It chops, it dices, It makes the planet healthier! Getting innovation in business to matter

WWF

Sometimes I watch infomercials. Let’s say it’s 4am, I’ve gotten up to change a diaper, the “situation” requires full alertness, and—afterwards—sleep is no longer an option (for me, anyway).  As a result, I’ve become familiar with a spectacularly wide-range of new products designed to dramatically improve our lives.  Things that slice tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs (and all of this time, I’ve been using a knife!).  Things that open jars.  Things that shine cars.  Even things that make sitting on the couch and watching TV less burdensome (thank you: remote-control organizer, blanket with arm holes, and stackable snack trays).  A significant amount of human imagination and inventiveness has gone into creating these products; not just the gadgets themselves, but also the need for them.

©  Istockphoto.com / WWF-Canada

In the context of WWF’s newly released 2012 Living Planet Report, I can’t help but feel that all this “innovation” is moving us in the wrong direction.  In today’s mainstream corporate world, increased consumption = profitability.  How do you reconcile this definition of business success, which is typically linked to selling more stuff, with the definition of conservation success: to live within the means of this one planet we all call home?  One thing is certain:  it’s a conundrum we all better get busy solving.

Here’s where innovation in business may actually play an essential role in improving our lives.  Not in building the better egg-slicer, but in developing new business models that channel investment in—rather than erosion of—our planet’s natural capital.
The good news is we are already starting to see that happen.  Take Bullfrog Power, for example.  In 2005, Bullfrog was the first Canadian retailer to offer a credible renewable energy product to businesses and everyday people in Ontario.  Through Bullfrog, individuals could choose to direct their energy dollars toward increasing the amount of wind and run-of-the-river hydro sources that power our grid.  Today, thousands of homes and organizations across the country choose Bullfrog Power, resulting in profits for the company and a new, powerful market for renewable energy in Canada.
But change can’t be driven only by pioneers in this new “sustainable business” space.  It’s also got to be about established institutions of business (read: Fortune 500) fundamentally changing how they do what they do. These leaders can offer products and services to the masses that leave a lighter footprint, ‘investing’ in our future in a way that makes sound business sense.  Take for example, Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocery retailer that serves over 13 million consumers weekly, committing to source 100% sustainable seafood and palm oil for all of the products they sell.  Or pulp and paper giants like Tembec and Domtar committing to sustainable forestry practices and offering buyers and consumers the option to “vote” for better products with their wallets. Or Coca-Cola, who buys 3 percent of the world’s sugar, making the first ever purchase of certified responsible sugar, and committing to helping shift their entire supply chain.
We’ve seen it done and we know it works. And the even better news is that we’re seeing it being done at an ever increasing rate, transforming how commodities like sugar, beef, cotton and soy get produced.  This is the stuff that we consume (and take for granted) every day.
What we need now, most of all, is for this wave of innovation to reach scale.  Here at WWF, we help build the tools, methodologies and partnerships to make that possible.  And that’s what helps me get back to sleep at night (oh, and my Snuggie, of course).