The E-factor

About this book

The E-Factor presents a powerful, positive, and pragmatic approach to corporate America's single greatest challenge for the coming century: improving the environment along with the bottom line. It embraces two notions central to the world's cleanest companies: reducing waste and maximizing resources. Joel Makower, author of the bestselling Green Consumer, shows how companies that do these two things can be more competitive and profitable over the long run. Makower. Describes the six Es central to the most successful corporate environmental initiatives. Economics, Enforcement, Empowerment, Education, Efficiency and Excellence. He shows that integrating some or all of these factors into everyday decision making can enhance a company's profile, productivity, and profits. Included are portraits of successful environmental programs at dozens of companies that are making a difference, including Ace Hardware, American Airlines, AT & T. Boeing, Church and Dwight, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak, Esprit, B.F. Goodrich, Intel, Lockheed, MCI, Nordstrom, Pacific Gas & Electric, Polaroid, and Xerox. These are among the growing number of companies leading the corporate environmental revolution, whether educating and empowering employees to become waste reducers and pollution watchdogs; leaning on suppliers to create more environmentally sound products and services; working creatively with customers, competitors. And communities to create win/win solutions to environmental problems; finding new and innovative solutions to polluting and wasteful practices; or bringing ecology into Total Quality Management programs. In addition, The E-Factor describes in understandable terms the key concepts today's managers must understand to tackle tomorrow's environmental challenges, including "green taxes," "smog futures," and other market-oriented approaches to regulation being embraced by. Governments around the world - including the new administration in Washington.