Abstract
Great title! Intriguing premise. Easy read. Enjoyable. These superlatives all apply to Lawrence Heim's new book, Killing Sustainability. Heim is an experienced, knowledgeable practitioner of corporate responsibility/sustainability and his book could be considered a cautionary warning and advisory for newer professionals and a confirmation for more experienced ones.
Heim apologizes for the boring/technical nature of one chapter and in another, offers his list of meaningless buzzwords. Among the examples: use of the term paradigm shift “should be punishable by a slap in the face with a dead fish.” (p. 68) The author's stated goal is for maximum effectiveness of corporate sustainability, meaning efforts must be made to deeply integrate sustainability initiatives into the corporate structure. One strategy, as described in Chapter 1, is to eliminate flawed, or inconsistently defined and used terms such as green or sustainability: “I don't want to end sustainability at all—I want it to grow and thrive as part of the global economic engine.” (p. 7) Perhaps in contrast, Heim also declares:
In a perfect world, sustainability and corporate social responsibility would be so deeply ingrained into company strategy, products and operations that it would not be distinct or identifiable. There are companies that are already “there.” If more companies do that, sustainability would be dead. And that would be good. (p. 144)
Heim's intent is to mine the “largest untapped potential”…[of] “small to medium size companies with limited resources and motivation.” (p. 9) However, there still seem to be many big companies with improvement potential, evident even by simple criteria such as the overpackaging of consumer products and unlabeled plastics, which, if remedied, could improve recycling of millions of basic everyday items such as multilayer paper cookie bags, and containers that hold products such as solid deodorant (plastic) and sun protection products (aluminum).
The few companies that are already “there,” Heim says, still may always need to separately identify, emphasize, and accurately report on their efforts, regularly and transparently, similar to the regulatory issue appendices in corporate annual reports. Given human nature's tendency to prioritize current function over life cycle effects or working conditions, I agree with the author that there may always be a need to highlight sustainability.
The book raises valid points. Sustainability careerists would have a hard time denying that the field is rife with badly defined criteria that have “improvement potential” (a diplomatic way of saying that they are almost meaningless); groupthink; possibly overly optimistic links between goals/efforts/results (especially as they relate to financial benefits); and backslapping (awards/recognition, although these can be metrics that contribute to business value), especially for improvement activities (manufacturing processes among them) that should never have been implemented in the first place or allowed to get as bad as they have become.
In Chapter 3, Heim provides a detailed history of manufacturing impacts and the resulting need for environmental regulations and solutions since industry could not, or would not, find value in prevention or reuse for many processes/products. The next chapter reflects a focus of the author's consulting firm, Elm Sustainability Partners, LLC, and effectively reviews the history of various auditing approaches. Heim explains that auditing is necessary to determine how well a company is managing production‐related environmental and human impacts, but its usefulness depends on who pays for it, the competence of the auditor and, most importantly, if the recommended improvements are actually followed.
Chapter 5 continues with the subject of auditing, including ISO (14000) and EMS (Environmental Management Systems), pointing out that at their most ineffective, are simply checklists of the existence of a system or procedure, rather than outcome‐based benchmarks.
Chapter 6 tackles the supply chain, inputs/outputs, carbon accounting (Carbon Disclosure Project/CDP), poor working conditions, conflict minerals, and the need to push improvements to the frontline worker level. One example cited is the necessary improvement efforts in overseas working conditions and environmental impacts in the apparel sector; despite years of monitoring, reporting, and improvement. Heim also cites the need to better design products to use less toxic materials and to facilitate more recycling. The recent Chinese ban on recycling imports is disrupting local efforts, resulting in more global and local landfilling.
From my own experience of almost 40 years in the CSR/sustainability sector, I'd also add more examples from the retail sector, such as product (over)packaging and display materials, including holiday/seasonal/ items and greeting cards; usable but non‐salable customer returns; so‐called expired products; and the lack of pre‐ and post‐consumer collection/disposition/donations. Events, trade shows and the like, also can generate a surprisingly large quantity of nonrecyclable or non‐recycled materials, which could be alleviated by using materials such as recyclable corrugated paper booth walls. Indeed, some event management firms are starting to use these. Shows also use increasing amounts of single‐use furniture (that are on some “unacceptable” lists for possible donations) and even functioning TVs/monitors. Often, these items are not taken back for reuse, but left at the event venue for disposal. In addition, while disposal can be back charged with a markup, this has not resulted as an incentive to divert the items from proper disposal.
Chapter 7 covers audits—cost‐to‐benefit analysis, qualifications, effectiveness, and the tendency to focus on process over results, concluding with the need for improvement. Chapter 8 is a thoughtful discussion of financial metrics and creating value (both for shareholder and company). Heim claims that, generally, financial metrics are not “material” or have not supported the effectiveness of sustainability measures, and they use more qualitative than quantitative approaches, but he states that traditional accounting methods may be changing to include more valid CSR/sustainability content. He blasts buzzwords that have little meaning and calls for financial reports that are better targeted to their audiences.
Eliminating the term sustainability may be counterproductive if there is no better alternative, despite the lack of good definitions or enforcement, or else an organization would oversee that effort. As Heim acknowledges, despite the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Green Guides direction against using virtually meaningless terms like eco‐friendly or earth‐friendly, there are no agreed upon definitions/criteria, so the terms are used by virtually everyone with scant review or enforcement.
For example, reduced impact may be more accurate, but compared to what? Similar to Heim's inquiry about how to determine if the impacts of an air hand dryer are lower than those of paper towels, for example, a revised production method may reduce the air impacts but increase waste. For instance, replacing recyclable metal (e.g., tuna fish cans) or rigid plastic containers (e.g., those used to package nuts and other snacks) with non‐recyclable pouches (although Terracycle has started pouch programs) may just transfer the disposition challenge to another spot along the product's life cycle. Will pouches be included in mixed recycling programs? How many people will clean out and recycle pouches? At least they can be burned for energy recovery and wouldn't need cleaning. And what about “organic” dry cleaning?
In Chapter 9, the author supports his position that nonfinancial metrics and achievements are moving in the direction of better business practices and more effective reporting efforts. He cites the recent BlackRock (the world's largest asset management firm) advisory to their clients to provide clear and specific climate‐risk disclosures to better integrate into investment choices.
Heim urges corporations to go beyond required regulatory disclosures, such as for Dodd‐Frank/conflict minerals and Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), and improve “framing” of responsibility/sustainability messaging to go beyond risk avoidance, and nudge producers and consumers to create and buy more environmentally responsible products and services. However, Heim also cites the growth of more convenient online retailing, which may be not be reducing environmental impacts or improving working conditions. In fact, Heim regards sustainability innovation as a competitive advantage with a limited life for which companies may need to protect their exclusivity.
Heim also discusses how the location of CSR/sustainability program oversight in the company structure can affect the program's results, along with the varied skill set of its manager. While Heim writes that there may be more value for direct CEO and Compliance Management oversight and too narrow a focus from Marketing Departments, I've found that every department can provide invaluable and unique perspectives that add value to an overall program. While challenging, it is up to the top‐level CSR/sustainability program manager to ensure buy‐in and useful support throughout an organization.
Heim then highlights the challenges of short‐term approaches (profit, investors' priorities) whereas CSR/sustainability approaches are longer term and increasingly considered a positive basis for risk avoidance, stability, prosperity, and longevity. In Chapter 13, Heim purports that since executives may be turned off based on the various negative CSR/sustainability attributes, “risk avoidance” should be avoided in favor of discussing “creating real economic value” and only use the term sustainability, if necessary, and at the end of a conversation.
In Chapter 14, Heim introduces a “squirrels” rating system that identifies subjects for corporations to consider when attempting to reduce their environmental impact. Three squirrels are the most valuable, 2 squirrels, less so, and 1 squirrel, a low value distraction. He gives subjects—such as customers, CDP participation, Statements of Significant Audience and Materiality, G20's Task Force on Climate‐Related Financial Disclosures, Supplier/CSR audits—three squirrels. Subjects—such as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings; Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (developing) standards; Green Bonds; and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) reporting standards and professional credential programs—get two squirrels, which indicate “possibly useful.”
This book offers a concise summary of how to avoid failures of sustainability: acknowledge the credibility gap; identify opportunities; include financial valuations, supply chains, and sustainability/CSR reporting; avoid chasing lower value squirrels; and do not use the book as a checklist, but as a general guide.
Ben Larkey, Principal/Consultant, BAL Associates, has almost 40 years of corporate responsibility/sustainability experience and success in a wide variety of sectors, including government, NGO, consulting, operating compost facilities, and managing global/ Fortune 500 environmental departments. He is also a multi‐instrument musician and caregiver.