I like to chew gum, mainly the breath freshening type. Yesterday, my wife returned from a grocery shopping trip and tossed me a small bottle of Dentyne Ice containing 60 pieces. “Check it out”, she said. Examining the bottle I immediately noticed the label highlighting Earth Pack Compostable Bottle. Interesting, but why would a company go to all the trouble of developing a compostable gum container, unless of course there was a business benefit associated with it. As it turns out, the company behind the product is Kraft, and a quick review of their website revealed a well-developed sustainability strategy.(http://www.kraftfoodservice.ca/en/bw/Sustainability/default.aspx ). Kraft definitely sees a business benefit to developing more sustainability business practices.
But sustainability isn’t a smart business strategy for solely for large corporations like Kraft. You can also find it happening right here in small and medium sized businesses in the Peterborough region. An upcoming event will feature a panel discussion by three local businesses who have first hand experience in the business case for sustainability. They include Dan McWilliams or McWilliams Moving and Storage, Greg Elmhirst of Elmhirst’s Resort, and Scot Murison of Wild Rock Outfitters. Each will provide their take on the business case for sustainability at the upcoming launch of The Sustainable Business Initiative.
In addition, the event will also feature guest speaker Bob Willard, author of several books including The New Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line. Bob is somewhat of a business sustainability guru, having given more than 700 talks around the world on the business benefits of sustainability.
The event takes place on Thursday, January 17th from 7:30am – 9:30am at the Holiday Inn. Tickets are $10 with proceeds to a Fleming College Sustainability Bursary. You can register at http://businesscaseforsustainability.eventbrite.com/#