Is Sustainability the Key to Innovation?

When a business or organization is called “sustainable,” it usually means that the entity is an environmentally friendly one, a company that is more “green” than many others. Many companies, though, are afraid to be completely sustainable, for various reasons. Some are afraid their company will no longer be able to compete globally with other companies, and others are afraid they may cease to exist entirely should they become greener. Neither of these, however, is true. A company that is trying to be more sustainable and limit the size of its carbon footprint usually not only grows, but thrives as well.

Thanks in part to this way of thinking, a lot of innovation is occurring because of the sustainability factor, and has produced both products and results that are truly significant. Becoming more sustainable often forces companies to increase their innovative techniques, and therefore improve their business models, products and operations. These days, most experts agree that sustainability is, in fact, a major component of today’s innovation efforts.

Innovation Often Starts with Governmental Regulations

Many times, the government will step in and require certain sustainability measures, certain rules that all companies in a specific industry must follow. In addition to governmental regulations, many sector-specific laws are also developed. In either case, most experts recommend that if your industry requires certain rules to be followed, you follow them exactly, even if they are just suggestions to start with. Suggested regulations – including those that affect sustainability – often become required ones later on, so industries are usually encouraged to follow them sooner rather than later. Keeping up with regulations usually has positive results for companies, including:

• They become more environmentally conscious and pay more attention to their habits regarding consumption of resources
• They respond to the regulations by developing more sustainable products and services, even developing new technology and processes that help their future products and services be even greener
• They change the focus of their future to include better sustainability, which means newer products and, therefore, the increased likelihood that they will remain in business

Overall, governmental and sector regulations usually jump-start a company’s efforts to become more sustainable, which means more security for them in the long run.

Results of Sustainability and Innovation

How do we know that sustainability efforts contribute to innovation? Simple – by looking at the things produced as a result of this concept. These include:

• Furniture and packing supplies made with a plastic that is carbon-neutral and with materials that include greenhouse gases from the air
• Glass for windows that regulates the light and temperature in the room, which saves on energy costs
• Recycling companies that recycle everything from old cell phones to plastic items and much more
• Computer software that can actually deliver energy-saving information to both homes and businesses, which results in both energy and money being saved
• Systems that take leftover food from restaurants and grind it into a homogeneous biomass, which is then used as, among other things, renewable energy
• Recycled carpet that captures pollutant particles and fine dust, which allows it to be healthier for those with allergies

Naturally, there are other examples of this trend, and most others can be explored in detail with a quick search on the Internet.

How to Learn More About Sustainability and Innovation

Efforts to learn about sustainability and its effect on innovation are easy to satisfy because all you have to do is go online. Not only are there numerous articles and information on this topic, but there are also companies that offer grants and even business loans specifically for companies that are attempting to develop new technology based on sustainability. Many of these companies concentrate on certain industries – such as food production, community development or technology – but all have the same focus, and that focus is to encourage technological advances that will result in better sustainability overall.

A recent study by MIT found that out of 2,600 executives in various industries, almost 50 percent of them said that their business model is now altered to include better sustainability. Of the executives who reported this, roughly 75 percent said their companies either broke even or made a profit. This is further proof that the link between sustainability and innovation is a strong one, and that more and more companies are beginning to get the message.