Sustainability means many things to many people

It’s amazing how one’s perspective can change in just a few days. For me, it happened last week at the Sustainable Brands 2010 conference. The four-day conference attracted more than 700 business leaders, innovators, and mavericks committed to learning, developing, refining and implementing sustainable strategies in one way or another. Hearing about the many ways people are approaching sustainability expanded my view and validated its value as a business objective for companies.

I’ve always had an admiration and respect for those whose work is targeted toward making a positive impact on the planet. The perspective I gained at SB10, however, is the myriad ways in which sustainability is being applied, from finding new ways to manufacture and package products, to new programs that educate and inform consumers, to how brands are creating change at the enterprise level in order to drive innovation and efficiencies. All of this is creating a massive shift and pushing companies to innovate, optimize and transform their operations. In addition, it was fascinating to see emerging startups such as Biolite, LifeBox, and Source 4 Style bring unique services and revolutionary products to market.

I was particularly intrigued by how embedded Triple Bottom Line thinking has become; most organizations don’t feel they are on a path to success unless they are able to address all three core elements; economic, environmental and social. And a lot of the social aspects involve online components. Since my work focuses on digital media, I’m really excited to see that web applications and social networks are playing a large role in sustainability. Specialized tools like GreenMaven and SocialYell are assisting consumers who are passionate about making a change, whether it’s through collective intelligence, online research, or learning more about the products they purchase.

With my trusty Flip camera in my back pocket, I managed to capture insights and thoughts from some of the folks at the forefront of sustainability who attended the Sustainable Brands 2010 conference. Below is an example of the work that’s being done – you can view more clips on our Cohn & Wolfe YouTube channel.