A 'net positive result' is increasingly the goal for entrepreneurs when it comes to finances: 'I'm not here to save costs, but to make money' – that sort of thing. In the case of sustainability objectives, you often hear a bit less conviction. For many companies, it is already challenging enough to consistently consume a few percent less energy each year or to reduce the amount of waste.
Giant leap
Entrepreneurs with guts make a giant leap over that lingering 'less-less' story. They don't want climate-neutral buildings, but offices that generate energy. They are not striving for less waste, but are fishing plastic out of the oceans. They find absenteeism a boring topic; talent development is much more interesting. They are not struggling with a gradual transition to organic farming, but are actively working on improving soil quality. No half-hearted band-aids, but real solutions.
Technological development
On one hand, this attitude is due to a different, fresh way of thinking. Call it a business approach of 'every disadvantage has its advantage' or 'seeing the same thing, but seeing it in a way that no one has seen before'.
On the other hand, this decisive mentality is motivated by the observation that technology is developing so rapidly that a number of traditional sustainability problems will soon become irrelevant. Take energy. If you keep extracting power from oil and coal, you will never escape the negative spiral. The supplies will eventually run out, making the situation increasingly bleak. Some small improvements can salvage something, but it remains a rear-guard battle.
If you get your energy from sun and wind, not only do the sources suddenly seem inexhaustible, but so do the possibilities. Almost free. Why be frugal with energy when there is plenty of it, almost for free? With dirt-cheap energy, desalinating seawater becomes inexpensive, making drinking water abundantly available, crops can be irrigated, hunger disappears, people become healthier and thus can learn and work better. The process reinforces itself. This way, scarcity thinking transforms into abundance thinking. In scarcity, frugality, cutting back, and consuming less are the best strategies; in a situation of abundance, we can let it
loose. The sky is the limit if you have a positive outlook on life. Not only is sunlight unlimitedly available, but human creativity also knows no bounds. Make use of that!
Creating positive impact is done like this
Anyone can do it: switch from 'less bad' to positive impact. These companies have gone before you:
Thialf
Thialf supplies surplus solar energy to households. Thanks to a renovation, Thialf has been the most sustainable ice stadium in Europe since this year. With five thousand solar panels on the roof, the stadium meets almost all its own energy needs in winter. But from April to September, the solar panels produce much more energy than the stadium needs. That surplus is shared by Thialf via the power grid with about 1,250 connected households.
Ecover
Ecover, producer of ecological laundry and cleaning products, fishes for plastic as raw material for the bottles that their products are filled with. Under the name 'Fish with us', Ecover made a tour last year along events to – together with Plastic Whale and consumers – retrieve plastic from canals and the sea. The retrieved plastic, sourced from places like Scheveningen, Dordrecht, and Amsterdam, became raw material for a limited edition dishwashing liquid bottle.
Geelen Counterflow
Geelen Counterflow generates 50 percent more energy than needed. The new headquarters of dryer and cooler manufacturer Geelen Counterflow in Haelen (Limburg) is the most sustainable office in the world. The building scored 99.94 percent according to the international BREEAM-certification system. The office for fifty employees generates over fifty percent more solar energy annually than it consumes for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and computers. The surplus is used in the adjacent factory for cutting stainless steel and charging forklifts.
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