Benefits to Companies Addressing Sustainability

Cost Savings

• Increasing the energy efficiency of existing offices and warehouses
• Recycling eliminates unnecessary and often costly waste streams
• Reductions in resource use (paper, water, electricity, oil)
• Replace carbon-intensive actions with sustainable alternatives when appropriate (video conferencing vs airline travel)

Risk Mitigation

• Avoid future regulation from climate change and environmental pollution
• Keep up with competitor actions
• Political fallout from inaction on sustainability and climate change
• Enhance reputation with environmental groups and media
• If public company, stave off public shareholder fights with investor advocacy groups

Increased Revenues

• Price premiums for "green" products
• Grab market share as environmentally-conscious consumers become more mainstream

Driving Innovation

• Establish new markets for "green" products and services
• Reducing wasteful production methods and harmful product attributes establishes company as industry leader
• First-mover advantage in environmental consumer market

Employee Alignment

• Sustainability initiatives facilitate recruitment and retention of employees
• Employees are a great source of potential cost-savings measures
• Increased employee satisfaction leads to productivity gains
• Need to synch CEO mission with on-the-ground actions
• Younger workers are particularly engaged on sustainability