The first step to embracing sustainability within your corporation is to start from the foundation.
Here we give an overview of the key elements to develop a sustainable business.
People, Planet and Profit represent the Social, Environmental and Economic pillars on which sustainability is built upon. This is also called the Triple Bottom Line.
Let’s dive into each of the sustainability spheres to understand what they mean and how they link to one another.
People
The People or social sphere encompasses things like education, equal opportunities and community support.
When it comes to the work environment, your organization should overlap the social component with the economic sphere. Doing so, you’ll ensure workers’ rights, maintain rigorous ethics and apply fair trade.
Planet
The Planet or environmental sphere revolves around preserving natural resources, preventing pollution and creating an Environmental Management System (EMS).
The latter is defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a series of processes and practices that a company can leverage to reduce its impacts on the ecosystem while improving its efficiency.
However, over the last decades, the eco-sustainability pillar has been rusting away because of fossil fuels depletion, deforestation, overfishing, etc.
To counter these catastrophic effects, we need to intersect the eco-sphere with the social and economic areas, giving rise to environmental justice and energy efficiency respectively.
Profit
We deliberately place the Profit or economic sphere at the bottom as this should have the least priority in your company mindset.
While your business must have a positive balance at the end of the financial year, the way you create value should take into account the other two sustainable pillars.
There’s no point to invest money in research & development when you’re pursuing an unsustainable economic growth.
Your company progress will be truly sustainable only when you intertwine the three spheres, thus reshaping your bottom line into a triple bottom line.
This way, rather than focusing on making money in the short-term, you’ll set long-term profitable goals with Planet and People in mind.
Building a sustainable future
Climate change is a tell-tale sign that our world is crumbling down. This is because we focused only on one of the pillars supporting our society: Profit.
It’s time to restore the People and Planet columns to rebalance our living temple.
The Purpose Factory has been constructing solid and sustainable frameworks for businesses over the past few years.
Let’s bridge the gap between us and walk together towards a green, equally just, and profitable future.