Entrepreneurship without a footprint on the environment — my model in the making

Is it even possible to start and run a business without any footprint on the environment? Is sustainable prosperity possible? This is what I have found so far.

One core aspect during my trip has been to find and identify a framework for sustainable entrepreneurship. I have seen quite a lot of ideas and actions targeting this, but most of it is only a small part of the solution, or as many larger companies humbly brag in their advertising, “a small step”. Think Starbucks with 36 % of recycled paper, which is a long way from 100%.

I’ve felt as if I want a model that takes a bigger bite and redesigns how we do business in the modern age; a holistic model with no footprint whatsoever on the environment. Is it possible? Just by blogging about this I have had some really amazing people reach out to me. One thing I started reading about was Circular Economy, and I quickly heard about the Ellen McArthur Foundation. It has a great quote on its homepage that sums up exactly why I want to start my next venture based on this platform from the start. Ellen sailed across the world and that’s how she starts this story. “When you’re out there on the ocean, 2,500 miles from the nearest town, when it would take someone five days to reach you by boat — helicopters can’t reach you — you have to have everything you need with you on the boat. It’s very concrete and finite. And you begin to understand what finite means. When I reached the finish line, I translated that into the global economy. Our economy today is built around taking something out of the ground, building something with it, selling it, and then ultimately it’s thrown away. We have three billion new middle class consumers coming into the world and there’s more and more pressure to find out how to manage these resources.”

All I can think when reading this is that it has to change fundamentally, from the ground up. There won’t be anything left to sell and throw away otherwise. Cutting 10% or even 50% of emission is not enough. It’s not even close. The fundamental mindset is not aligned with what our planet has given us, our finite resources. So, let’s start from that mindset. What would a business look like?

This is a huge challenge of course. I am in the process of making my own model for a circular economy business, which I will implement from the ground up in my next venture within Mediapilot. It will be my pledge to all my stakeholders, and foremost to the generations following us and the planet itself.

The next couple of weeks I will be in San Francisco. It would be amazing to meet anyone with input on this to help me along the way. Let me know if you know anyone and don’t hesitate to give me feedback on how to build a circular business. To be continued.

Some interesting links on the topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_economy

http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/01/is-your-company-ready-for-the/

http://bit.ly/1iB7Bhf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOMVZKQYZYU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCRKvDyyHmI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd_isKtGaf8