Critically acclaimed and easy-to-read, The Sustainable Business dispels the common belief that sustainability is solely about going green. Generally speaking, the capacity to continue into the long-term (one of many sustainability definitions) embraces the psychological, behavioural, industrial, economic, financial, social, legal, and environmental arenas and requires a whole-system approach.

The problem with only focusing on the environmental aspects of sustainability is that once a few facts become clear it is tempting to believe they possess an independence all their own and to rest in them and believe that they are the foundation of what is being sought (theologians call this idolatry).

Using a tried-and-tested teaching model developed by the author, The Sustainable Business reveals proven ways to apply long-term (i.e.: sustainable) business concepts in a concise, easy-to-understand framework that has proven to generate wealth, optimize labour and financial investments (and other valuable resources), and reduce environmental degradation in the bargain. Specific material covered within its pages includes:

• a more complete picture of what sustainability is about and what it entails in a business context,
• how workplaces, products, production lines and people can become more efficient, and profitable,
• how simple basics such as proper lighting can lower costs, increase productivity up to 16% and raise sales by 40%,
• how something as seemingly innocuous as extraneous packaging can substantially reduce expenses (one company is currently saving over $3-billion a year from reduced packaging),
• how any organization can begin a waste-reduction program that leads to greater sustainability,
• what the single greatest consumer of electricity is in industry and how it can be minimized,
• how to make any office less wasteful, more efficient and less costly,
• how (and why) sustainable activities pays for themselves,
• how to get people to think in the long-term, and more.

This guide covers the waste-reduction aspects of sustainability in a business application context and the interplay they have on one another. Alliterations are never perfect. However, the 7-P model (Preparation, Preservation, Processes, People, Place, Product, Production) has proven to be helpful both in and out of the classroom so it has been used to structure this guide.

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