program with its Directorate of Environmental Compliance and Management since 2003. This Army installation is scheduled to grow by about 50% in coming years. Fort Carson is a national leader in sustainability implementation through its comprehensive sustainability training program, community outreach promoting sustainability indicators to local governments, and 12 ambitious long-term (2027) goals—including 100% renewable energy and zero waste. The installation achieved 38% renewable energy purchases for 2006, putting it in the top ten of federal agencies. The program's website—and the 2006 annual report—tells the full story—http://sems.carson.army.mil.One of the unique features of their sustainability program is the Annual Fort Carson Community Sustainability Conference & Expo, co-produced by NCS since 2004. The 2006 conference, “Gaining Irreversible Momentum for Sustainability,” was the largest yet, bringing together over 400 community members, sustainable technology vendors and military personnel. Kate Curl from the NCS team organized over 40 exhibitors at the conference, featuring technologies ranging from waterless urinals to sustainable shooting ranges. The conference included such keynote speakers as Larry Schweiger, the President/CEO of the National Wildlife Foundation, and Tad Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health. The conference offered public workshops including sustainable urban design, sustainable regional indicators and growth planning, zero waste and sustainable transportation. Every year the Conference keeps getting bigger and better and has become the premier sustainability event in the Pikes Peak region of 700,000+ people.
National Nuclear Security Agency Helix TrainingIn August, Christopher Juniper and Paul Sheldon conducted a one-day workshop on sustainability implementation for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Agency in Oak Ridge, Tennessee—the people that manage our nuclear weapons materials. Like many other U.S. government agencies, the DOE is moving beyond “pollution
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2006 Interns at Natural Capitalism SolutionsNCS could not do half the work it does without our wonderful interns.This year we had an especially good group (from left to right):
Kate Curl, a recent graduate of CU Boulder and a native of Tucson, Arizona, began work with NCS on the LASER project. She now helps full time in the office with NCS operations development.Mike Hoffman is a graduate student at the University of Texas in Austin. As part of Natural Capitalism Solutions’ summer 2006 intern team, Mike worked with many collaborators on the Mayors’ Climate Protection Manual. In his free time, Mike enjoys spending time outdoors.Jeremy Epstein, a Massachusetts Native and CU Boulder graduate followed his passion for sustainable international development by lending a hand on the LASER initiative this summer. He found relevant case studies to show just how economically viable and environmentally beneficial LASER can be.Tamara Jacobi was born in Newport, Vermont and raised just over the border in Quebec, Canada. This summer Tamara worked with NCS on the development of a sustainability curriculum to be used in both high school and university settings. She has returned to Middlebury College, VT to complete her undergraduate degree in Environmental Economics.Mark Lewis is a Colorado native who finished his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of San Diego in May, 2005. Since graduation he has taught English, volunteered in an HIV orphanage, worked on various water reclamation projects, helped formulate and raise funding strategy all in Southeast Asia and volunteered on an organic farm in New Zealand. Mark now works as a sales representative with Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises and volunteers his spare time with us.Jennifer Stein graduated from CU-Boulder with a degree in Environmental Studies. During her time here with NCS she has assisted on the Climate Protection Manual project (not pictured above).[back to top] |
Making Corporations More Sustainable Through ConsultingClif Bar & Co. Life Cycle Analysis
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Treasure AmericaPromote Sound Energy Policy and the Preservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge![]() The goal of Natural Capitalism Solutions’ Treasure America Project is to promote sound energy policy and the preservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Starting in 2005, the Treasure America Project team developed a network of business and civil society leaders dedicated to ensuring the preservation of Alaska’s Arctic Refuge. The project succeeded is contributing to a critical national effort to strip legislation from a federal budget bill and a national defense spending bill which would have opened the Refuge to oil extraction. In November of this year, as politicians dead-set on the industrial development of northern Alaska lost political power, the project team has shifted the project’s focus toward the long term conservation of the Refuge.
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LASER: Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal
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Presidio Corner
What’s the first class up to now?
This June Presidio School of Management graduated its second cohort. We were curious what the first cohort had accomplished in its first year on ‘the other side.’
5 started their own sustainable businesses—and are making a livelihood from it;4 work now for-profit companies with sustainability or social values;4 were hired by sustainability-oriented non-profits;3 are now employees of Presidio School of Management;2 are seeking more sustainably-related employment while in their current jobs;1 continued with her sustainability-oriented non-profit; and1 continued with his sustainable business.Three indicative stories:
Class of 2006 Creates On-line Sustainability DictionaryResponding to the need for an accurate go-to reference source for definitions of the terms of sustainability, the enterprising Class of 2006 (with some leadership from Nathan Shedroff of Cohort 2) has compiled the first Dictionary of Sustainable Management, now available online. This first-of-its-kind dictionary is available at www.sustainabilitydictionary.com and features all the must-know terms of sustainable business. Created as a labor of love with contributions from Presidio faculty, staff, students as well as business leaders in sustainability, the new-school dictionary is designed as a tool for anyone interested in understanding the business of sustainable management. There is no fee to use the online reference guide, which is not yet available in print.
In addition to common sustainability terms, many traditional business terms are also included with a slant on how sustainability enhances or evolves their definitions. The dictionary is also designed so that anyone can comment on (or add meaning to) any term. Periodically, new editions will incorporate these comments into new definitions (both in print and online). To suggest new terms for the dictionary, email info@sustainabilitydictionary.com.What’s NextLast January Presidio enrolled its fourth cohort, marking the first time a cohort has begun in the spring semester. This fall, cohort five followed and in January 07 cohort six will join the team. After Hunter had taught one session with these new students she reported to the rest to the faculty that they’d all have to step up their game—these were really good students. Presidio is now enrolling the caliber of students who could easily have chosen any business school in the world. They came to Presidio because they are seeking the expertise in sustainability. It remains one of Hunter’s sources of hope when other forces seem dark that all of these young people are bringing their considerable talents to the field of sustainable management. If you want to join us contact: George Kao.[back to top] |
Take ActionTake action by attending or promoting an event where NCS staff are speaking/ participating.
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