Good for employees, good for the world

If you want to make a positive impact on the environment at scale, I firmly believe that one of the best ways to practically make a difference is to focus on economics. Not enough people are simply motivated by morality. Otherwise, we wouldn't be where we are now with the climate crisis.

It's not like this is an unknown problem with unknown solutions. But if you're struggling to afford groceries, you're not going to pay more for regeneratively farmed food. Similar issues exist in areas like energy and clothing, among others.

That's not to say supporting the environment always has to lead to higher costs. There are plenty of ways to save money with basic principles like reducing waste. But in many cases, it does lead to higher prices.

One of the ways that businesses can tackle this problem is by more directly integrating workforce sustainability (e.g., providing stable, living wage jobs with upward mobility) into social and environmental sustainability.

Take Torani, a drink syrup company that hasn't had a single layoff in its nearly 100 years of existence, while growing at 20%+ annually for the past 33 years.

As the company looks to deepen its environmental and social impact efforts, it's drawing on its engaged workforce. There's a virtuous cycle of taking care of employees who have the mental and economic bandwidth to take care of the planet, rather than being so stressed at work and with their personal finances that they can't help others.

In other words, if you want to make a positive impact on the world, you need a strong foundation.

For yourself, you need to make sure you're taking care of your mental and financial health to be able to sustain your sustainability efforts, not burn out. And for your company to make a positive impact on the world, you need to make sure you're also taking care of your employees.

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