Ray C. Anderson hardly fits the popular picture of a crusading environmentalist. He is a modest man, a reflective and soft-spoken person. But hes pursuing a mission thats anything but modest. Absolutely convinced that prosperity, opportunity, and a healthy environment can coexist, Anderson wants to change the ways America does business. For him, the "green wall" doesnt exist and simply complying with regulations is a half-decade out of date. The CEO of Atlanta-based Interface Inc. openly admires the initial accomplishments of the four-year-old Council on Sustainable Development, a Presidential panel of which he has been cochair since June 1997. A diverse group of people drawn from business, labor, government, and public-interest groups, the council has made 38 policy recommendations, including shifting U.S. tax policy to discourage environment-damaging production and consumption decisions while still encouraging employment and economic opportunity. "Its remarkable that people from such different points of view agree," Anderson states. "It says youve got an issue that transcends politics and individual interests. [It says] were all in this together." The job of the of the Presidents council now, Anderson says, is to help implement the recommendations--and to move the U.S. closer to what he and the council call a "sustainable America," a socially just nation with both a growing economy and a safe, healthy living environment. It could be a tough task. "The council has no authority to do anything," acknowledges Anderson, who like his panel colleagues is paid nothing. "All we can do--and all we are supposed to do--is achieve consensus, and make policy recommendations, and to applaud success and raise awareness on several specific fronts." For example, the council is exploring what a 21st-century environmental-management system should look like. Chances are that itll be more carrot and less stick than todays approach. Too, the council is trying to assess the environmental impact of the American capital that flows into foreign nations. Anderson hopes the council will be able to stage a national conference on sustainable development in the spring of 1999. "We hope [it] will attract the attention of the entire population of the United States, not just the [converted who are already in the] choir. And we would hope that there would be an exhibition in connection with it. Environmentally friendly technologies would be on display. Companies would put their best foot forward to be part of this parade. There would be experts so that the science [and economics were] accurately explained to the people, and the technologies were accurately examined, and the environmental impacts as well as the social consequences were explored comprehensively and intelligently." Such efforts define an environmental direction for the U.S., says Anderson, who has no doubts where the U.S. should go. "We have to head in the direction of sustainability--or we will die as a species. Self-preservation will move us in the direction of sustainability. The question is how quickly will we do it?" Thats not the only relevant question. Another: How much leadership are CEOs like Anderson providing? From Andersons perspective, the answer is, "Probably not enough." "Unless the CEO gets it, [sustainability] wont happen in a company to its fullest potential. Midlevel staff people can drive it just so far--and then [theyll] bog down in frustrations." Anderson insists, "The greater the sense of urgency [the CEO] gives it, the further it goes and the faster it goes throughout the company." Other CEOs looking for strategic goals and best practices would be well-advised to review what Interface is doing. A global, $1 billion manufacturer of commercial and industrial interiors, it aims to be an ecologically sustainable corporation by the year 2000--and eventually to be a restorative enterprise that, working with other companies, actually improves the environment. Anderson has Interface pursuing an interrelated seven-step process to sustainability:
- Zero waste. An internal waste-reduction effort focused on eliminating product costs that dont add customer value. Accumulated savings: $37.5 million.
- Benign emissions. Priority being given to eliminating molecular waste that has negative or toxic effects on the environment.
- Renewable energy. Reduce energy demands of manufacturing while substituting sustainable sources (such as solar) for nonrenewable sources (such as petroleum).
- Close the loop. Redesign products and processes for recycling.
- Resource-efficient transportation. Use technology and multiple factory locations to increase the flow of information while reducing the transport of people and products.
- Sensitivity. Create a community of understanding that comprehends the functioning of natural systems and the human impact on them.
- Redesign commerce. Focus on the delivery of value rather than the delivery of material.
