Businesses are catching on to the benefits of sustainable practices, and local companies have a role to play in the big picture.
That was one of the messages that came out of Thursday’s presentation, called The ROI (return on investment) of Sustainability, by Bob Willard.
Willard, a former IBM executive who worked with the company for 34 years, is the founder of Sustainability Advantage, the goal of which is to equip people with the resources they need to make positive changes as champions of the environment.
There’s long been a perception that ‘going green’ comes with a hefty price tag. Those days are already on the way out, Willard said, noting solar and wind power, for example, is now cheaper than coal.
“The technology costs for solar and wind have dropped like a stone. The need to charge extra for products is also going down,” he said. “People are surprised — almost embarrassed — that these things are not as costly as they thought.”
Those attending Thursday’s session seemed surprised when Willard told them 99.8 per cent of companies in Canada employ 500 or fewer people. That’s why, while larger companies have more money and resources to make environmentally friendly changes, resources are also needed for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Willard, who has a PhD in sustainability from the University of Toronto, is trying to help by offering his downloadable Sustainability ROI Workbook available for free on his website.
“We’ve got to pick up the pace in being able to arm people who care about this with talking points that are important to the business community. We can’t screw around on this anymore,” he said.
While many small-business owners want to have sustainable operations, large companies have also been coming around in recent years.
Twenty years ago, they would say, “It’s not my problem,” Willard said, but now they are feeling the “boomerang” — the impacts of climate change and resource depletion on their bottom lines.
“All of a sudden, this gets personal.”
“Society and business are wholly owned subsidiaries of the environment,” he said, questioning whether the environment, like some banks, is considered too big to fail. “There are some signs that it’s struggling and we’ve got to make darn sure it doesn’t fail.”
Small businesses can do their part by being mindful of where they get their labour and materials.
There were 16 people in attendance Thursday, representing a variety of professions and backgrounds — a church warden, a university instructor, accountants and an aspiring entrepreneur, among others.
“They may want to influence other people — somebody who is in a position of power — and meet them where they are, talk their language,” Willard said, adding that’s where his workbook and other resources can come in handy.
Susan Stacey, a loans officer with Orillia’s Community Development Corporation, found the event helpful.
“It was excellent. There were so many things that (Willard) talked about that the average person is not thinking about as we go about our daily lives,” she said. “It was definitely a real eye opener.”
The information will be useful in Stacey’s role as a loans officer.
“As I’m meeting with clients, a good thing to bring up in the discussion is opportunities for them to help with sustainability,” she said, noting such measures can assist a business with both its profitability and its reputation.
Willard’s presentation at the Orillia City Centre was hosted by Sustainable Orillia and the city’s economic development office.
Sustainable Orillia chair Stan Mathewson was “impressed with the range of the folks who were there.”
“It was a great cross-section of the community and there wasn’t one person there who didn’t commit to Bob’s practices in one way or another," he said.
A few of the attendees committed to completing a case study to provide a local example of the return on investment of sustainability — an example that can be referenced when Willard returns in April to host another session.
Mathewson said the committee was “initially disappointed” with the turnout.
“We thought that the business community would see this as a great opportunity to learn how to improve their bottom line,” he said.
However, in speaking with a representative from the Orillia District Chamber of Commerce, Mathewson was told it was a busy time for local business owners. That’s why Willard will return in the spring for another event, being organized in conjunction with the chamber.
For more information about Sustainable Orillia, visit its website.
