Interview: 'Green to Gold' author Winston

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Businesses around the world in increasing numbers are going green.

The business community, always profit driven, has the opportunity to lead the way in a trend that encourages being environmentally aware, said Andrew Winston, co-author of the book "Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value and Build Competitive Advantage."

Climate change, and the attention from government, media and consumers surrounding it, has rapidly sped up the trend by a number of large companies, including DuPont, General Electric, BP, Wal-Mart and Shell, to reduce their carbon and ecological footprints.

The book, written with Daniel Esty, tells the stories of a variety of companies that chose to go green, what worked, what didn't and the recent history of the trend.

Q: What kind of investment does it take for a large company to go green?

A: Some changes don't require investment. A lot of green strategies are beneficial to a company, like cutting costs, and may require almost no investment or small investments. When you do something that reduces risk, it's a littler harder to measure. If a toxin is taken out of a product you can't really place a value on avoiding potential negative impact on reputation or the market. Cost-benefit analysis is done flexibly because there are intangible benefits.

Q: What kinds of returns do companies see after the changes?

A: It depends on each industry and company. Small efforts, like changing light bulbs or retrofitting a facility, often have a quick payback. Other things, like retooling a product to avoid using a certain substance, can take years to achieve and years to pay back if it's even calculable.

Q: Should more companies, especially in developing nations, be following the trend of appointing officers to develop energy strategies?

A: If you're building environmental thinking into the company's operations and strategy, you may not need specific titles like chief energy officer. Almost every company has some sort of energy manager -- someone who's involved in acquiring energy for the facilities, but the question is do you need something at a higher level? In China and India they're starting to come to the table in part because they are suppliers and they're feeling pressure from companies here, and in part because they're seeing profound environmental degradation.

It depends on where they are in their own value chain. Companies that are supplying products to a Wal-Mart when Wal-Mart's asking them to be more efficient, have to ... sometime. Companies that are further back in the supply chain are feeling it less, but they are starting to feel it. It's the companies that have been heavy resource users or consumer facing brands that have had to deal with this up close. It's now rippling back through the economy.

Q: Is the business community seeking specific commitments from the federal government?

A: Right now it's just been a statement of principles. The need for a cap on carbon and the need to move aggressively are the resounding themes. It's incredibly important and symbolic that they've come together to say that and push for federal legislation.

There's a famous story we tell as an example of requests for federal regulation about DuPont and CFCs during the time the Montreal Protocol was being created. DuPont fought it for a while but then they realized they could make a substitute and then they argued aggressively for the regulation because they could make a profit. That's a classic story of a company realizing they could use regulation to create a competitive advantage for themselves.

Q: What role do federal regulations and incentives play in the greening of businesses?

A: Government plays a critical role in setting the rules to create a level playing field for companies, but I'm a believer that companies are leading the way in this and they will lead the world to a cleaner, greener place. Incentives for renewable energy, moving away from subsidies for high carbon energy, are critically important because without them there's no way to set a price on carbon. We need those subsidies for newer technologies, to inspire more creativity and innovation -- and then the business community will find the most cost-effective solution within the right framework.

Q: Your book is about the paradigm shift in businesses but is there the same shift in the general public?

There is a shift happening and it's being accelerated by the business community. We're seeing more people take it on in their personal lives in part because of what they're doing at work. A value shift will come, not from consumers asking companies, but more from companies teaching their employees and teaching consumers. The ripple from big companies asking other companies, their suppliers, to be greener is one of the critical forces.

Surveys for years have shown consumers are wiling to buy green, but we've been waiting 37 years since the first Earth Day for people to spend more. I'm cautiously optimistic that people will eventually pay more, but in the meantime they will choose the products or companies that they think are ethical and green for the same price and value. We're seeing a lot more sales of Energy Star products and compact fluorescent bulbs but retailers and companies are making it easier.

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