Green Marketing vs. Sustainable Business

"It's always good business to do the right thing."
Yvon Chouinard, environmental activist
Founder of Patagonia and 1% for the Planet

Green is "in." Marketing "green" is hot. Spinning the green story is on the agenda for Fortune 500s to start ups. Ok. So we recycle, reduce our carbon footprint and vow to remember to carry a canvas bag into the organic grocery store. That's good. Then what? Does green make a better business? Maybe. Is a green business more sustainable, or is there a deeper question?

A sustainable business does the right thing with its core product, economic model, individual social responsibility and the larger community.

Before going "green" or hiring consultants to find your shade of green, it's important look at your own business practices and ask yourself a few questions.

While the politicians talk about change, it's businesses and organizations that will lead the movement to restore and protect our world's people and resources. Whether it's alternative fuels, a non-profit, health services, real estate, or software, the principles of a sustainable business or organization are the same. We believe that developing and maintaining a profitable and sustainable business model is the answer.

What does that mean? There are three key principles that business owners and leaders can follow. Sustainability is about responsible products and services and leaders that work to improve lives, better our communities and help preserve our planet.

Is your business good business? Are you in a business that improves productivity, reduces waste, provides valuable jobs, saves costs or preserves health? Is your business or organization making enough to sustain itself or is it losing money regularly? Are you fair to employees and vendors to ensure that they are properly trained and safe? If we aren't sustainable ourselves, what kind of message is that sending?
What your product does. What benefit does your product or service provide? How many people did you help last year? Are your customers convinced of that, or are they complaining? Does your product only help the rich get richer? Is there a way you can leverage it to help the less fortunate? Does it work better than competitors? Do you deliver on your brand promise? How is it packaged?
What is your impact? What value do your services and products have to the greater community and our planet? Consider the economic, environment and the social impact. Do you help restore resources, or destroy them? Are you giving back, or taking away from people's lives?

Lasting impacts and results will only be gained by those who demonstrate long-term practices and products that customers want and need.

Is it time for you to grow your business in economically, environmentally and socially responsible ways? How does your company or organization want a more sustainable, positive & profitable product?

Do you want help answering these questions? Is it time to tell the world what you're doing? ckarma marketing is a Denver based marketing agency specializing in marketing for businesses and non profit organizations.