2Sustain

The timing couldn’t be better. It’s January. We’re all thinking about new beginnings. Seems like the perfect time to recognize what Peter Salmon of Moxie recently called “the birth of sustainability 2.0.”

As a concept, “sustainability 2.0” has been around for awhile, but I think Salmon is right to suggest that in this economy, we need to start moving it from theory into practice. After all, according to Salmon, it’s now clear that the sustainability debate has been positioned all wrong. We’ve been thinking about it solely as an environmental problem, a risk that needs management, or a tax that needs to be paid. As a result, many companies view sustainability as a burden. It’s cargo that can be jettisoned while the focus shifts to surviving the recession.

And, therein lies the problem. This framework has created a bogus choice: sustainability or survival. The reality is, of course, that sustainability equates with survival.

“But it’s not an and/or situation. The answer is and/and,” Salmon says. “Sustainability 1.0 – compliance, CSR, reduction, limits, is over. Sustainability 2.0 is here. Sustainability 2.0 is an outcome-focused all encompassing approach. It’s a process that builds prosperous businesses creating innovative products and services; businesses founded on good financial results, responsible use of resources, and community well-being.”

Clearly, a handful of companies are already in 2.0. Corporations like Wal Mart, IBM, and GE are out well ahead of regulations. For them, sustainability is not solely about compliance. Instead, they’re learning to capitalize on the sustainability “sea change” with increased efficiencies and innovation, and that, in turn, is creating business success. As I mentioned last week, sustainability plans are quickly becoming standard practice, and I suspect that over the coming year we’ll be hearing more about the shift toward sustainability 2.0 as other companies create their own blueprints for responsible prosperity.