Sustainability and Independence

July 04, 2008

When you think about it, sustainability is just another word for independence. Every step a business takes towards sustainability makes them a little less reliant on their suppliers and a little stronger as a company.

Maker’s Mark’s move earlier this week is a prime example: they now convert the waste at their Kentucky distillery into enough power to cover up to 30 percent of the distillery’s needs. While it wasn’t the cheapest step the company could take, it was the most cost effective. Maker’s Mark no longer needs to rely on outside vendors for trash disposal. While the company must still buy a significant portion of fuel to run the distillery, that amount is reduced.

Becoming more sustainable is good for business. Most businesses are at the tender mercies of their suppliers; if something goes wrong with the supply chain, a business suffers devastating losses. What if the power goes out at a Marriott hotel? At most of them, business is lost and expensive efforts must be made to convince customers to come back to a Marriott next time they travel. The situation won’t get better until the power company figures out what went wrong, and even then, hospitals and other vital systems are a higher priority to get back online.

But, if we’re talking about the New York Marriott Downtown, which is powered by a microturbine farm, they just need to get someone into their power plant who is capable of fixing it. Repairs are made on the Marriott’s timeline — that is to say, now — and are likely to occur much quicker. The New York Marriott Downtown is better off than most Marriott hotels because it is sustainable. It has control over its own power needs and it is independent.

Most businesses dragging their feet about sustainable practices worry about the cost of changing their infrastructure and operations. In the short run, that is a legitimate concern. But sustainability can quickly pay off. It is not always a matter of simple savings (although the benefits of getting off the power grid are hard to deny). Sustainability and independence can provide security for a business, reducing the problems that outside vendors and buyers can create for a company.

In celebration of Independence Day, please take a few minutes and think about how you can make your business independent. Consider the costs, the benefits and think about the fact that sustainable businesses can be easier to manage.