This is the season for spring cleaning and I took the time to find some old articles I had stored, and one came up listing the top 10 hurdles keeping businesses from being more sustainable. The article came out in 2011. How have we progressed? Are these still hurdles? Can we “laugh” at the concerns in 2023?

The top 10 hurdles for business sustainability in 2011:
1. There are too many metrics that claim to measure sustainability— and they’re too confusing.
2. Government policies need to incentivize outcomes and be more clearly connected to sustainability.
3. Consumers do not consistently factor sustainability into their purchase decisions.
4. Companies do not know how best to motivate employees to undertake sustainability initiatives.
5. Sustainability still does not fit neatly into the business case.
6. Companies have difficulty discriminating between important opportunities and threats on the horizon.
7. Organizations have trouble communicating good deeds credibly to avoid the label as greenwashing.
8. Better guidelines are needed for engaging key stakeholders, such as aboriginal communities.
9. There is no common set of rules for sourcing sustainably.
10. Those companies that try leading the sustainability frontier often end up losing.

In general, I think we can say that American society and government has addressed most of these concerns. Nothing is perfect. Nothing is easy. But the concerns holding back businesses that existed 12 years ago have certainly been lessened looking at how we have grown today.

Yes, there are still many sustainability metrics. But at least there are established, recognized programs, such as LEED and Energy Star. If you have either label, then you are accepted as “sustainable”. Also, more and more companies realize that a “plaque” is not necessary to prove one is sustainable. Doing good science and recordkeeping and demonstrating a decline in energy or water usage, in waste generation, and/or in greenhouse gas emissions is sufficient to demonstrate success in sustainability.

While there is inconsistency throughout the US, most states and regions incentivize programs that make companies, buildings, and communities more sustainable, whether it is specific for energy, water, or waste. This is generally based on the needs of the community (water, energy grid). But government or utility programs with direct financial incentives for verified, sustainable projects do exist.

It is probably true that consumers still do not factor sustainability or the environment in their purchasing decisions, although this has risen since 2011. Certainly, the growth in sales of EV cars is an example. However, the market contains too many other factors of importance (price, quality, etc.) for consumers to overwhelmingly base purchases on sustainability. The same is true of staff. Many people just focus on doing their jobs (job security) and do not look at other pictures.

There is a lot more support for companies that wish to be more sustainable than 12 years ago. There is experience in what types of projects will be more successful than others and how to manage them better to both benefit the bottomline and environment. Also, with social media booming the last 12 years, there are many opportunities to communicate success, and also to check that greenwashing has not occurred.

Finally, the last item has been proven to be a myth. Designing and implementing a smart, organized sustainability program is most likely going to benefit a company in many ways, including direct financial. There have been many case studies to show this is true. In addition, over time, more companies are being led by people who have studied this in business school and understand sustainability.

CCES has the experts to help you design and implement a robust sustainability program to help your bottomline and make actual gains in energy, greenhouse gas, water, and waste goals. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.