The Sustainability Company – a Book Review

The Sustainability Company

The first in the Peachy Green series of “Green Reads,” we recommend “The Sustainability Company: How to Create Lasting Value Through Social and Environmental Performance,” by Christopher Laszlo.  Published in 2003 by Island Press, this book examines how “going green” may help your company’s profitability, as well as the environment.  The Sustainability Company explains that those businesses that are the most responsive to social and environmental issues will enjoy the greatest success.  As a former executive of the Proctor and Gamble Company states,

“What Mr. Laszlo calls ‘planetary ethics,’ or the integration of economic, environmental, social and high ethical objectives into long-term business strategy, is the new price of entry for corporate survival. Those who ‘get’ this and do it best will enjoy increasing shareholder value. I believe this book carries a critical message for today’s corporate executives.” – Deborah D. Anderson, former Vice President, Environmental – Quality Worldwide

The Sustainability Company not only includes a number of specific case studies in which companies profited from acting morally and in an environmentally-conscious manner, it tells you how to do it!  CEOs and managers can take practical advice from the book’s eight key disciplines that will increase sustainable value.  In this regard, The Sustainability Company is unlike any other “green business book” you’ll find.

Why place a high value on “going green,” when we are suffering the effects of so little green cash-flow these days?  Because you cannot afford not to!  You can gain unprecedented loyalty among employees when you employ sustainable, socially-responsible practices.  Then, turn around and leverage it to your advantage vis-a-vis your competitors.  Advertise your good works, create a foundation to continue your green practices and set a great example for the rest of the world!  The Sustainability Company also encourages corporations to stay a step ahead of governmental regulations.  How much better does it sound to consumers when you can say that you employed new waste reduction measures or cut greenhouse emissionsin excess of what is required by law?  Personally, I think its Peachy Green advice!

Sustainability is a Root Contributor to Corporate Success

The book’s author, Christopher Laszlo, spent nearly a decade as a senior executive at Lafarge S.A., a leader in building materials, before co-founding the consulting firm of Sustainable Value Partners.  Today, you can obtain Mr. Laszlo’s practical advice, combined with his education (he earned a Ph.D. in Economics and Management Science, after attending Swarthmore, Columbia, and the University of Paris), in The Sustainability Company.  You may also want to check out a related publication, “Sustainable Value: How the World’s Leading Companies are Doing Well by Doing Good.”

Both books are available at Amazon.com, and in many major bookstores.  You may also order by calling 1.800.828.1302.

If you like what you read in Mr. Laszlo’s books, you may also enjoy publications by Sustainable Value Partners, including this article titled “Why Pursue Sustainability During an Economic Downturn?”

In the words of Gandhi, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”