What does it mean to be green?

Today a company is not considered environmentalist unless it moves beyond mere compliance with government regulations to behavior its competitors, and even customers, do not expect. How should it set its agenda? Author Art Kleiner proposes that, to be green, a company must ask three questions: What products should we bring to market? How much disclosure of pollution information should we support? And how can we reduce waste at its source? These questions can't be answered, Kleiner says, unless managers insist on sustainable growth. In this sense, a big investment in environmentalism is like a big one in R&D--both presuppose patient capital and managerial maturity. What are green products? Kleiner cautions against giving in to misinformed public opinion--as McDonald's did in giving up its styrene "clamshells," which were more recyclable than the composite papers it switched to. Rather, companies should rely on literature that analyzes the product life cycle. As for public disclosure, the benefits may be unexpected. Federal legislation requiring companies to report the emission of potentially hazardous waste to a central data bank has not made environmentalists attack them. Rather, it has forced companies to learn what chemicals they inadvertently produce and how much--knowledge that helps them improve production processes. Sharing it helps ecological researchers study the combined effects of plant emissions. As for pollution prevention, Kleiner notes the analogy to quality and observes that it is better to design harmful waste products out of the system than catch them at the end of the line.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)