Saving the world's profitable, CEO says
— -- Gary Hirshberg cheekily refers to himself as the CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, the environmentally conscious organic yogurt maker.
With his new book, Stirring It Up, Hirshberg could stick another moniker on his résumé: CE-Openly Optimistic about the corporate world's ability to help heal the planet.
Business is the most powerful force on Earth, the eco-entrepreneur argues, and its actions can have a bigger environmental impact than those of individuals or interest groups. So he sets out to prove that a company that makes green decisions can make more greenbacks — or euros or yen — for the bottom line.
In the same way consumer lust for thirsty SUVs is more likely to be tamped by steep gas prices than by carbon-emission guilt, businesses will opt for sustainability — producing in a way that doesn't impair the ability of future generations to meet their own needs — if it's profitable, he argues.
To back up that theory, Stirring It Up contains success stories by the spoonful. For example:
•Stonyfield Farm. Hirshberg's New Hampshire company started with seven cows and a mission to profitably make all-natural products, while educating about the environment and supporting family farms and sustainable farming methods. Stonyfield has grown by more than 27% a year for 18 consecutive years, an achievement Hirshberg says is largely due to its focus on sustainability.
Wal-Mart also pushes suppliers to reduce packaging, works with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to conserve an acre of wildlife habitat for every acre of Wal-Mart development and is replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent ones for a $7 million savings in electricity costs.
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