(Still) In for the Long Run

This month, June, marks the beginning of the 15th year of publication of The Green Business Letter, of which I am founder and editor. In honor of the occasion, I went back to our very first issue and read the back-page essay that is has been a hallmark of every monthly issue published since.

I was surprised by how relevant that first essay still seems -- a perception that has been echoed by several subscribers who sent notes underscoring the poignancy of that essay. A few of them expressed disappointment -- not in me, but in the fact that, in many ways, the "movement" -- that is, the movement companies seeking to be more environmentally responsible -- hasn't come all that far.

Wrote one:

It demonstrates how little real progress has been made, yet there is information out -- like the Millennium report a few weeks back -- that says that our ecosystems are going down the tubes. Put it in the contest of say, homeland security, global trade, electronics, nanotechnology, biotechnology, the economy, the rise of China, the war on terrorism, etc. Stuff written 15 years ago on these subjects would seem amusing and antiquated if re-published today. There have been major shifts all around, but the corporate EHS [environment, health & safety] stuff is still the same old stuff and "organizational paralysis," as you call it, is getting worse, not better. The only real progress is that companies have gotten better at the spin and a few are starting to wake up to some marketing opportunities, ironically because the planet’s ecosystems are in decline.

That's not exactly a fair assessment -- a tad too cynical for my taste -- but telling, given that it was written by a veteran of more than 25 years in this field.

There's more to this story than mere spin. The leading edge of the movement -- companies that have truly integrated environmental thinking into their operations in a way that aligns with their business goals as well as the betterment of the planet -- has come a long way, quickly. That's what I've been covering -- in my newsletter, in this blog, on GreenBiz.com, and in the many speeches I give each year. And that's what gives me hope.

But there remains a large corps of companies for whom this rudimentary essay, sadly, remains the state of the art. Which is to say, we've come a long way since 1991 -- but have a long, long way to go.

You can read the reprinted essay here.