The Dawning of the Age of Sustainability

There is a monumental shift taking place that is bringing businesses, environmentalists, and governments into the same room, reading from the same page, and using the same language.

Reviewing the history of the environmental movement and how we got to where we are today, it started as a reaction to the “unparalleled wave of mining, forestry clearance, and land drainage” of the Industrial Revolution 1730 – 1850. According to Andy Reynolds’ A Brief History of Environmentalism “a few scattered individuals began to speak out. But it took over 150 years for environmentalism to mature to the public movement we know today. The focus of environmental concerns has changed over the decades, but one debate has barely altered – what is the reason for protecting the planet? For some it’s for the benefit of humans, for others it’s because nature, like a work of art, has its own value.”

Many of us have lived long enough to remember the TV commercial where an aboriginal elder is by the road side, shedding a tear as an unseen person tosses litter out the window of a speeding vehicle onto the ground near the elder’s feet. There was a line drawn between those with and without respect for nature. Pollution, pesticides, species extinction – these are things most of us heard from early “scattered individuals” speaking out. They became known as environmentalists.

The 1960’s are when the environmental movement finally got traction by organizing and providing scientific support for their theories around environmental destruction and what it means to humans, not only nature. There was a focus on the food chain, recognition that what goes into every step of the process ends up in us. 50 years later at a conference in Vancouver, B.C., the supply chain, looking up the river from the end product, is still a focus.

David Labistour, CEO of Mountain Equipment Coop, acknowledges their success in achieving a 94% diversion rate for their retail stores, but points out their real sustainability challenge is back in Asia where the textiles are made and products manufactured. Current materials are made from oil or from cotton which requires huge amounts of water. Every step along the production path creates 20-30% waste, the water and oil supply is threatened, and there simply is no easy solution. But a solution needs to be found.

David Suzuki, world renowned environmentalist, asked “Why are we turning our backs on our greatest ability, the ability to predict the future?” He is referring to the paid efforts to undermine the science behind global warming, and the proclamations by those who simply choose not to accept our best interpretations of reality. In 1962 Rachel Carson published the book “Silent Spring” which detailed how pesticides and insecticides were contaminating the environment. Dead insects meant no food for birds. No birds, no bird song = silent spring. She detailed how the chemical DDT accumulates in the fatty tissues of animals, including humans. There was media criticism and attempts by chemical companies to ban the book. But science backed her up, government ordered investigations and ultimately it was the DDT that got banned.

Business has begun to listen to the important message from the environmental movement partly because they are now using the same language. The line between “us and them”, those with respect and those without it, is removed when backed by science and dialogue. Everyone understands “no pollinators (bees) = no crops” or no “taters = no tater tots”; and “no resources (renewable and non-renewable) = no business”, or “no fish = no fishsticks.”

Politicians are starting to realize the importance of engaging businesses to address environmental issues such as climate change. Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, laments “We wish we could go back, but we can’t. So, what do we do? We see the future and we embrace it.”

Anne Tennier, Vice President of Environmental Affairs, Maple Leaf Canada, is proud of the development of their bio-diesel project. They have looked at the tailpipe of their business and they take the waste from their rendering plant and convert it into 38 million litres/year of oil to fuel 127 of their trucks for a savings of 782,000 kilograms of GHG. That this is even measured and managed is part of a whole new way of thinking for business, and they had to have worked together with environmentalists to achieve this.

Learning to speak with each other and developing a common language is a critical step for businesses, environmentalists, and governments to make big change. This must be the dawning of the Sustainability Age.