Sustainable Business Solutions for Green Businesses

New! 2008 State of Green Business report available online from GreenBiz.com

1. Biodegradable Plastic
   looks, feels and acts like traditional plastic, but breaks down later into organic components. Crops such as corn and potato have been used to make these non-petroleum alternatives.



2. Biomimicry
   Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf.
3. C2C Certification
   Cradle to Cradle Certification provides a company with a means to tangibly, credibly measure achievement in environmentally-intelligent design and helps customers purchase and specify products that are pursuing a broader definition of quality.
4. Cleantech Accelerator
   A database run by the Cleantech Group that allows companies who want to green their practices request services and products that are needed for their operations. Green companies can then submit proposed solutions to the companies. Wal-Mart is kicking it off and the Cleantech Group is inviting other large companies to participate in the system.
5. ClimateCounts
   Climate Counts lets consumers see how serious companies are about stopping climate change - and how they compare to their competitors.
6. Corporate Social Responsibility
   a comprehensive set of policies, practices and programs that are integrated into business operations, supply chains, and decision-making processes throughout the company and includes responsibility for current and past actions as well as future impacts. The goal is to help companies achieve commercial success in ways that honor ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment.
7. Cradle-to-Cradle (Closed Loop Systems)
   System in which all the things we make, use, and consume provide nutrition for nature and industry—a world in which growth is good and human activity generates a delightful, restorative ecological footprint.
8. Dematerialization
   to identify opportunities to provide equal or greater functionality to consumers while using less energy and material per unit function.
9. Design for Environment/Design for Sustainability
   supports product developers in reducing, already at the development phase of a product’s life cycle, the environmental impact through enhancing the product design. This includes reducing resource consumption, both in material and energy terms, and pollution prevention.
10. EcoAudit
    moving beyond compliance audits, which "evaluate whether a company, division or plant meets the full complement of federal and local environmental regulations, as well as internal corporate policies and standards" to other areas such as waste audits, which analyze the characteristics of a waste stream to identify opportunities for was reduction or reuse; product audits, which examine environmental impacts throughout a product's life cycle, to support improved design; and energy audits, which may look at both direct energy use and the energy "embodied" in a company's purchases.
11. Eco-Efficiency
    to create more goods and services while using fewer resources and creating less waste and pollution.
12. Eco-Industrial Parks
    a community of manufacturing and service businesses located together on a common property. Member businesses seek enhanced environmental, economic, and social performance through collaboration in managing environmental and resource issues. Components of this approach include green design of park infrastructure and plants (new or retrofitted); cleaner production, pollution prevention; energy efficiency; and inter-company partnering. An EIP also seeks benefits for neighboring communities to assure that the net impact of its development is positive.
13. Emissions Trading
    an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants.
14. Environmental Conscious Manufacturing (ECM)
    focuses on the most efficient and productive use of raw materials and natural resources, and minimizes the adverse impacts on workers and the natural environment. In its most advanced form, a product's entire life cycle is considered, from design, raw material and natural resource use to end use and disposal.
15. Environment Health Safety Freeware
    freeware that provides information and tools to help business achieve environmental excellence.
16. Environmental Businesses Directory and Google Environmental Businesses Directory
    global online marketplace and information resources for the environmental industry
17. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
    used to identify the Environmental, Social and Economic impacts of a proposed development prior to decision making.
18. Environmental Management Accounting (EMA)
    the identification, collection, estimation, analysis, internal reporting, and use of materials and energy flow information, environmental cost information, and other cost information for both conventional and environmental decision-making within an organization.
19. Environmental Management Systems (EMS) or Integrated Management System
    a set of management processes and procedures that allows an organization to analyze, control and reduce the environmental impact of its activities, products and services and operate with greater efficiency and control.  
20. Environmental Technology Verification
    Environmental Protection Agency program which verifies the performance of innovative technologies that have the potential to improve protection of human health and the environment and provides a list of verified products to the public.
21. Factor Four
    the idea that resource productivity should be quadrupled so that wealth is doubled, and resource use is halved.
22. Fair Trade Labeling
    a brand designed to allow consumers to identify goods which meet agreed fair trade standards. Typically standards cover labor standards, environmental standards, and stable pricing. The program is overseen by an international umbrella organization, the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). The Fair Trade Federation provides a list of wholesalers.
23. Global Reporting Initiative
    a multi-stakeholder process and independent institution whose mission is to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.
24. Green Chemistry
    the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.
25. Green Product Certifications (Eco-Labels) Directory
    the Consumers Union's useful guide to environmental labels across a wide variety of industries.
26. Industrial Ecology
    focused on optimizing the use of energies and materials, minimizing wastes and pollution, and creating an economically viable role for every product of a manufacturing process. The end result would be that industrial activity would be environmentally sustainable on a global level.
27. ISO 14000
    environmental management standards that help organizations minimize their impact on the environment; comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements; and continually improve on the above.
28. Life Cycle Analysis and Assessment
    involves making detailed measurements during the manufacture of the product, from the mining of the raw materials used in its production and distribution, through to its use, possible re-use or recycling, and its eventual disposal. Enables a manufacturer to quantify how much energy and raw materials are used, and how much solid, liquid and gaseous waste is generated, at each stage of the product's life.
29. Life Cycle Thinking
    addresses life cycle generated impacts through the use of different approaches aiming at minimizing them such as: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Management (LCM), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Design for the Environment (DfE).
30. Material Exchange
    a network "service" that helps to redirect unwanted equipment, overruns, rejects, and other materials from businesses to other businesses, not-for-profits, schools, community groups, and others that need the materials. These material exchanges usually have a catalog or computer listing of materials wanted and materials available and often have a staff available to help facilitate the exchange of materials. This term is often used synonymously with "waste exchange."
31. Natural Capitalism
    a new business model that synergizes four major elements: radically increase the productivity of resource use; shift to biologically inspired production (Biomimicry) with closed loops, no waste, and no toxicity; shift the business model away from the making and selling of "things" to providing the service that the "thing" delivers; and reinvest in natural and human capital.
32. The Natural Step
    a science and systems-based approach to organizational planning for sustainability. It provides a practical set of design criteria that can be used to direct social, environmental, and economic actions.
33. Organizational Learning
    how an organization uses its collective ability to make sense of and respond to its surroundings. It includes individual learning as employees interact with the external environment or experiment to create new information or knowledge, the integration of new information or knowledge, the relation and collective interpretation of all available information, and action based on the interpretation.
34. Pollution Prevention
    a strategy of material use, processing, and management that reduces or eliminates the creation of pollutants and waste at the source--prior to recycling, treatment or disposal. Also referred to as source reduction.
35. Precautionary Principle
    states that when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
36. Product Stewardship
    a product-centered approach to environmental protection. It calls on those in the product lifecycle - manufacturers, retailers, users, and disposers - to share responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of products.
37. Product Take-Back Laws
    requires companies who make or import items to be involved in the "end-of-life" phase of their products life cycles. In almost all cases, there is a requirement to meet minimal recycling or re-use rates.
38. REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals)
    Legislation by the European Union that forces industries doing business in Europe to register chemicals and submit health and safety data, and replace the most hazardous ones with safer alternatives. The law, which takes effect in June 2007, is impacting businesses worldwide and over time will result in a significant reduction of toxic chemicals released into the environment.
39. Regenerative Design
    the basic design process required to realize more effective connections; leading to higher levels of environmentally healthy design.
40. Resource Productivity
    doing the same (or better) services with fewer resources.
41. Service or Functional Economy
    at a company level, a structure where revenues come from leasing of equipment with long-life; continuing maintenance and service; major upgrading of systems; parts and supplies; service provider training and licensing.  Or the company might simplify the transaction by offering one, use-based fee. If the company is compensated on the basis of service provided, its employees will have strong incentives to minimize materials and energy used in the systems that deliver the service to the customer.
42. Sustainable Industrial Metabolism
    focuses on the long-term transformation of the technical base of the economy, with a view towards reducing the demands and pressures exerted by society on its resource base and its environment.
43. Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM)
    a management philosophy and a set of accompanying quality improvement techniques that has been adopted by many American corporations. By applying TQM philosophy and techniques, businesses undertake continuous improvement across all operations by seeking to discover the reasons for poor quality performance and customer service and implementing methods to reduce and/or eliminate the causes of poor quality. Waste or pollution can be viewed as an inefficiency or defect within a process that results in poor environmental performance for a company. With TQEM, the tools and philosophies of TQM are used to improve environmental performance by eliminating the waste or reducing its impact.
44. Whole Systems Thinking
    a process through which the interconnections between systems are actively considered, and solutions are sought that address multiple problems at the same time. Some refer to this process as the search for "solution multipliers."
45. Zero Waste
    expresses the need for a closed-loop industrial/societal system. Waste is a sign of inefficiency. Includes "Zero Solid Waste", "Zero Hazardous Waste",  "Zero Toxics" and "Zero Emissions".
46. Additional Resources: Sustainable business terminology and concepts are explained in the Dictionary of Sustainable Management. Learn more about companies who have gone green in Inc.com's article The Green 50 and at GreenBiz Leaders.