Business Doyen Weighs In
Business guru, Michael Porter, urges business to integrate social and environmental issues into their broader corporate strategy. Better know for his book The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Professor Porter writes increasingly about the the relationship between competitiveness and the natural environment. In the preface of Tomorrow's Markets he writes: "... virtually all corporate pollution is a sign of economic waste and unproductive use of resources, and can be addressed with better technology or improved methods. Forcing companies to install abatement technologies is usually the wrong approach; the better approach is product and process innovation. The same is true with the use of energy, the cause of most greenhouse gas emissions." Published by the World Resources Institute, Tomorrow's Market's provides a useful business-orientated introduction to triple bottom line sustainability.
Water Smart Home
Museum Victoria has set up its "Water Smart Home" Website, which includes case examples. One of the developments featured is WestWyck, from across metropolitan Melbourne which showcases innovative ways in its residents are leading by example - in reusing, reducing consumption and devaluing this precious resource. WestWyke is a practical response to sustainability, and one of its founders is Lighthouse Bureau member, Mike Hill.
Welcome
Welcome to our newest Experts, Linda Condon, David Risstrom, Peter Castellas, Richard Morley-Hall and Murali Neelamegam, bringing membership in teh Bureau to 66. Go to our Experts page to find out more about them.
Sustainability Agenda Moves to Limiting Consumption
Governments are starting to move beyond their focus on promoting sustainable production (more efficient product that is not wasteful) to sustainable consumption. According to Jon Ward from EcoRecycle Victoria "The key to sustainable business in a sustainable economy is clean and efficient production systems - however this demands awareness by business owners and governments of innovative technologies and product-service approaches, and how to make lifecycle management and dematerialising a competitive advantage".
The Natural Advantage of Nations
The Natural Edge Project has published its authoritative book The Natural Advantage of Nations, which continues where Natural Capitalism left off. The books is a collation of articles by sustainability leaders, who provide practical solutions to problems faced by businesses, municipalities and governments. It includes contribution from Lighthouse Bureau members Alan Pears, Fiona Waterhouse and John Cronin.
