This volume pulls together thirty of the top thinkers in sustainability for a provocative and stimulating journey that happens to be easy to read. Its title echoes two famous works: Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations and Michael Porter's The Competitive Advantage of Nations, and it also gives a nod to an influential publication down under called Natural Advantage: Blueprint for a Sustainable Australia.
The editors are co-founders of the Natural Edge Project, an Australian nonprofit that aims to inform and educate people about the latest research in and case examples of sustainable business operations as well as efforts in education, transportation, and government. The goal of the book is to share this news with people working in government, business, civil society, and other sectors.
Few would disagree that much is wrong with the environment. Agriculture is dependent on chemicals and fossil fuels. Energy production and chemical waste destroy natural resources and the climate. These are big issues to solve, but they should be looked upon as opportunities, not as costs, according to the book. The industrialized world, the essays contend, needs to focus not just on sustainable development but also on "sustainable re-development," which would shift the focus from solving environmental problems to eliminating them. In the book's view, businesses have the resources, management, leadership, and skills necessary to solve these problems; they just need to commit. And they should, because shareholder value is enhanced by a firm's ability to nurture talent and new ideas, as well as its reputation and brand identity.
Nations as well as firms can encourage sustainability, the contributors write. Globalization has made low costs easier to achieve, but it is also important to create "non-price benefits." At the microeconomic level, this means businesses should reduce reliance on natural resources and price advantages, while at the macro level nations should support the private sector by encouraging competition.
So how do these good intentions work in practice? The book describes an Australian company, Close the Loop, which recycles toner and inkjet cartridges without sending any waste to landfills. Its "Green Machine" allows the return of raw materials to manufacturers, making it perhaps the only company in the world to do this. Interface, a large commercial carpet manufacturer, produces a carpet from renewable biomass such as corn waste.
On the national level, the book describes how the Netherlands' Dutch Sustainable Technology Development program was created to spur innovation and collaboration among scientists, businesspeople, policymakers, and others to explore long-term solutions for meeting the needs of future generations. These solutions may eventually be incorporated into the national infrastructure.
These are a few of the impressive examples used throughout the book to drive home the point that innovation and sustainability go hand in hand. Readers who would like to learn more can visit the companion Web site at http://www.thenaturaladvantage.info/. It includes links to all the references, more about The Natural Edge Project, and additional Web sites of interest.—Cynthia D. Churchwell