Daniel Goleman, bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence and The New Leaders has put his mind an pen to Ecological Intelligence. This is a very readable introduction to the rapidly exploding reality of sustainability and how it is changing the face of consumerism, production and waste management. Going well beyond the carbon hoopla, Goleman tackles how environmental, social and health impacts are changing the way we purchase and produce.
Increasing data on products allows individual and institutional consumers to see exactly where a purchase comes
from, what damage it has done in getting to you, how it might harm you and your children, and what impact it will have when
you dispose of it. This is based
on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) where industrial engineers are building massive
databases on how a product evolves from nature and what impacts it has on
health, social systems and the environment.
Goleman calls this radical transparency and shows how information is increasingly available and already shapes certain categories such as luxury, sport, government and institutional purchasing. Walmart's recent commitment to sustainability has already had massive impacts across its supply chains to thousands of factories in China and the world. So much for "Everyday low prices".
Goodguide (www.goodguide.com) is one of
the first publicly available sites to explore how products compare. Earthster (www.earthster.org) is a more
industrial version. Please take a
look as both demonstrate immediately how radical transparency will increasingly
transform what the market buys and which organisations will be under threat.
The organisational impact is undoubtedly
going to be profound and the initial work by Walmart, Coke, Nike and others is
demonstrating that business can do well by doing good. For example the supply chain savings
from Walmart’s sustainability initiatives are huge.
For those interested in a strategic view of sustainability take a look at "The Necessary Revolution" by Peter Senge.