Thursday, October 04, 2012
Very often I hear people argue that
sustainable manufacturing processes are unrealistic and/or
cost-ineffective. But this simply isn't true. It always helps to
have an example, so during these debates I reference the work of Ray
Anderson, the founder and adored chairman of Interface, Inc.
Interface is a modular carpet
manufacturer that went from being extremely oil intensive to
extremely environmentally friendly. Remarkably, they achieved
greater success as a result. In his book titled Confessions of a
Radical Industrialist, Anderson explained that in 1994 he steered
Interface towards sustainability while increasing the company’s
profits.
The motivation to ‘go green’ came after he finished reading a book by Paul Hawken called The Ecology of Commerce. After this experience he developed an entirely new vision for his company based on achieving sustainability – a concept that had never factored into the organization’s way of business prior to this time.
The motivation to ‘go green’ came after he finished reading a book by Paul Hawken called The Ecology of Commerce. After this experience he developed an entirely new vision for his company based on achieving sustainability – a concept that had never factored into the organization’s way of business prior to this time.
Step by step and through some trial and error,
he managed to lead the entire organization on what some would call an
impossible mission to achieve the ultimate goal of producing zero
waste. Unfortunately, Ray Anderson passed away in 2011 but he
accomplished a massive reformation of his company (with the help of a
great team) before he died.
I love this story because it proves
that sustainability and profitability do go together. I highly
recommend Ray Anderson's book for a more detailed account of how
Interface came to be known as the worldwide leader in design,
production and sales of environmentally-responsible modular
carpeting. For a preview of what to expect, I've included this short video of Ray Anderson, himself, talking about Confessions of a Radical Industrialist:
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