Equanimity

Over the last decade, there has been an undeniable trend towards promoting environmental sustainability, both for consumers and corporations. Environmental Leader (so, a somewhat biased source) states that the majority of consumers prefer to buy products from eco-friendly companies. Not only that, but employees also prefer to work for environmentally responsible employers.

But since we’re talking business, an important question to consider is: does sustainability translate to profitability?

This Vancouver Sun article talks about six B.C. businesses who would say yes. One of the examples is Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC), about which the article said this:

In the case of MEC, a decision to ship its outdoor recreation equipment and clothing by train rather than truck led to a relative 38-per-cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and some cost savings.

Furthermore, MEC was nationally recognized for its environmentally sustainable practices in 2008. Another business mentioned in the article, Jawl Properties, improved building efficiencies in heating, ventiliation, air conditioning and controls programming, leading to cost savings of “23% with a four-to five-year payback on capital investment.”

"This symbol indicates {MEC} products that contain at least 50% organically grown cotton or recycled polyester, or are completely PVC-free."

MEC’s simple switch in transportation methods illustrates that it is not difficult for businesses to make the eco-shift, which could result in not only economic profit, but also a positive PR image, a winning point of differentiation with consumers. Moreover, MEC and other businesses have demonstrated that shifting to eco-friendly practices can lead to cost savings. Hopefully one day, sustainability will be the norm, rather than the exception.

As a precursor to today’s class – I came into Sauder as one of those, “Nooo numbers, keep them away from me” which leads into “Pfffft, of course I’m not going into Finance or Accounting!” people, so I wasn’t looking super forward to a class on Finance.

Luckily, Murray Carlson was a pretty good speaker. He kept us engaged throughout his presentation, and definitely incorporated non-embarrassing individual interaction. I think part of the problem was that before today, I honestly had no idea what “Finance” entailed, despite working as an assistant to a Financial Consultant at Investors Group for the past four summers (go figure). When we learned about the different parts of Finance (stocks, investing, loans, etc.), I still wasn’t overly thrilled. However, there was one portion that jumped out at me – microloans/microcredit.

Yunus receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006

In 2005, the “founder” of microcredit, Muhammad Yunus, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his microloans project, the Grameen Bank. The Nobel Prize Committee had this to say about Grameen Bank’s far-reaching effects:

Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty.

The Committee mentioned peace when talking about a Finance-rooted endeavor. We tend to think of businessmen as big, bad, money-hungry demons, but microloans have done a whole lot of good for millions of people. I hope that one day, I will find myself as a part of a similar organization that harnesses the power of business to create such immense social good.