Sustainability for the Rest of Us

Your No-Bullshit, Five-Point Plan for Saving the Planet

John Pabon

• Publisher: Fulcrum Strategic Advisors
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780648918424
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Sustainability in Business
• Index: Business

"If you've any interest in saving our planet...pick up a copy of this book."

Have you ever wondered whether all your plastic recycling, reusable cup carrying, and hybrid car driving are really making a difference? How about the money you give to charity or the politicians you vote for? Why is it that, after 100 years of the modern environmental movement, things only seem to be getting worse?

In "Sustainability for the Rest of Us, " John Pabon looks back on his nearly two decades in the business of saving our Earth to reveal why much of what we've been doing isn't having a big impact at all. This hilarious, no-holds-barred, unorthodox book will reveal to readers - regardless of their experience - what we really need to change, why we need to change, and how to make it happen. Consider this sustainability made simple.

Readers will also find out why:

• Being heartless can actually make a difference.
• We should look to China for climate leadership.
• You shouldn't trust NGOs with your money.
• Greenies are ruining everything.
• Condoms might just save humanity.

Described as "one of the best sustainability resources available to date" and a "step-by-step guide to sensibly influencing change, " the biggest question is whether you're ready to cut the BS and get to work?

III

Point #1: Know What You’re Talking About

Y

ou can barely feel your nose anymore after nearly an hour outside in the crisp, early spring evening. The sea breeze whips across your face as you take breath after breath of fresh sea air. Although it’s late, the unusually bright moon lights up the distance. The ocean in front of you is still, broken only by the wake created from the hulking ship under your feet. A couple takes a romantic stroll behind you while a few kids, up well past their bedtime, scurry by in a game of tag.

Suddenly, a horrific scream from up above wakes you from your trance. “Iceberg, straight ahead!” Within the minute you feel the great power of the ship try and turn course to avoid a head-on collision. Screeching and lurching, it’s no small task to pull hundreds of tons in one direction or another. Yet, the captain seems able and, after all, this is the greatest ship ever created. You feel several bumps, almost like a snare drum rat-a-tat-tatting. Then the massive, gleaming iceberg comes into view. It passes on your side, dropping small chunks of ice on the deck as it does. Passengers, unaware of the calamity about to befall them, even kick the ice around like footballs. It’s all just another piece for them to add to their story of Titanic. Something to tell family and friends when they dock in New York.

Today we know only too well the fated story of that ship and the horrific events to follow. On that April night, nearly 2,000 people lost their lives through a series of unfortunate, but largely preventable, circumstances. We’ve read about the lack of lifeboats, reduced in both number and capacity for a focus on aesthetics rather than safety. The monumental hubris of passengers and crew riding aboard the “unsinkable” ship meant too little was done too late. Socio-economic protocols even played a disastrous role as those in lower-class cabins were made to wait below deck while the upper class, in their tuxedos and pearls, evacuated first.

What we don’t often hear about are the myriad other events going on around Titanic that night. James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster missed a lot of these details. Certainly, Titanic was not the only ocean liner in the area. No less than 28 other ships were in communication with Titanic that night, meaning they were within range and likely could have lent help. Yet only one ship, Carpathia, was able to finally get to Titanic and bring on board what would become some of her only survivors. If there were at least 27 other ships in the area, how on Earth did they not come to the rescue?

Morse code.

That’s right. The series of dots and dashes which we now attribute to international shipping played a critical, but detrimental role, in solidifying the fate of thousands that evening. In 1912, when Titanic sailed, most considered the British Marconi System the gold standard in the industry. That didn’t mean it was without rivals. Chief among these was German group Telefunken. The rivalry between Marconi and Telefunken was so bitter, radio operators held a gentleman’s agreement preventing them from passing messages between the two systems.(1)

As a British ship, Marconi of course held primary position on Titanic. Creators spared no expense in equipping the ship with the most advanced instruments of the day. Radio operators were top of their game. It was a technological marvel. Yet, the use of wireless transmission aboard ships was still quite novel. Rather than a robust safety and communication system, most passengers used transmissions to send short messages to friends shoreside. It sounds like a lot of work for a couple of quick wish you were here notes.

Confusion immediately set in when Titanic’s radio operators finally employed wireless transmission to try and call for help. Ships within range questioned how a liner like Titanic would actually be sinking. Their confusion only heightened when Titanic, using the Marconi system, sent through conflicting distress signals. Four years before the night of the infamous sinking, international shipping convention adopted the Morse Code signal of dot-dot-dot-dash-dash-dot-dot-dot—SOS—as the call for distress on the high seas. Titanic, though, was using the outdated Marconi code CQD (“all stations, distress”) to signal trouble. Most listeners assumed it was all a big mistake.

With an SOS, all other radio ship transmissions were required to cease until the emergency was over to free up communication lines. In using CQD, however, ships continued jamming the airwaves. This translated into crossed signals and even more confusion. In those precious minutes between Titanic’s first signal for help, and it’s eventual sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic, this spelled all the difference. Just think of how many more people could have been saved if those 28 ships were all using the same system instead of letting pride and rivalry get in the way. It feels a senseless waste of life to me.

So why a tandem onto a century-old event? Because in the modern-day struggle to save our ship—Mother Earth—we’re repeating the same mistakes as those Titanic wireless operators. While we may have a shared goal, we aren’t sharing the approach to that goal. It’s important, critical actually, to be on the same page if we’re trying to achieve anything meaningful. When we’re not, we step on toes, confuse ourselves, and confound those on the outside. That also means we’re wasting precious resources and capacity, likely duplicating efforts in the process. It’s pretty evident that up until today we’ve not done a good job at being on the same page. The result? A lack of traction, action, and getting others to join the cause.

To show just how much of an issue this is, take a minute and close your eyes.

Imagine what a perfectly sustainable world looks like.

Got it?

Great!

Now, I’m sure you had images tinted in greens and blues as far as the eye could see. Lush jungles, idyllic fields, and azure skies hum with the sounds of wild animals, birds, and insects. The oceans crash onto shore while the wind whips through your hair. People are likely riding their bicycles, obviously because cars were now obsolete in cities purpose-built to blend into the natural environment. Clothes are sustainably sourced, free of dyes and chemicals. Everyone looks extremely healthy because, well, they are.

Pretty easy, right? Most of us have a fairly shared understanding of what a sustainable world looks like. After all, that’s our ultimate goal.

Now, take another minute and try to define the word sustainability.

Go on…

Do you have it yet?

How about corporate responsibility? Global warming? Ethical?

While it may have been easy for you to come up with some sort of definition, if you were to ask your neighbor I bet they’d have a different take. That’s because these terms, the mechanisms meant to get us to our goal, are nebulous and iterative—constantly evolving. They mean different things to different people in different places. If you were to ask 10 people to define sustainability, you’re likely to get just as many unique answers. That’s not a good thing if we are to focus on a collective approach to saving the planet.

Having a shared understanding of the mechanisms behind our work is just as important as having a shared understanding of what we’re trying to achieve. The problem is that we have been defining and using terminology in different ways for a very long time. That’s because it’s not just about the etymological meaning, but the varying linguistic, social, and culturally specific interpretations of these concepts. On the surface, we think we’re speaking the same language when we’re really coming from totally different planets. And just so you know, on some of these planets the definitions are really out of this world.

So, if we’re going to reach our goal then we all need to get on the same page. It’s time to forget about your allegiance to the Marconi system or Morse Code, SOS or CQD. I want to start with a fresh slate, free of any loaded terms and preconceived notions about what something is supposed to mean. Can you do that for me? Please?

Pretty please?

Well, at least try your best then. But I’ve got to say that if you want to be part of that proverbial change in the world, you’re going to have to link hands with all the people in it. A common understanding is only going to fast track that. So, before we even start to attack saving the planet, we better get straight on what it is we’re all supposed to be talking about.

A Crash Course

Class pay attention!

What follows are some of the most widely used terms in the field. They’re thrown about quite frequently, usually to varying degrees of correctness. While the definitions I propose might be different from those you believe in, trust that they are the most popular versions. Basically, stop being an outlier and join the fold. This covers everything from sustainability to CSR, environmentalism to ESG.

Sustainability

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

-UN World Commission on Environment and Development²

Out of everything we’ll talk about, sustainability seems to be the most confusing term. That’s probably because it serves as an umbrella term for many of the topic areas in the cause-centric world. It’s multifaceted and prone to different definitions. Even in my day-to-day, I use the word sustainability interchangeably with several other terms. It’s a great catch-all, but that can lead to confusion.

To get over that confusion, let’s break the term down into its individual parts. Traditionally, sustainability consists of three distinct pillars: environment; society; and, economy. Some people toss in culture as another pillar, which is fine. Because each pillar is so broad, it can consist of any number of issues. Environment can include ecology, water stewardship, air pollution, environmentalism, and on and on. The societal pillar is chiefly concerned with human rights, but also corporate responsibility and community affairs. Economy deals with matters like the private sector, supply chains, and sustainable finance. I could continue for pages, but I won’t. Just understand that everything related to saving the world sits under the term sustainability.

Depending on where you live, your understanding of the field, and your line of work, sustainability may have a very specific context. In China, which in many respects is just starting on its national sustainability journey, the word is most often referenced to mean corporate responsibility. For countries of the European Union, sustainability has to do with regulation and governance. Left-leaning places like Melbourne or San Francisco would use sustainability interchangeably with environmentalism. Confusing? I know. Yet all of these would be correct.

Now the aim of this exercise isn’t to make things more confusing for you. It’s to show the need to qualify what you’re saying when you talk to people. As a general life rule, this is probably a good thing to remember. In the sustainability world, being clear with your words ensures you’re collaborating with the right people in the right way.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable — to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society including economic, social, and environmental. To engage in CSR means that, in the normal course of business, a company is operating in ways that enhance society and the environment, instead of contributing negatively to them.

-Investopedia³

When you hear CSR, what do you think of? If you’re like most people, it’s either charity work or a long, boring corporate report. CSR is probably the most widely used term within the field of sustainability but is also the one most coopted and misused. As we’ll see, corporations have taken this term and had their way with it. They’ve twisted and beaten it into submission. Instead of being a term for good, it’s now all too often a term used to position an irresponsible corporation as a responsible one. But, more on that later.

When a corporation is socially responsible, they will contribute positively to the building of a sustainable world. That might take the form of a socially conscious business model, like the café that donates all its proceeds to the homeless. For larger corporations, it might mean having a strong environmental mandate, refined labor practices, or a culture of volunteerism. All of this is typically measured in those lengthy, dull corporate responsibility reports. That’s because a modern corporation cannot exist without at least claiming to be responsible. CSR programs have become a critical ingredient to modern business success.

At this stage in the game, any company without some sort of CSR program is dead in the water. Most companies h...