调查信息公司尼尔森(Nielson)在2014年的一项研究报告说，60个国家的大多数消费者将愿意出更高的价钱从那些致力于社会和环境保护的公司购买产品或服务。

众多公司说生产工艺和产品的最新改进对环境有益并能提高他们的利润。

这里无疑存在着公关效益。越来越多的上市公司就本公司的碳排放、节水和废水回收利用率发布报告。二十年前，全世界只有不到30家公司对此类环保措施发布报告。根据哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）最近的一项研究，目前有6,000多家企业就可持续性问题发表报告。

以下是在重新定义“商业惯例”的四个行业：

银行业

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/pillar.jpg传统上美国金融机构与“绿色”的关联就是金钱。（美国货币是绿色的。）这当然不会改变，但随着“可持续性银行”的扎根，目前出现了一种新的绿色。

位于旧金山（San Francisco）的“新资源银行”（New Resource Bank）的一位主任斯蒂芬妮•米德(Stephanie Meade)说：“对于我们来说，基于可持续原则的贷款是更有利的方案。”新资源银行几乎没有遇到贷款违约的情况。米德表示：“从长远来看[我们的客户源]很可能细水长流 — 他们不会仅仅因为有利可图而做出短视的决定。”

大银行的重点也在转移。花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)最近承诺向环境可持续的项目投资一千亿美元。该公司希望通过资助清洁交通项目和房屋节能功能减少温室气体排放。

花旗集团的一位主任迈克•艾克哈特（Mike Eckhart）说：“我们的工作是为有益的事提供资金，其中包括风能、太阳能……和种类广泛的新技术。”他相信这只会有助于增加盈利。他还说：“这不是一个价值仅数十亿美元的机会。这在今天已经是一个几千亿美元的机会。”

零售业

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/globe.jpg寻求减少自己碳足迹的零售商从他们的供应链开始。美国环境保护署（Environmental Protection Agency）表示，供应链可占一个公司温室气体排放量的四分之三之多。

一些零售商自己制造并运输货物，因此可以很容易地调整流程。其他零售商对其供应商和托运人仍具有影响力。（零售商要求供应商遵守环境行为准则，如发生不遵守准则的情况，有时零售商会终止业务关系。）

为了帮助服装供应商变得更环保，耐克公司（Nike Inc.）与Bluesign公司建立了合作关系；Bluesign公司保持着环保型的化学品和染料产品目录。耐克公司还向“DyeCoo纺织系统”（DyeCoo Textile Systems）投资；该公司开创了一种无水织物染色方法，耐克希望在其所有的工厂加以使用。这种方法将消除化学排放、降低能源的使用量并且提高色彩饱和度。

沃尔玛公司（Wal-Mart Stores Inc.）改造了运输车队，配备了节油轮胎并改进了空气动力设计。公司训练司机使用更有效率的驾驶技术。在2013年，沃尔玛的车队比上一年多运送了1.81亿箱货物，同时减少了269,000公里的里程，减少的碳排放量相当于行驶的汽车减少了5,000辆，并削减了6,500万美元的开支。

重型制造业

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/smokestack.jpg传统上被视为过于依赖自然资源的美国制造商，正在将环保措施引进工厂车间，并在这一过程中降低了成本。

他们也在宣传这方面的工作。二十年前，很少有工业企业拟订可持续性报告。今天，有接近90％的美国最大的制造商每年都发布相关的报告，详细说明其环保的努力和目标。

据世界上最大的工程机械制造商卡特彼勒公司(Caterpillar Inc.)发布的报告，公司增加了废料的再利用。2014年，公司将90%的废料回收用于产品制造。回收量为6.95亿公斤，重量相当于5,072台推土机。

福特汽车公司（Ford Motor Company）的一位经理约翰·坎格尼(John Cangany)说：“大公司一直被敦促尝试用更少的资源做更多的事。”福特正在减少冷却塔内部和清洗零件的流水线的用水量。15年来，该公司节水超过416亿升，足够填满16,000个奥林匹克规格的游泳池。

当今许多非金属汽车零部件含有更多的消费后回收的废料。福特福克斯(Focus)车型座椅使用的材料相当于22只回收的塑料水瓶。福特估计这样的创新仅在北美每年就为公司节省一千万美元。

该汽车制造商也在使用更多的自然材料。坎格尼说，最近公司与亨氏（Heinz）合作，使用番茄酱生产中剩下来的番茄皮开发生物塑料。

高新科技

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/hi_tech_icon2-150x150.jpg随着气温的波动和海洋面临的不确定性，世界各地的人们变得更加具有“生态意识”，高科技创新者抓住时机进入这一领域，生产从电动车到回收材料制品等各种产品。

根据市场营销公司Cone Communications的调查，在美国有71％的消费者会考虑他们的购买对环境产生的影响。

“雀巢实验室“(Nest Labs)公司抓住了这个时机。这个制造“智能”恒温器的硅谷初创公司最近被谷歌（Google）以32亿美元的价格收购。

根据技术咨询公司Navigant Research的研究，到2023年，能够降低能耗的小器具将在全球创造220亿美元的营收。

北卡罗莱纳州（North Carolina）的PlotWatt公司开发了可以分析家电产品能源使用情况的软件，最近该公司已经扩大了在工商企业中所占的市场份额。该系统的数据能够显示操作电器的更好方法和时间，这对依赖步入式冰柜等大型电器的连锁餐馆业主很有价值。

餐馆可以把他们的能源费用降低11%到15％，PlotWatt的共同创始人卢克·菲什巴克说这相当于增加了很多芝士汉堡的销售。

他说有些客户的加入仅仅是为了省钱。但是，“无论他们是有意还是无意，他们都在做对环境有益的事。”

制图：Doug Thompson




  Business executives are connecting environmental practices to profits, driven in part by consumer desires.

A 2014 study by Nielsen, a survey information firm, reports that a majority of consumers across 60 countries will pay more for products or services from companies committed to social and environmental good.

Companies say recent changes to manufacturing processes and products help the environment and boost their bottom lines.

There is a clear public relations benefit. Increasingly, publicly traded companies release reports on their carbon emissions, water savings or waste-recycling rates. Two decades ago, fewer than 30 companies worldwide reported on such environmental measures. But now more than 6,000 companies produce sustainability reports, according to a recent Harvard Business School study.

Here are four industries redefining “business as usual”:

Banking

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/pillar.jpgHistorically, the “green” with which U.S. financial institutions have been associated is money. (U.S. currency is green.) That won’t change, of course, but there is a new type of green today, as “sustainable banking” takes hold.

“For us, loans based on sustainable principles are better bets,” said Stephanie Meade, a director at New Resource Bank in San Francisco. New Resource sees almost no loan defaults. “In the long term [our clients] are likely to be around — they’re not making short-term decisions just to be profitable.”

Big banks are shifting priorities too. Citigroup Inc. recently pledged to invest $100 billion in environmentally sustainable projects. The company hopes to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by funding clean transportation projects and energy-saving features in housing.

“Our job is to finance the good things, and that includes wind power, solar energy … and a whole spectrum of new technologies,” said Mike Eckhart, a Citigroup director. He believes it will only help profitability. “This is not a multibillion-dollar opportunity,” Eckhart said. “It is — already, today — a multi-100-billion-dollar opportunity.”

Retail

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/globe.jpgRetailers looking to reduce their carbon footprints start with their supply chains, which account for up to three-quarters of a company’s greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Some retailers make and transport their own goods and thus can easily tweak processes. Those that don’t still influence their suppliers and shippers. (Retailers enforce environmental codes of conduct on suppliers and sometimes terminate business relationships if codes are ignored.)

To help its apparel suppliers go green, Nike Inc. partners with Bluesign, a company that maintains an index of eco-friendly chemicals and dyes. Nike also invests in DyeCoo Textile Systems, which pioneered a waterless way to dye fabric that Nike hopes to use in all its factories. The process will eliminate chemical discharge, lower energy use and improve color-saturation.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. overhauled its trucks with more fuel-efficient tires and improved aerodynamics. It trains drivers in efficient driving techniques. In 2013, Wal-Mart trucks delivered 181 million more cases, while driving 269,000 fewer kilometers, compared to the year before. That reduced carbon emissions to a degree equivalent to taking 5,000 cars off the road and lowered expenses by $65 million.

Heavy manufacturing

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/smokestack.jpgU.S. manufacturers, traditionally seen as overly reliant on natural resources, are introducing environmental measures on the factory floor and reducing costs in the process.

They’re talking about it too. Two decades ago, few industrial companies produced sustainability reports. Today nearly 90 percent of the largest manufacturers in the U.S. release such annual reports, detailing their green efforts and goals.

Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction machinery, reported an increase in its reuse of scrap materials. In 2014, the company recycled 90 percent of its scrap back into its products. The amount recycled — 695 million kilograms — is equivalent to 5,072 bulldozers.

“There has been a push for large companies to try to do more with less,” said John Cangany, a manager at Ford Motor Company. Ford is cutting the amount of water it uses inside cooling towers and along assembly lines that wash parts. In 15 years, the company saved more than 41.6 billion liters, enough to fill 16,000 Olympic-sized pools.

Many nonmetal car parts today contain more post-consumer, recycled waste. The seat fabric in the Ford Focus model contains the equivalent of 22 recycled plastic water bottles. Ford estimates that such innovations save it $10 million annually in North America alone.

The automaker uses more natural elements too. It recently joined with Heinz to use tomato skins left over from ketchup production to develop bio-based plastics, Cangany said.

High technology

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/hi_tech_icon2-150x150.jpgAs temperatures fluctuate and oceans face uncertainty, people worldwide become more “eco-conscious” and high-tech innovators cash in, producing everything from electric cars to products made from recycled materials.

In the U.S., 71 percent of consumers consider the environmental impact of their purchases, according to marketing firm Cone Communications.

Nest Labs Inc. has ridden the trend. The Silicon Valley startup, which makes a “smart” thermostat, was recently purchased by Google for $3.2 billion.

Gadgets that reduce energy consumption will generate $22 billion dollars in global revenue by 2023, according to Navigant Research, a technology-consulting firm.

North Carolina’s PlotWatt developed software to analyze energy used by home appliances and recently has grown its market share among commercial businesses. The system’s data, which shows better ways and times to operate appliances, is valuable to chain-restaurant owners, who rely on walk-in freezers and other large appliances.

Restaurants can reduce their energy bills by 11–15 percent, the equivalent of selling “a lot of extra cheeseburgers,” said Luke Fishback, PlotWatt’s co-founder.

Some customers sign up simply to save money, he said. But “they’re helping the environment whether they mean to or not.”

Illustrations by Doug Thompson