Getting to the Bottom Line of the Triple Bottom Line

By:  Stephanie Benney

With more and more terms of green and sustainability flying at our heads each day, it is difficult for even me to sometimes keep up with it all.  As I was preparing and researching for an article that was a little more “green technical” and scientifically based, it suddenly struck me that many of you may need a crash course in the basics of sustainability.

There is an enormous amount of topics to research in order to gain a firm educational platform, but I want to focus concentration on the “Triple Bottom Line” or “3BL”.   In the world of corporation and business, there is always a bottom line of making a profit.  However, this being the only purpose has begun to change within the past several years.  Businesses and corporations have started to become more sustainable in their practices and operations, and are now using the Triple Bottom Line as their model for success.

The phrase, “Triple Bottom Line” was coined in 1994 by author, John Elkington.  According to Elkington’s book, Cannibals with Forks:  The Triple Bottom Line, this is the definition:

- People or human capital – This refers to fair, ethical and beneficial business practices toward employees, community and country in which a corporation conducts its business.

- Planet or natural capital – The goal of the 21st-century companies is to not only help protect the environment by producing Green or environmentally responsible products, but also to have their own, sustainable, environmentally sound business operating practices.  This means companies are to operate in an environmentally responsible manner, taking steps to reduce their own environmental footprint, consuming less energy and fewer nonrenewable resources and producing less waste.

- Profit – Yes, companies are still in the business of making profits; however, within a sustainability framework, profit is viewed as the economic benefit enjoyed not just by the company, but by the employees and community as a whole.

In shorter terminology, this means that all three factors(people, planet and profit) must work together in harmonious ways to compliment one another and encourage growth.  It is now important to reflect upon how we have depleted and hurt Mother Earth, our greatest resource and how we have harmed our fellow Earthmate and the  economy.  The Triple Bottom Line allows us to attempt to right our wrongs, where our businesses are concerned.

Companies are taking the Triple Bottom Line extremely seriously – and they should.  “We the people”, are not going to settle for corporate laziness and irresponsibility, such as that of the Auto Industry Crash.  Some of the companies who are doing their part by operating off of a sustainable business model are names like:  PNC, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and Johnson & Johnson.  These are companies that have been household names for years and have also set a positive example.

If you own your own company, re-evaluate your bottom line and then go from there to figure out what you can do to make your business operate on a sustainable level.  You may need to restructure your business model, but you will be light years ahead in the end.  Nowadays, people and other companies put more weight on working with companies who are sustainable. I guess when you really think about it, it all comes down to everyone helping everyone………be better.

Stephanie Benney is a “Sustainable Visionary” and also the new Pittsburgh Representative for Fuzed Marketing, where she helps companies increase their brand presence. stephaniebenney@yahoo.com