WEBVTT

00:00:01.910 --> 00:00:05.609
Hello I\'m David Suzuki and
this is the nature of things.

00:00:05.610 --> 00:00:08.069
Business is the most
powerful institution in

00:00:08.070 --> 00:00:12.344
our society but can it save us
from environmental ruin tonight.

00:00:12.345 --> 00:00:14.219
Greening business.

00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:20.684
Smoke means progress we used to say
today profits can be made cleanly

00:00:20.685 --> 00:00:27.670
from old cars used bottles and even
eggshells can business be turned around

00:00:41.530 --> 00:00:43.860
No

00:01:17.230 --> 00:01:21.750
All of our wealth comes from nature.

00:01:28.660 --> 00:01:35.719
Yet in less than 50 years business has
penetrated the farthest corners of the earth

00:01:35.720 --> 00:01:37.699
devouring as much of

00:01:37.700 --> 00:01:44.494
the world\'s forests minerals land and water
as all previous generations combined.

00:01:44.495 --> 00:01:50.089
And it\'s a rate of consumption well
beyond what the planet can support.

00:01:50.090 --> 00:01:54.210
Yet always seem to do is take more.

00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:58.999
We\'ve asked almost around question
we\'ve asked how to save the planet

00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:03.394
again it plants can be here long after
work on we\'d have to save it whatsoever.

00:02:03.395 --> 00:02:09.259
But we have to do is create conditions for
human life on this planet that respect and

00:02:09.260 --> 00:02:12.169
preserve all other laugh around
it because our life isn\'t worth a

00:02:12.170 --> 00:02:15.349
farthing unless other
life can survive as well.

00:02:15.350 --> 00:02:19.350
And to do that we need a
way to save business.

00:02:19.450 --> 00:02:24.799
One of my first jobs was in the
construction trade working for a business.

00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.734
My uncle started in London Ontario

00:02:27.735 --> 00:02:35.559
What I remember most apart from the occasional
muscle strain was feeling immense pride.

00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:42.129
Being part of a successful business is one
of society\'s most valued accomplishments.

00:02:42.130 --> 00:02:46.074
But succeeding in business today
is like fighting a battle.

00:02:46.075 --> 00:02:49.179
And discovering later
that everyone has lost.

00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:52.959
Business practices of the last
century have contributed to

00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:57.429
the disintegration of almost every
living system on the planet.

00:02:57.430 --> 00:03:00.099
But what are the alternatives

00:03:00.100 --> 00:03:03.939
tonight The Nature of Things looks
at what some businesses are

00:03:03.940 --> 00:03:10.409
doing to green their operations from recycling
waste to rethinking how products are made

00:03:10.410 --> 00:03:14.434
These businesses are not just
trying to make a profit.

00:03:14.435 --> 00:03:17.310
There trying to make a difference.

00:03:24.790 --> 00:03:29.389
Business has revolutionized
our world creating

00:03:29.390 --> 00:03:35.100
conveniences and luxuries that were
unthinkable just a few decades earlier.

00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:40.204
Robotics rockets computers and jetliner.

00:03:40.205 --> 00:03:44.809
Each is a testament to the
ingenuity of our species.

00:03:44.810 --> 00:03:50.824
No business must face a new
challenge to reinvent itself.

00:03:50.825 --> 00:03:54.304
I think we\'re in a lot of
stress and a lot of turmoil.

00:03:54.305 --> 00:03:57.409
And I think people know
that the old rules don\'t

00:03:57.410 --> 00:04:01.144
work but there\'s nobody out
there that has the new rules.

00:04:01.145 --> 00:04:04.504
And in that sense people are
stumbling people are staggering.

00:04:04.505 --> 00:04:07.939
People are reliant upon what they
know and those are the old rules.

00:04:07.940 --> 00:04:10.009
And those are changing
but they\'re changing on

00:04:10.010 --> 00:04:14.550
an individual basis there yet
to change on a corporate basis.

00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:18.874
For most of this decade

00:04:18.875 --> 00:04:21.648
societies around the
globe had been pursuing

00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:28.140
two opposing goals a cleaner world
and growing economic prosperity.

00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:36.600
Very light. Making money without making a
mess is unfathomable for most businesses.

00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:42.859
Yet a handful like CP hotels who run
this kitchen at the Royal York and

00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:48.319
Toronto have come to realize that
Greening can be good for business.

00:04:48.320 --> 00:04:52.729
This kitchen is like any
medium-sized corporation.

00:04:52.730 --> 00:04:55.984
It employs 300 workers
who create a product.

00:04:55.985 --> 00:05:00.360
In this case nearly 6 thousand meals a day.

00:05:00.610 --> 00:05:05.914
It\'s a sophisticated operation
that applies an age old principle.

00:05:05.915 --> 00:05:09.094
Don\'t let anything go to waste.

00:05:09.095 --> 00:05:12.544
Executive Chef George McNeil.

00:05:12.545 --> 00:05:17.149
And the operation we\'ve gone
into a color-coded bin system.

00:05:17.150 --> 00:05:20.449
We operate right now with six
different color-coded bins.

00:05:20.450 --> 00:05:25.189
And each of the cooks and pantry
helpers and kitchen helpers have to

00:05:25.190 --> 00:05:27.094
separate all the garbage that they

00:05:27.095 --> 00:05:29.929
produce or which is produced with
the products that we\'re handling.

00:05:29.930 --> 00:05:33.270
And then they\'d separate
them at the workstation.

00:05:33.430 --> 00:05:39.394
Leftovers like breakfast pastries are
donated to local food banks while

00:05:39.395 --> 00:05:42.829
other kitchen waste are
sold to farmers and used as

00:05:42.830 --> 00:05:47.179
pig feet is a tremendous amount of
work and to be honest with you.

00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:50.719
The difficulty has been that all
the cooks in the kitchens have

00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:54.274
been just used for declaring everything
away and putting in one little band.

00:05:54.275 --> 00:05:55.954
And then everything is taken away.

00:05:55.955 --> 00:05:59.944
When you add all this separation you\'re
actually adding a tremendous amount of labour.

00:05:59.945 --> 00:06:05.194
But we feel that every little bit helps
and if we can set the example of

00:06:05.195 --> 00:06:07.429
ultimately that example will be followed by

00:06:07.430 --> 00:06:11.610
other companies and then it helps
to clean up the environment

00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:16.134
Since Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts

00:06:16.135 --> 00:06:20.409
adopted its environmental
strategy three years ago staff

00:06:20.410 --> 00:06:23.589
throughout the Royal York
and the other 26 hotels in

00:06:23.590 --> 00:06:28.910
the chain have been on the lookout
for ways to make their jobs greener.

00:06:30.660 --> 00:06:34.119
Some of the simplest
changes have been the most

00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:38.709
beneficial like using nontoxic
cleaning solutions installing

00:06:38.710 --> 00:06:42.429
water saving shower heads and
recycling the thousands of

00:06:42.430 --> 00:06:47.240
bottles cans and newspapers
left behind by guess.

00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:59.229
Not long ago a lot of this garbage
would have been burned in

00:06:59.230 --> 00:07:05.604
the hotels incinerator sending tons of acid
gases and heavy metals into the atmosphere.

00:07:05.605 --> 00:07:09.579
But since the hotel began
recycling waste has been cut in

00:07:09.580 --> 00:07:14.690
half and the incinerator has
been permanently shut down.

00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:21.744
Greening Canada\'s largest hotel
chain is an ongoing task.

00:07:21.745 --> 00:07:24.909
By next year the Royal
York will have changed

00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:29.034
more than 30 thousand light bulbs
in the hotels public areas.

00:07:29.035 --> 00:07:32.889
Replacing them with energy
efficient models will save

00:07:32.890 --> 00:07:37.910
the hotel $60 thousand
in energy costs alone.

00:07:41.890 --> 00:07:45.169
I spoke to n check Li director of

00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:49.324
environmental affairs Canadian
Pacific Hotels and Resorts.

00:07:49.325 --> 00:07:54.559
So what drives a green program now you
not only have to consult your employees.

00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:55.909
You have to educate your employees.

00:07:55.910 --> 00:07:57.099
You have to motivate them.

00:07:57.100 --> 00:08:00.649
You have to take a lot of care and time
doing that because they\'re gonna drive the

00:08:00.650 --> 00:08:03.949
but the manager however committed he

00:08:03.950 --> 00:08:08.250
may be is not going to separate the bottles
from the cans at the end of the day.

00:08:08.260 --> 00:08:13.849
Most hotels in the chain have moved
beyond recommendations in CPS

00:08:13.850 --> 00:08:20.220
original green plan incorporating new
technologies like these motion sensors.

00:08:20.430 --> 00:08:26.540
They turn lights on when rooms are
occupied and off when they\'re not.

00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:35.079
Others have adopted simple
common sense ideas.

00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:38.379
Inserting sand filled bottles
will cut water flow in

00:08:38.380 --> 00:08:43.070
this toilet by as much as
18 thousand liters a year.

00:08:46.530 --> 00:08:52.299
But some items have been harder to reduce
than others like the soap and shampoo.

00:08:52.300 --> 00:08:54.834
Travelers come to expect in their rooms.

00:08:54.835 --> 00:08:57.234
Before the green Plan was introduced.

00:08:57.235 --> 00:09:02.084
Tons of leftover toiletries went
out with the trash. But today

00:09:02.085 --> 00:09:04.369
Donated to local charities

00:09:04.370 --> 00:09:07.549
how can onlys tiny changes you

00:09:07.550 --> 00:09:10.639
know reusing soap and not dumping it
into the garbage how\'s that gonna

00:09:10.640 --> 00:09:13.129
save the world well I

00:09:13.130 --> 00:09:16.069
think that the only way we\'re going to
save the world is when everybody realizes

00:09:16.070 --> 00:09:18.949
that they each have an individual
country contribution to

00:09:18.950 --> 00:09:21.829
make everybody not just
for the people next door.

00:09:21.830 --> 00:09:25.339
It\'s gotta be everybody but in the meantime
we\'re certainly going to do our bit and

00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:29.254
that involves each employee being
educated as to what they can do.

00:09:29.255 --> 00:09:34.110
Not a few people doing big things a
lot of people doing little things

00:09:34.390 --> 00:09:37.354
And what you have to do is not look at

00:09:37.355 --> 00:09:40.534
the one little thing you have to
look at the cumulative effect.

00:09:40.535 --> 00:09:45.559
One housekeeping department is donating for
1000 pounds of SOPA month multiply that by

00:09:45.560 --> 00:09:48.439
the chain by the year and
felony start to begin

00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:52.350
to have an idea of what a lot
of little changes can bring.

00:09:52.390 --> 00:09:58.909
Two years ago that 1000 employees that
there\'s Bell Canada office near Toronto

00:09:58.910 --> 00:10:05.179
were producing 320 kilograms of trash
a day despite a recycling program.

00:10:05.180 --> 00:10:12.064
When local dumping fees increased by 50% the
time seemed right to make a clean start.

00:10:12.065 --> 00:10:15.679
What the employees found when
they came here on July second

00:10:15.680 --> 00:10:19.699
First of all they found their
wastebasket removed completely removed.

00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:22.534
They found on their desk a mug.

00:10:22.535 --> 00:10:24.979
This bug year which replaced

00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:30.919
the traditional Styrofoam cup that they
were using prior for hot beverages.

00:10:30.920 --> 00:10:32.929
Well they had a new wastebasket.

00:10:32.930 --> 00:10:36.334
This is their new waste
basket very small compact.

00:10:36.335 --> 00:10:39.199
And this can be placed on a desk.

00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:44.119
And the other change of course that they
found is that they they had recyclable

00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:48.529
waste cans bias and compostable waste.

00:10:48.530 --> 00:10:51.859
They could walk it over to the
central recycling bin located by

00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:56.224
the elevators so it worked

00:10:56.225 --> 00:11:02.044
one year later waste plummeted to
less than 11 kilograms that day.

00:11:02.045 --> 00:11:06.004
It was an accomplishment that
had called for rethinking

00:11:06.005 --> 00:11:10.249
what every department wasted
including the cafeteria.

00:11:10.250 --> 00:11:14.959
Do you want to catch up previously
used to get your ketchup mustard

00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:19.594
relishes all in these convenient
little packages plastic packages.

00:11:19.595 --> 00:11:24.859
And if I recall well when you squeeze
those half went on your hand.

00:11:24.860 --> 00:11:28.654
One-quarter went on the food and then the
other quarter state and the package.

00:11:28.655 --> 00:11:32.239
So very inefficient from
many points of view.

00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:38.614
So all of those were replaced with bulk
dispensing again just bulk containers

00:11:38.615 --> 00:11:42.600
A poem from a large bottle.

00:11:43.420 --> 00:11:50.464
All disposable items with the exception of
paper napkins were removed from the cafeteria.

00:11:50.465 --> 00:11:52.579
Since everyone had already received

00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:58.174
a reusable coffee mug polystyrene
cups could be eliminated completely.

00:11:58.175 --> 00:12:01.549
And to encourage composting bins were

00:12:01.550 --> 00:12:06.964
installed making it easy for lunch
patrons to drop our foods graphs.

00:12:06.965 --> 00:12:13.504
The idea was to make simple changes that
didn\'t require a big adjustment from staff.

00:12:13.505 --> 00:12:17.224
When we did this here we\'re
saving $1000 a year.

00:12:17.225 --> 00:12:20.809
And I think we\'re making
money by going to 0 waste

00:12:20.810 --> 00:12:24.274
She inspired Ed machina and his staff.

00:12:24.275 --> 00:12:28.654
Now look for other ways they can
clean up Bell\'s business operations.

00:12:28.655 --> 00:12:33.019
This is a typical box that you may
find in the phone stores right now.

00:12:33.020 --> 00:12:36.679
The next stage is to really go
beyond your waste and beyond

00:12:36.680 --> 00:12:40.309
your waist means to take a look at some
of these materials materials that we

00:12:40.310 --> 00:12:43.489
may even be recycling today
and to ask ourselves do

00:12:43.490 --> 00:12:46.939
we actually need them in the
first place do we need them

00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:51.769
to be recyclable adult can we
make them reusable and shift from

00:12:51.770 --> 00:12:57.409
one R to the next higher higher R and
get more value for these materials.

00:12:57.410 --> 00:13:02.914
While the thought came around that
this is expensive. This is wasteful

00:13:02.915 --> 00:13:05.719
So let\'s try to work on
something like this.

00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:09.979
Very simple. Not long ago.

00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:17.509
This room was lined with metal bins overflowing
with garbage know most days it\'s empty.

00:13:17.510 --> 00:13:21.844
More than 75% of the largest
businesses in Canada.

00:13:21.845 --> 00:13:24.829
Now recycle a portion of their waste.

00:13:24.830 --> 00:13:28.669
But is that enough what
if every business in

00:13:28.670 --> 00:13:33.964
North America or the whole world for
that matter recycled all of their waste.

00:13:33.965 --> 00:13:37.459
Would that be enough to clean
the air and water around

00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:42.634
this not according to writer and
former businessman Paul Hawken.

00:13:42.635 --> 00:13:45.379
He believes recycling programs

00:13:45.380 --> 00:13:49.519
Will merely delay more
meaningful long-term solutions.

00:13:49.520 --> 00:13:54.259
We can\'t to solve the big picture
and not have people committed in

00:13:54.260 --> 00:13:58.894
their daily act in our daily lives to
changes that they could make right now.

00:13:58.895 --> 00:14:01.729
At the same time we don\'t
want to be confused that

00:14:01.730 --> 00:14:06.844
those small incremental acts themselves
will accumulate into a system.

00:14:06.845 --> 00:14:10.849
That is we started because we
have to recognize that some of

00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:15.409
the destructive tendencies of
business is embedded in the

00:14:15.410 --> 00:14:18.319
Design if you will the very

00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:23.779
web of business and that we have to
recognize those things can change them.

00:14:23.780 --> 00:14:27.139
In nature nothing is wasted.

00:14:27.140 --> 00:14:31.879
Everything that is left by one
organism becomes food for another.

00:14:31.880 --> 00:14:34.189
It\'s the perfect balance sheet.

00:14:34.190 --> 00:14:36.859
There are no debits or credits.

00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:40.459
Our system of business
on the other hand takes

00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:43.804
what it wants from the environment
and returns. Nothing useful.

00:14:43.805 --> 00:14:46.249
Most in fact is destructive.

00:14:46.250 --> 00:14:51.724
But what if business imitated the cycle
is found in nature what if it took

00:14:51.725 --> 00:14:58.440
only what could be restored and turn waste
into raw materials for other industries.

00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:04.504
Each day at the export
packers plant in Winnipeg

00:15:04.505 --> 00:15:09.600
more than 1.5 million eggs
are cracked and separate.

00:15:14.470 --> 00:15:18.979
These eggs are used in a
variety of products from

00:15:18.980 --> 00:15:23.730
mayonnaise to bake goods to
enzymes for medical research.

00:15:26.590 --> 00:15:34.290
Little is wasted in this highly mechanized
process except for the egg shells.

00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:41.839
Export Packers once spent a $100 thousand a
year to have the shells move to a local dump.

00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:47.314
Today they don\'t shell out a dime
dried and sold as chicken feed.

00:15:47.315 --> 00:15:52.279
This waste actually generates
profits today by drying it and

00:15:52.280 --> 00:15:54.199
selling it back to the feed industry we

00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:57.694
basically sell off approximately
a $150 thousand a year.

00:15:57.695 --> 00:16:00.619
So if you look at the whole
picture we\'ve gone from minus a

00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:03.739
100 thousand to two plus a $150 thousand.

00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:07.204
And we\'re basically getting
away from a landfill problem.

00:16:07.205 --> 00:16:09.589
We are handling a product
that is a lot easier to

00:16:09.590 --> 00:16:12.709
handle a lot cleaner and recycles as well.

00:16:12.710 --> 00:16:16.039
By applying the principles of ecology

00:16:16.040 --> 00:16:20.899
Export packers has turned waste
into fuel for another industry.

00:16:20.900 --> 00:16:23.749
But what about the energy export packers

00:16:23.750 --> 00:16:27.769
consumed were there other lessons
they could learn from nature.

00:16:27.770 --> 00:16:33.079
Now plant on a daily basis
processes 1.6 million eggs a day.

00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:36.394
And just like eggs at home they
would be kept refrigerated.

00:16:36.395 --> 00:16:39.469
This particular room is
kept at 80 degrees C.

00:16:39.470 --> 00:16:44.599
The good news about keeping a Room at eight
degrees C in Manitoba in the winter time is

00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:48.769
that you can use a lot of
outside air to help to maintain

00:16:48.770 --> 00:16:51.649
the low temperature within the
room there are something like

00:16:51.650 --> 00:16:54.919
six normal refrigeration compressors.

00:16:54.920 --> 00:16:59.179
You\'ll notice on these units
at the fans are stopped.

00:16:59.180 --> 00:17:04.759
All North Americans to one extent
or another rely on electricity.

00:17:04.760 --> 00:17:08.730
It\'s been an abundant resource for decades.

00:17:11.530 --> 00:17:15.154
In the early days we took it for granted.

00:17:15.155 --> 00:17:20.689
Water power was harnessed to turn huge
turbines and the electricity flow.

00:17:20.690 --> 00:17:24.990
Some said it was powered
too cheap to meter.

00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:34.249
No one gave wasting energy
a second thought and

00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:39.300
wasted we did by building
bigger hungrier machines.

00:17:43.510 --> 00:17:50.809
On my way to meet

00:17:50.810 --> 00:17:53.794
the growing demand power utilities damped

00:17:53.795 --> 00:17:58.354
more rivers and built dirtier
coal and oil fueled plants.

00:17:58.355 --> 00:18:01.410
Then came nuclear power.

00:18:02.800 --> 00:18:05.809
Today we live with the hangover of

00:18:05.810 --> 00:18:08.899
our addiction smog acid rain and

00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:13.759
ozone destruction it\'s the price
we pay for cheap electric power.

00:18:13.760 --> 00:18:18.034
Bc Hydros chief executive
officer Mark Eliasson.

00:18:18.035 --> 00:18:23.059
And the bottom line for any utility
is that we can no longer generate and

00:18:23.060 --> 00:18:25.429
transmit electricity in the present and

00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:28.669
future in the manner and the method
by which we\'ve done in the past.

00:18:28.670 --> 00:18:32.359
At BC Hydro in Vancouver staff do

00:18:32.360 --> 00:18:36.048
the hard work by phone there
trying to convince customers

00:18:36.049 --> 00:18:38.479
that less is more applying

00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:43.024
a strategy that promotes energy
conservation like you would a soft drink.

00:18:43.025 --> 00:18:46.039
Even though Washington
cold water saves energy.

00:18:46.040 --> 00:18:49.830
Some people still don\'t
believe it gets closed clean.

00:18:57.820 --> 00:19:02.209
When the power Smart program began in 1989

00:19:02.210 --> 00:19:05.029
the Vancouver and Lower Mainland area were

00:19:05.030 --> 00:19:08.014
among the fastest growing
parts of North America.

00:19:08.015 --> 00:19:14.179
Nearly half of all the electricity generated
in the province was being consumed here.

00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:19.834
Stretched to the limit BC Hydro was
faced with a critical decision

00:19:19.835 --> 00:19:25.624
build more dams and high voltage power
lines or invest in conservation.

00:19:25.625 --> 00:19:29.119
So why would a company
whose business is to sell

00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:33.214
energy encourage its customers to buy less.

00:19:33.215 --> 00:19:38.719
Well the short answer is that
it\'s more lucrative for everyone

00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:44.029
Customers can cut their monthly power bills
by using energy-efficient technology.

00:19:44.030 --> 00:19:49.264
And the utility can sell the leftover
electricity to new customers.

00:19:49.265 --> 00:19:51.649
Without the expense of building

00:19:51.650 --> 00:19:57.574
a new power plant by spending $600 million
through to the end of the decade.

00:19:57.575 --> 00:20:02.149
Bc Hydro could save up to $2 billion and

00:20:02.150 --> 00:20:06.754
delay construction of a new hydro
station by 20 years or more.

00:20:06.755 --> 00:20:09.934
It is the cheapest form of
generating electricity.

00:20:09.935 --> 00:20:13.204
It creates some greatest
number of jobs and surprise.

00:20:13.205 --> 00:20:16.474
It has the most benign
impact on the environment.

00:20:16.475 --> 00:20:19.800
So it\'s the way to go for the long-term.

00:20:20.580 --> 00:20:25.389
North America is industry\'s
use as much as 25%

00:20:25.390 --> 00:20:30.470
more energy per unit of production
than other Western nations.

00:20:30.540 --> 00:20:36.489
Since lighting alone swallows up nearly
half of an industry\'s energy bill it\'s been

00:20:36.490 --> 00:20:41.469
an easy target for BC Hydro power Smart
Program and the lighting project

00:20:41.470 --> 00:20:44.379
that we completed last year
was an extensive project

00:20:44.380 --> 00:20:47.289
to replace all of the
inefficient lights throughout

00:20:47.290 --> 00:20:50.349
the mail that we could justify
replacing and actually totalled

00:20:50.350 --> 00:20:53.649
approximately 3200 light
fixtures that were in place.

00:20:53.650 --> 00:20:56.394
And they were replaced with
much more efficient fixtures.

00:20:56.395 --> 00:21:02.420
In many cases using less than 60% of the
energy of the original thanks turns.

00:21:03.340 --> 00:21:10.050
It allows us to reduce our energy bill
and still acronym responsible manner.

00:21:10.840 --> 00:21:15.439
The energy saved by changing
light fixtures in this plant

00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:19.954
was enough to serve as a 170
Vancouver homes for a year.

00:21:19.955 --> 00:21:25.099
If all of BC Hydro is customers
maximized conservation it\'s estimated

00:21:25.100 --> 00:21:32.010
the province could cut electricity
use by as much as 75% in some areas.

00:21:34.600 --> 00:21:40.579
Searching for business practices which
respect and preserve nature has never been

00:21:40.580 --> 00:21:45.874
more important particularly as billions
of people in the developing world

00:21:45.875 --> 00:21:50.250
aspire to our levels of
consumerism and waste.

00:21:50.980 --> 00:21:57.559
The Amazon River Basin nurtures nearly half
of the world\'s plant and animal species.

00:21:57.560 --> 00:22:03.019
Yet every hour 1800 hectares
of rainforest are destroyed.

00:22:03.020 --> 00:22:09.570
Most of it going up in smoke clearing land
for cattle ranching and subsistence farmer.

00:22:10.600 --> 00:22:15.859
It\'s a crisis fueled as much by the
cravings of wealthy consumers in

00:22:15.860 --> 00:22:21.424
the North as it is by the poverty and
desperation of those in the south.

00:22:21.425 --> 00:22:24.949
On the surface. It\'s not the
kind of place where you\'d

00:22:24.950 --> 00:22:28.369
expect to find in international
cosmetics company.

00:22:28.370 --> 00:22:32.089
But the body shop which sells
hair and skin products in

00:22:32.090 --> 00:22:36.274
hundreds of stores around the
world isn\'t an ordinary business.

00:22:36.275 --> 00:22:39.319
Here in the heart of the jungle
they\'ve helped a group of

00:22:39.320 --> 00:22:42.409
chi hippo Indians set
up their own business.

00:22:42.410 --> 00:22:48.229
One whose fortunes depend on protecting
the rain forest not chopping it down.

00:22:48.230 --> 00:22:51.919
For three months each
year Campo Indians from

00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:55.129
two villages comb the
forest floor hunting for

00:22:55.130 --> 00:22:57.169
Brazil nuts carried to

00:22:57.170 --> 00:23:02.209
a local production plan then knots
are cracked open ground and pressed.

00:23:02.210 --> 00:23:07.234
What The Body Shop bys is the oil
more than 4 thousand kilograms

00:23:07.235 --> 00:23:10.489
Were purchased in 1993 even though

00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:15.394
Brazil nut oil hair conditioner has
become a best seller for the body shop.

00:23:15.395 --> 00:23:18.289
It was created to give these capo Indians

00:23:18.290 --> 00:23:22.879
a sustainable economic alternative
its practices like this that

00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.329
make the body shop a green
business leader and its

00:23:26.330 --> 00:23:30.544
founder and president and neither
Roddick I\'m outspoken maverick.

00:23:30.545 --> 00:23:35.719
You\'ve written in the past that environmentalism
will be the issue of the nineties.

00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.869
Do you still believe that why it\'s got to

00:23:38.870 --> 00:23:42.169
be the alternative You\'ve got to
we\'ve got to clean up our mess.

00:23:42.170 --> 00:23:45.559
We\'ve got if we\'re if we\'ve got two i

00:23:45.560 --> 00:23:49.324
absolutely am very using sustainable
resources. We\'ve got to

00:23:49.325 --> 00:23:53.419
Really know about waste management
energy control. We\'ve got to do that.

00:23:53.420 --> 00:23:58.369
Now. If we have that thinking which
goes into the next 20-30 40 years.

00:23:58.370 --> 00:24:02.149
We\'ll put those practices in those
environmental management practice in now.

00:24:02.150 --> 00:24:05.764
If we\'re short-term ism which has
been happening in the last 50 years.

00:24:05.765 --> 00:24:07.309
We can a screw everything up.

00:24:07.310 --> 00:24:12.484
That\'s my belief is that you work with
grassroots to have a sense of outrage to demand.

00:24:12.485 --> 00:24:15.649
We\'ve got to know the consumer you
and I\'ve got to know how our shoes

00:24:15.650 --> 00:24:18.649
made what conditions of
employment what labor

00:24:18.650 --> 00:24:21.109
conditions what environmental
practices are used

00:24:21.110 --> 00:24:23.449
my gut feeling is that the consumer

00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:25.744
is going to ask these questions
in the next ten years.

00:24:25.745 --> 00:24:28.054
That\'s probably the only
way it\'s going to happen.

00:24:28.055 --> 00:24:31.560
Businesses got to change
if we\'re going to survive

00:24:31.830 --> 00:24:37.434
Like it\'s founder The Body Shop
breaks the traditional business mole.

00:24:37.435 --> 00:24:39.489
Simplicity is key.

00:24:39.490 --> 00:24:44.049
Every shampoo cream and lotion
comes packaged in one of

00:24:44.050 --> 00:24:49.119
only five bottled designs making
them easier to refill and reuse.

00:24:49.120 --> 00:24:52.194
Although the Body Shop
is probably best known

00:24:52.195 --> 00:24:55.419
for its policy banning
products tested on animals.

00:24:55.420 --> 00:25:02.480
Every item carried is rated on a scale
of as many as 40 environmental criteria.

00:25:05.610 --> 00:25:11.709
Even shipping crates which can be
broken down start and then reuse later.

00:25:11.710 --> 00:25:14.780
Take the environment into account.

00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:21.939
At the company\'s Canadian
headquarters in Toronto

00:25:21.940 --> 00:25:27.954
the same resourceful spirit emerged when
it came time to find larger facilities.

00:25:27.955 --> 00:25:33.729
Instead of building a new office they
recycled and old one pursuing a model of

00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:39.729
corporate environmentalism that challenges old
beliefs about how people and offices work.

00:25:39.730 --> 00:25:44.979
This building to me is like the basket
that holds the business philosophy.

00:25:44.980 --> 00:25:50.079
It is a building that is for business
to prove to people that you can run

00:25:50.080 --> 00:25:53.649
a really efficient profitable
business while being

00:25:53.650 --> 00:25:58.379
really good to the people who
work in the business and

00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:02.509
About the business and that you can produce

00:26:02.510 --> 00:26:07.714
profits and you can make people
feel entirely comfortable.

00:26:07.715 --> 00:26:11.284
And yet you can still be
friendly to the environment.

00:26:11.285 --> 00:26:17.659
And for me that was the one overriding
factor that it had to encompass

00:26:17.660 --> 00:26:20.389
those three areas of the body shop the

00:26:20.390 --> 00:26:26.280
profitability the people and
the environment the place.

00:26:27.850 --> 00:26:33.049
What they created was a place
that loses less heat spreads

00:26:33.050 --> 00:26:38.370
more sunshine and recycles more
waste than most other buildings

00:26:39.910 --> 00:26:47.580
Staff now walk on the first carpet in
Canada made entirely from recycled nylon.

00:26:48.040 --> 00:26:53.989
But most ideas embody simple environmental
principles like refurbishing

00:26:53.990 --> 00:27:00.420
old desks and chairs and recycling glass
windows that were destined for the local dump.

00:27:00.610 --> 00:27:04.579
I think that people get so
caught up and having to do

00:27:04.580 --> 00:27:07.549
something big that it
stops them altogether.

00:27:07.550 --> 00:27:11.134
If they can\'t do something magnificent
that doesn\'t make a big splash.

00:27:11.135 --> 00:27:15.289
They say well I just wait for the
opportunity when I can do that.

00:27:15.290 --> 00:27:18.919
And I think that that\'s
the wrong tap to take

00:27:18.920 --> 00:27:22.939
small steps are just as encouraging
and just as important as large step

00:27:22.940 --> 00:27:30.364
. Greening the building has meant looking
for opportunities around every corner.

00:27:30.365 --> 00:27:34.369
When the hotel a few blocks
away began renovations

00:27:34.370 --> 00:27:39.900
The Body Shop seize the chance to
purchase a few use sinks and toilets.

00:27:40.810 --> 00:27:47.059
But it\'s outside on the grounds that
evidence of real innovation is taking shape.

00:27:47.060 --> 00:27:52.939
Alongside the buildings parking lot
bulldozers are clearing space for a wetland.

00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:58.444
Not only will it help prevent rainwater from
flooding storm sewers and local rivers.

00:27:58.445 --> 00:28:01.729
But the area may eventually
be used to drain

00:28:01.730 --> 00:28:05.284
wastewater treated here and
what the Body Shop calls

00:28:05.285 --> 00:28:08.359
the living machine. It may look like

00:28:08.360 --> 00:28:12.019
a greenhouse but when it\'s
complete 4 thousand liters

00:28:12.020 --> 00:28:15.094
of wastewater from toilets
sinks and showers

00:28:15.095 --> 00:28:19.324
will flow through these tanks
instead of into sewers

00:28:19.325 --> 00:28:24.019
by imitating wetlands and marshes
which purify water naturally.

00:28:24.020 --> 00:28:28.744
Living machine turns waste
into food for plants and fish.

00:28:28.745 --> 00:28:32.284
And then eventually back into clean water.

00:28:32.285 --> 00:28:35.959
One day the Body Shop hopes
the same technique can

00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:39.904
also be used to clean the
buildings industrial wastewater.

00:28:39.905 --> 00:28:42.109
It\'s an investment in the future.

00:28:42.110 --> 00:28:46.219
One which goes a long way to
reducing the strain this business

00:28:46.220 --> 00:28:50.449
places on the environment
but is it enough I

00:28:50.450 --> 00:28:54.469
guess the problem for me is that
in business growth is absolutely

00:28:54.470 --> 00:28:58.549
essential to survival but in the real
world you can\'t keep on growing forever.

00:28:58.550 --> 00:29:01.954
It means death is that really not

00:29:01.955 --> 00:29:05.434
The fundamental problem even the body shop.

00:29:05.435 --> 00:29:08.359
You not need a growth in order to survive

00:29:08.360 --> 00:29:12.094
but we also need to constantly
rethink our thinking.

00:29:12.095 --> 00:29:14.479
You know one of the biggest
conversations going on in

00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:17.209
the body shop at the
moment is how big do you

00:29:17.210 --> 00:29:19.699
wanna grow when is enough enough now

00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:22.234
these are conversations that
they may get into practice.

00:29:22.235 --> 00:29:25.984
I don\'t know yet. Yes there\'s
a dialogue about that.

00:29:25.985 --> 00:29:30.229
But if if we\'re going on the route
of more opening more shops than

00:29:30.230 --> 00:29:36.829
every act every decision has to have an
environmental and a social perspective to it.

00:29:36.830 --> 00:29:40.234
And neither erotic is the first
to admit that no company

00:29:40.235 --> 00:29:44.194
including The Body Shop has
all the answers. In fact

00:29:44.195 --> 00:29:47.029
Her views have made her a
target for criticism from the

00:29:47.030 --> 00:29:50.344
business community and
some environmental groups.

00:29:50.345 --> 00:29:53.629
What\'s really important
is that companies like

00:29:53.630 --> 00:29:58.279
hers are beginning to question
conventional business practices.

00:29:58.280 --> 00:30:04.320
And that environmental costs are
factored into every business decision.

00:30:05.710 --> 00:30:08.659
This is the 20th century world of

00:30:08.660 --> 00:30:14.430
industry a complex combination of
mass production and technical skill.

00:30:16.540 --> 00:30:22.399
In the short span of 50 years Canada
has become a major industrial nation.

00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:27.210
You skyscrapers new factories
shape the skyline of the city

00:30:28.750 --> 00:30:34.249
In the 20th century world of
industry anything seemed possible.

00:30:34.250 --> 00:30:37.549
We\'ve treated nature as an
inexhaustible storehouse of

00:30:37.550 --> 00:30:41.644
resources hours to forge
into a boundless future.

00:30:41.645 --> 00:30:43.654
We call it progress.

00:30:43.655 --> 00:30:49.669
And on its course we seem determined to
convert the entire world into consumer items

00:30:49.670 --> 00:30:53.719
manufacturing more things
to sell to more people has

00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:57.754
become the focus of Western
society and economic growth.

00:30:57.755 --> 00:31:01.770
The means of measuring
every country\'s progress

00:31:08.260 --> 00:31:15.180
Trying to consume our way to prosperity
has not only exhausted resources.

00:31:15.310 --> 00:31:22.320
But it\'s left us to live on a diet of
inflation unemployment and insecurity.

00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:33.244
Industrialism is a linear approach

00:31:33.245 --> 00:31:37.324
to manufacturing and sales and
distribution destroys things around it.

00:31:37.325 --> 00:31:40.429
Nothing linear lasts end of subject.

00:31:40.430 --> 00:31:43.939
And that the only way for
business to survive and for us

00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:48.229
to survive along with it is to
produce a cyclical economy.

00:31:48.230 --> 00:31:50.854
In a cyclical economy

00:31:50.855 --> 00:31:53.539
All products do one of two things.

00:31:53.540 --> 00:31:57.754
They either decomposed and become
food for other living organisms.

00:31:57.755 --> 00:32:02.059
Are they returned to the
manufacturer and recycled at

00:32:02.060 --> 00:32:05.749
this German automobile plant
workers can now dismantle and

00:32:05.750 --> 00:32:10.680
recycled as many as 80% of
the parts in some model.

00:32:11.980 --> 00:32:16.519
But these changes aren\'t simply
acts of corporate goodness.

00:32:16.520 --> 00:32:19.594
Most were spurred by
government legislation.

00:32:19.595 --> 00:32:24.634
And in Germany environmental policies
are among the toughest in the world.

00:32:24.635 --> 00:32:27.469
The rationale is straightforward enough.

00:32:27.470 --> 00:32:33.199
If a manufacturer made it the same manufacturer
should be responsible for the product

00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:38.970
throughout its life and that means keeping
it out of incinerators and dumps.

00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:53.689
Policies like this are reshaping
business practices across

00:32:53.690 --> 00:32:58.800
Europe making it harder for less
progressive countries to compete

00:32:58.870 --> 00:33:02.089
We will have companies
in Canada coming out of

00:33:02.090 --> 00:33:06.019
the recession that are looking
forward to the global marketplace to

00:33:06.020 --> 00:33:09.154
compete and we won\'t be
able to compete because

00:33:09.155 --> 00:33:13.189
other countries will have strategically
nurtured their businesses

00:33:13.190 --> 00:33:17.839
and industry associations into accepting
more environmental responsibility

00:33:17.840 --> 00:33:22.669
and the level of packaging protocol awareness
and the level of responsibility for

00:33:22.670 --> 00:33:28.129
solid waste and the level for uniform
packaging size and looking to retool

00:33:28.130 --> 00:33:31.039
business is happening much
slower in a number of

00:33:31.040 --> 00:33:34.204
sectors in Canada than
among the competition.

00:33:34.205 --> 00:33:36.649
What we\'re seeing here is an
economy that desperately wants to

00:33:36.650 --> 00:33:41.014
evolve and move from a linear
system to a cyclical system

00:33:41.015 --> 00:33:44.179
And it\'s being suppressed every step
of the way by businesses themselves

00:33:44.180 --> 00:33:48.064
because they\'re afraid of the
future and they only know the past.

00:33:48.065 --> 00:33:52.399
Business is trapped by an
outdated economic system.

00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:58.384
One which demands they produce goods at the
lowest price in order to survive and thrive.

00:33:58.385 --> 00:34:02.824
But low-price goods usually
overlook one critical figure.

00:34:02.825 --> 00:34:05.704
The cost of destroying the earth.

00:34:05.705 --> 00:34:10.759
How is it that the products that harm
and endanger life can be sold more

00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:16.369
cheaply than those that don\'t
only way that you can change that

00:34:16.370 --> 00:34:19.609
Is to move to a tax system
where price and cost to

00:34:19.610 --> 00:34:22.909
integrated you have to scrap the current
tax system or we tax it things.

00:34:22.910 --> 00:34:27.469
We encourage jobs profitability
entrepreneurship

00:34:27.470 --> 00:34:30.349
and really start taxing things that we

00:34:30.350 --> 00:34:33.184
want to encourage and start taxing
things we want to discourage.

00:34:33.185 --> 00:34:37.789
And that\'s like the consumption of fossil
fuels of pesticides and herbicides

00:34:37.790 --> 00:34:41.554
heavy metals toxins guns weapons

00:34:41.555 --> 00:34:46.384
all the things that destroy the environment
around us you tax those things.

00:34:46.385 --> 00:34:49.819
And what happens in the marketplace
is that if you phase out in

00:34:49.820 --> 00:34:54.094
over 20 year period that
green taxes phase out

00:34:54.095 --> 00:34:58.054
the payroll and income taxes we have now.

00:34:58.055 --> 00:35:02.884
What happens in is that price in the
marketplace starts to reflect true cost.

00:35:02.885 --> 00:35:07.669
And when it reflects to a cost in
sustainable methods and manufacturer of

00:35:07.670 --> 00:35:13.039
resource extraction of farming
become very very cost competitive.

00:35:13.040 --> 00:35:16.759
They become the cheapest
way to produce things.

00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:20.299
Adopting a pricing system
that adds on the cost

00:35:20.300 --> 00:35:23.839
of environmental destruction
would benefit all of us.

00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:27.529
It would mean that I could buy
the least expensive product

00:35:27.530 --> 00:35:31.759
here for example and know that
it was best for the environment.

00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:36.484
It would also help curb
another problem. Growth.

00:35:36.485 --> 00:35:42.259
All businesses operate under the illusion that
they can continue to produce more goods to

00:35:42.260 --> 00:35:48.604
sell to more consumers without ever
letting up but nothing grows forever.

00:35:48.605 --> 00:35:53.224
The fact the matter is that we
need growth and we need death.

00:35:53.225 --> 00:35:56.449
Every system requires both.

00:35:56.450 --> 00:35:59.554
Whether it\'s a forest or
whether it\'s an economy.

00:35:59.555 --> 00:36:02.464
And so the question is it\'s
the quality of the growth.

00:36:02.465 --> 00:36:05.749
What is growing what is dy and right

00:36:05.750 --> 00:36:09.994
now what is growing as capital
and what is dying is the planet.

00:36:09.995 --> 00:36:14.209
And what we need is the planet
to grow and what we need to

00:36:14.210 --> 00:36:18.934
atrophy to die and so forth
is systems that no longer

00:36:18.935 --> 00:36:25.294
Mesh with the natural world there
are no books on how not to grow.

00:36:25.295 --> 00:36:28.249
Business magazines don\'t write about it and

00:36:28.250 --> 00:36:31.864
only a handful of schools have even broach.
The subject.

00:36:31.865 --> 00:36:36.364
Not growing is contrary to
everything business knows.

00:36:36.365 --> 00:36:40.129
Yet some like this outdoor
clothing company based in Ventura.

00:36:40.130 --> 00:36:44.269
California are trying to
redefine growth in an age of

00:36:44.270 --> 00:36:51.304
environmental awareness founder and
owner of Patagonia yvon Chouinard.

00:36:51.305 --> 00:36:55.219
If this year and we can
do more sales and we have

00:36:55.220 --> 00:37:00.724
budgeted easily without adding
any infrastructure without

00:37:00.725 --> 00:37:05.149
Hiring new people without
opening more dealers

00:37:05.150 --> 00:37:09.799
for our goods without designing
new products I\'m going to do it.

00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:14.269
That\'s that\'s great growth.
I\'m all for that.

00:37:14.270 --> 00:37:19.789
However if I have to say okay
we want to grow 30% next year.

00:37:19.790 --> 00:37:22.174
So let\'s open up 30% more dealers.

00:37:22.175 --> 00:37:26.194
Let\'s develop 30% more
products that\'s bad growth.

00:37:26.195 --> 00:37:30.919
And and that will eventually
make us commit suicide

00:37:30.920 --> 00:37:36.484
During the last decade Patagonia
experienced growth in the fast lane.

00:37:36.485 --> 00:37:40.399
The company started in the 19
eighties with sales of $3.1

00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:45.574
million and ended them by
topic the $100 million mark.

00:37:45.575 --> 00:37:50.509
But just as profits P they came tumbling
down the other side of the mountain.

00:37:50.510 --> 00:37:55.624
Eventually 200 of the company is 600
employees would lose their jobs.

00:37:55.625 --> 00:38:01.459
Growth yvon Chouinard discovered was not the
only measure of a successful business and

00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:03.739
we expect foresters to be stewards of

00:38:03.740 --> 00:38:07.399
the forest could be protecting the
forest not cut the whole thing down.

00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:09.904
He cut a tree here you cut a tree there.

00:38:09.905 --> 00:38:12.484
That\'s mature and it\'s ready to die anyway.

00:38:12.485 --> 00:38:15.349
But you know raised all thing.

00:38:15.350 --> 00:38:21.394
Well we expect it to those people but
we don\'t expect anything of business.

00:38:21.395 --> 00:38:23.869
We don\'t expect anything of corporations.

00:38:23.870 --> 00:38:25.879
They can do anything they want.

00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:30.859
Because the mandate is they have
to grow as quickly as possible.

00:38:30.860 --> 00:38:35.329
A few companies are willing
to look carefully at

00:38:35.330 --> 00:38:40.099
the consequences of their business and
take responsibility for what they see.

00:38:40.100 --> 00:38:43.609
Patagonia has for employees who spend all

00:38:43.610 --> 00:38:46.789
of their time searching for
ways to make products that

00:38:46.790 --> 00:38:54.120
are less damaging like this jacket made
from recycled plastic of 25 soda bottles.

00:38:54.580 --> 00:39:00.979
But the most impressive environmental
accomplishment comes off the company\'s bottom line.

00:39:00.980 --> 00:39:05.014
Profits each year Patagonia donates

00:39:05.015 --> 00:39:13.015
10% of its pre-tax profits $1.2 million
in 1993 to environmental causes.

00:39:15.610 --> 00:39:18.919
I wanted to be here a 100 years
from now which means I have to

00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:22.294
stay a natural size for
what I\'m trying to do.

00:39:22.295 --> 00:39:25.729
And so at some point I have to

00:39:25.730 --> 00:39:30.349
downsize at some point I have to
grow at some point I have to cruise.

00:39:30.350 --> 00:39:36.949
And I\'m perfectly willing to follow
that to be here 100 years now

00:39:36.950 --> 00:39:40.819
Whether or not a company
grows may be incidental.

00:39:40.820 --> 00:39:43.804
The real point is to preserve nature

00:39:43.805 --> 00:39:47.464
and ultimately to leave a
better place for our children.

00:39:47.465 --> 00:39:50.959
Some believe the only way
to do this is by using

00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:57.589
sustainable business practices but cannot
occur at appetite for resources be sustained.

00:39:57.590 --> 00:39:59.689
People talk about a sustainable society but

00:39:59.690 --> 00:40:01.939
the dirty little secret
of environmentalism is

00:40:01.940 --> 00:40:05.059
there\'s you know you
don\'t want to say it too

00:40:05.060 --> 00:40:08.584
loud but there\'s no such
thing as sustainability.

00:40:08.585 --> 00:40:14.299
It doesn\'t exist in either your
restoring place going into grading

00:40:14.300 --> 00:40:17.179
Or in Buddhism is either you
making an effort or you\'re

00:40:17.180 --> 00:40:20.164
being lazy but there\'s
no middle ground there.

00:40:20.165 --> 00:40:24.259
There\'s no place where we can
measure just exactly where it

00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:28.579
is where we can take just enough and not degrade
the environment for future generations.

00:40:28.580 --> 00:40:33.994
So the economy that we had to move to
isn\'t one where we sustain ourselves.

00:40:33.995 --> 00:40:38.899
We\'re talking about restoring this
place we\'re talking about replanning

00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:45.319
ancient forest about restoring riparian
systems and wetlands and fisheries.

00:40:45.320 --> 00:40:51.199
So we\'re talking about reconstructing
the environment or allowing it

00:40:51.200 --> 00:40:53.719
to basically heal itself in such a way

00:40:53.720 --> 00:40:57.600
that is prosperous and sort of
read is pretty exciting stuff.

00:41:01.590 --> 00:41:07.329
Taking steps to restore the environment
begins in your own backyard.

00:41:07.330 --> 00:41:10.419
That\'s what John Edmonds
believed when he decided to

00:41:10.420 --> 00:41:14.604
radically change is Halifax
based landscaping business.

00:41:14.605 --> 00:41:20.784
Alone in garden are often the only regular
contact urban dwellers have with nature.

00:41:20.785 --> 00:41:27.369
But as Edmonds knew most landscaping practices
are contrary to all things natural.

00:41:27.370 --> 00:41:33.699
His business relied on a steady supply of
chemicals like pesticides and herbicides.

00:41:33.700 --> 00:41:38.894
Toxins applied to lawns that eventually
seep into local rivers and lakes

00:41:38.895 --> 00:41:46.200
Years ago John Edmonds decided it was time
to take his gardening business off drugs.

00:41:46.420 --> 00:41:50.149
It has benefit our company in general in

00:41:50.150 --> 00:41:53.464
that we looked at all aspects
of the way we did business.

00:41:53.465 --> 00:41:56.194
The benefit of the employees.

00:41:56.195 --> 00:42:03.304
Their health and attitude has improved
and are also very very interesting.

00:42:03.305 --> 00:42:08.479
And this can assist all businesses
is that our employees now

00:42:08.480 --> 00:42:11.359
recognize and they did
recognize then the value of

00:42:11.360 --> 00:42:14.959
making this transition it show we were
interested in them in the community.

00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:16.969
And this cause

00:42:16.970 --> 00:42:21.079
This awakening his help keep our company

00:42:21.080 --> 00:42:22.999
together and it\'s given them

00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:26.584
another reason to work for the
company and put in long hours.

00:42:26.585 --> 00:42:30.079
The benefits to our clients they
now have pesticide free zones.

00:42:30.080 --> 00:42:31.894
For example we have a client.

00:42:31.895 --> 00:42:34.804
Who\'s an animal he\'s a bird lover.

00:42:34.805 --> 00:42:42.409
And he he has kind of the population and
there\'s birds on almost a monthly basis.

00:42:42.410 --> 00:42:49.474
And since he is property has gone from using
pesticides synthetic fertilizers to organic.

00:42:49.475 --> 00:42:54.034
You you told me last month extremely happy.

00:42:54.035 --> 00:42:57.870
He\'s bird population has
increased five-fold

00:42:58.570 --> 00:43:06.229
Imagine a world where every transaction
restores and protect nature were work means

00:43:06.230 --> 00:43:08.839
more than bringing home a paycheck where

00:43:08.840 --> 00:43:13.534
the fundamental objective of business
is to improve life for everyone.

00:43:13.535 --> 00:43:18.544
That\'s the kind of world that business
leaders like John Edmonds envision.

00:43:18.545 --> 00:43:26.545
We found that this environmental
transition has paid off in enriching us.

00:43:30.400 --> 00:43:35.659
Not only intercompany surviving and
doing good business and treatment are

00:43:35.660 --> 00:43:41.089
clients happy but we have been enriched
in taking this home to where families

00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:45.739
And it\'s made us think about
nature and made us not turn

00:43:45.740 --> 00:43:48.979
a deaf ear to the TV
when you see this stuff

00:43:48.980 --> 00:43:50.809
going on and say well
that\'s got nothing to do

00:43:50.810 --> 00:43:52.984
with it because it does
because the Earth as a whole.

00:43:52.985 --> 00:43:56.149
And I would say quite bluntly that

00:43:56.150 --> 00:44:02.119
every business leader has a social
responsibility not only to the community

00:44:02.120 --> 00:44:05.719
To himself and he\'s employees to look

00:44:05.720 --> 00:44:10.260
at how the way he does business
affects the environment