At a time of diminishing natural resources and heightened public sensitivity about the environment and fair labor, leading corporations are beginning to take a more sustainable approach to their business practices.

A new book, Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi: Designing the Future of Business through Nature, Genius and Compassion, edited by Sissel Waage, explores how a number of companies, including Hewlett Packard, Norm Thompson Outfitters, Interface, and Verdant Power (up-and-coming sustainable energy company), are triggering innovation while ensuring future prosperity for people and the planet.

For example, Hewlett Packard is investing in dematerialization initiatives across a range of business activities and products. The benefits include material and energy savings, as well as economic value added to both consumers and Hewlett Packard.

The book also highlights financial services sector cases—including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Shorebank Enterprise Pacific—that demonstrate how sustainability issues are being integrated into investment screens. As a set, the span of work presented reveals that a fundamental re-design of businesses is emerging across sectors within the economy.

According to Mats Lederhausen, President of Business Development at McDonald's Corporation, “Unsustainable business practices are becoming increasingly costly as the demand for resources rise. Companies working towards environmental and social sustainability are learning firsthand that it's the right thing to do and that it's profitable. Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi provides a glimpse into a handful of pioneering companies that are integrating systems thinking, rigorous analysis, and compassion into their daily work."

This collection grew from The Natural Step’s 2002 conference on sustainability and innovation and provides radical ideas for this new wave in business thinking. The title unifies three important principles at the heart of sustainable enterprise:

• “Ants,” which symbolize lessons to be learned from nature about the dependence of businesses on broader social and ecological systems
• “Galileo,” whose brilliance was instrumental in replacing a flawed paradigm with a new one
• “Gandhi,” who exemplified the compassion and determination needed for revolutionary change

All of these attributes are increasingly relevant in a world where, globally, we are experiencing both a steady decline in life-supporting resources and rising consumer demand.

A core argument in the book is that companies that fail to re-examine their impacts and operations through this dynamic new lens risk being left behind in our modern industrial economy.

Divided into five sections, the book introduces the reader to emerging, cutting-edge theories about sustainability and its application to business strategy and operations. It also covers a range of sub issues such as how practices in the financial-sector are changing and the significance of accountability and reporting tools.

Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi is essential reading for academics looking for robust teaching material, businesses and practitioners looking for inspiration and case studies, and the general reader interested in exploring the state-of-the-art in designing the future of business.

“Sustainability doesn’t just happen: It requires a leap forward not just in our processes, but in our thinking. This book shows the way. Moreover, it demonstrates that our environmental problems have common sense solutions— that if we are thoughtful and creative we can do better—and that our political leaders are sadly lagging behind,” says Carl Pope, Executive Director of The Sierra Club.

For more information contact:

Sissel Waage
Director, R&D Program
swaage@naturalstep.org
415-318-8170 *322

To order a copy of the book, go to:
http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/catalogue/antstns.htm

About The Natural Step
Since 1989, The Natural Step has been guiding companies and governments onto an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable path. An international advisory and research organization, The Natural Step works with some of the largest resource users on the planet to create new models of sustainable enterprise and tools designed to accelerate global sustainability.

For more information: www.naturalstep.org