Looking for a new career? Try thinking
green, as in sustainable business. Wall
Street might not exactly have caught
onto the concept yet, but it's only
a matter of time. Business schools across
the country are offering classes in
sustainable business practices, and
some offer MBAs in the field. The Presidio
School of Management situated in San
Francisco's Presidio National Park integrates
social and environmental values into
every one of its courses.
Being mindful of your impact on society
and on the environment is what sustainable
business is all about. And MBA programs
as well as sustainable business alliances
are showing that incorporating environmentally
and socially sound practices into
a business can also be profitable.
In fact, so many people of all stripes
are concerned about preserving our
environment right now that using sustainable
business practices to run your venture
is actually becoming a selling point
in itself.
What sorts of businesses are taking
care of the bottom line while also
helping to ensure that our future
society and environment are healthy?
All kinds. Farmers employing organic
methods, importers who purchase commodities
such as coffee from cooperatives that
farm in such a way that their environment
is not harmed in the process, builders
who use materials that are healthy
for humans to live and work in and
around as well as materials that do
not deplete our natural resources.
These are just a few. And the list
is growing every day.
There's also the whole field of renewable
energy. Imagine what life would be
like in the U.S. if we weren't so
dependent on foreign oil, or any oil
for that matter. (The supply going
to run out, after all.) There are
existing alternatives such as biodiesel
and ethanol that are renewable fuels.
Most autos in Brazil run on ethanol.
Funny, we don't hear much about that
in the news, do we. Their government
has a mandate requiring that their
fuels contain 25% alcohol. They make
their ethanol from corn, which they
grow anew each season, and their autos,
vans, trucks and other vehicles aren't
spewing toxins from oil into the environment
day after day. That means they all
breather easier than those living
in the U.S.
There are many opportunities to establish
a fuel-related sustainable business
as well as in the solar power and
wind power spheres. All it takes is
the will to get involved and the ability
to communicate to others why your
product or service will be more efficient,
less expensive, and better for the
environment.
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