The need to infuse nature’s ways into our economic systems is no longer about a better environment, it is about out very survival as a species—and most others as well. Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi conveys important lessons learned on the most recent segment of this mythic journey.
Randy Hayes, President Rainforest Action Network

Despite a decade of high-level talking, and all sorts of new business initiatives, sustainability remains an elusive concept for both businesspeople and policy-makers. It needn’t be like that. This is a book that cuts through the confusion, combining the hard science of sustainability with practical, real-life business experience. Continuing confusion about sustainability is not an option. We urgently need to start engaging with the real thing.
Jonathon Porritt, Chairman, The Natural Step UK
 

Few books about sustainability lend insight into the intricacies of integrating social and ecological factors into business strategy. Even fewer celebrate the creativity necessary to do so. Aided by actionable case studies told by pioneering practitioners, Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi brings to life the inevitable fact that too many in the business community avoid: We are all part of—and responsible to—a system that we don't fully understand yet should aim to fully respect, even if only for our own good.
John R. Emrick, Chairman and CEO, Norm Thompson Outfitters
 

Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi is just what the doctor ordered: smart, detailed, in-the-trenches case studies of how companies align sustainability with business success, along with the scientific and societal rationale that amplify these initiatives’ importance. There may be no better set of principles to guide today’s companies through tomorrow's challenging markets.
Joel Makower, Editor, The Green Business Letter, and founder, GreenBiz.com
 

Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi is one of the most informative, comprehensive and inspiring works on how business and industry must think and can act to help create a healthy, just and sustainable society worldwide. It is the first book to link business decision-making and strategies for action to a framework and set of scientific principles that can lead to true sustainability. Masterfully written and based on solid theory backed up by impressive case studies, Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi is a ‘must-read’ for decision-makers in industry, government, and civil society and should be required reading in all business, economics, and engineering education.
Anthony D. Cortese, ScD, President, Second Nature
 

Unsustainable business practices are becoming increasingly costly as the demand for resources rise. Companies working towards environmental and social sustainability are learning first-hand that it’s the right thing to do and that it's profitable. Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi provides a glimpse into a handful of pioneering companies that are integrating systems thinking, rigorous analysis and compassion, into their daily work.
Mats Lederhausen, McDonald's Corporation, President Business Development
 

Sustainability doesn’t just happen: It requires a leap forward not just in our processes but in our thinking. This book shows the way. Moreover, it demonstrates that our environmental problems have common-sense solutions—that if we are thoughtful and creative we can do better—and that our political leaders are sadly lagging behind.
Carl Pope, Executive Director, The Sierra Club
 

Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi offers a big-picture and ultimately optimistic view of business's transition toward sustainability. By combining case studies with a high-level overview of the sorts of work that need to be done, it provides visionary yet practical guidance.
Carl Frankel, Author of In Earth's Company: Business, Environment and the Challenge of Sustainability
 

This book offers a compelling collection of arguments and illustrations for convincing creative business leaders that sustainability is the desired path for the future. Through 14 chapters covering theory, case studies, and tools, the book shows that the business drive towards sustainability requires a systems approach and intelligent questioning, but, also, a deep-seated concern for the environment and all of the life it supports.
Ken Geiser, Author of Materials Matter and Director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), University of Massachusetts, Lowell
 

Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi provides a good sampling of the kind of thinking and action that will be needed to pull our world from its ever-spiraling social, economic, and environmental problems. The authors offer a glimpse of what it will take: revolutionary innovation, deep social consciousness, and new adaptations of natural systems. For those who want to see business as it should be, this is the book to read.
William R. Blackburn, Blackburn Consulting and Former Vice-President and Chief Counsel, Corporate Environment, Health & Safety, Baxter International Inc.
 

The outline of the corporation of the future is just starting to emerge. We owe a debt of gratitude to the pioneering work of Ray Anderson, Matt Klein, and others affiliated with The Natural Step for bringing this outline into sharper focus.
Woody Tasch, Investors’ Circle
 

The work described in this book is essential reading for the 21st-century business leader wanting to know about the next important trends. Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi argues that new designs for all enterprises—from large, medium, and small businesses, through financial service sector institutions—are becoming clear. This shift turns on integration of environmental and social issues into business strategy and operations and the pathways for taking these issues seriously while running a successful company.
Michael Baldwin, President, Marion Institute and Baldwin Brothers, Inc.
 

 

 

 

Contents

 

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Preface (56K)
Acknowledgements

1 Introduction: envisioning the prototypical company of the 21st century (156K)
Ray Anderson, Interface Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA

 

Part 1: The transition to sustainability-oriented enterprises

2 Understanding nature’s services to societies
Gretchen Daily, Stanford University, California, USA
Katherine Ellison, Investigative Journalist, California, USA

3 Reconsidering business from a systems perspective: the paradigm shift to sustainability-oriented enterprises and financial services
Sissel Waage, The Natural Step, California, USA

4 Integrating sustainability into business strategy and operations: applying The Natural Step approach and framework and backcasting from principles of sustainability
Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Blekinge Technical University and The Natural Step, Sweden

 

Part 2: Case studies of evolving business initiatives

5 Sustainability and dematerialisation at Hewlett Packard
David Hudson, Consultant to Hewlett Packard, USA, and Lynelle Preston, Sustainability Manager, Hewlett Packard, USA

6 Engaging in change management: transformation through sustainability strategy at Norm Thompson Outfitters
Derek Smith, Norm Thompson Outfitters, Oregon, USA

7 Recreating natural-resource-based businesses: sustaining the land and communities in the US New Northwest
Cecilia Danks, University of Vermont, USA;
Martin Goebel, and Karen Steer, Sustainable Northwest, Oregon, USA

8 Growing a sustainable business: establishing and financing new ecologically and socially restorative ventures
Matthew A. Klein, Verdant Power, Washington, DC, USA

 

Part 3: Case studies from the financial services sector

9 Screening for sustainability: a case study of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Alois Flatz, SAM Sustainable Asset Management, Switzerland

10 Banking on sustainability: A case study of Shorebank Enterprise Pacific
Jennifer Sokolove, University of California at Berkeley, USA

 

Part 4: Reporting and accountability

11 Improving sustainability disclosure: the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines
Allen L. White, Special Advisor to the Global Reporting Initiative, USA

 

Part 5: Pathways forward to organisational and societal change

12 Organisational change for sustainability within enterprises and financial services
Sissel Waage, The Natural Step, California, USA
Juli Torok, Independent Consultant, Berkeley, California, USA

13 Catalysing action and organisational change: the role of personal and group (re)vitalisation in sustainability initiatives
Hilary Bradbury, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, USA

14 Conclusion: a shift toward sustainability within companies and the financial services sector
Sissel Waage, The Natural Step, California, USA
 

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About the editor

Sissel Waage is the Director of the R&D Program at The Natural Step’s US office. She launched the program, developing the strategy and implementing both conceptual and applied research efforts. Dr. Waage also works closely with the Services Group advising Fortune 500 companies on integrating sustainability into core strategy and operations. She has been working on sustainability issues for the past 12 years in Africa, Europe, and North America. Her areas of focus have included business, international policy-making, and community-based conservation and development. Dr. Waage has conducted research on topics related to natural resource-based businesses and economies, collaborative decision-making and consensus-building processes. Prior to joining The Natural Step, she worked with Sustainable Northwest and WWF’s East and Southern Africa Program, as well as serving as a consultant to the Packard Foundation, a forest research station, and several other international conservation and development organizations. She completed her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, and received her BA degree magna cum laude from Amherst College, in Massachusetts. She has also studied at the University of Oslo, in Norway, as a Fulbright Scholar, and at the National University of Singapore.