Sustainable Thinking and Systems Thinking can lead to innovations, which can be simple or complex. The simplest example I thought of here is the digital business card (the innovation). According to reports, anywhere between 6 to just over 7 million trees are used to produce printed business cards annually, at a global level.
DATA: Broken down, using averages from EPA data and how much CO2 can be absorbed by trees annually (without replacement), this equates to the removal of over 126K vehicles from the road, just by the business community choosing to use electronic business cards. Additionally, the water use and waste created (the majority of cards are just thrown away) should be considered.
COMPARISON: Yes, the iPhone or other smartphone models can eventually lead to waste and water use, along with CO2 emissions. But the real question is if you’re willing to not have a smartphone at all? If so, other comparisons can be considered. The point here is that if something is already built and in use, and something needs to be continuously produced for one-time use, the built product that will get many more uses should be the generally better choice.
Expanded thoughts: The point is not to dive heavily into the use of a business card but to look at the thought line that has created such an innovation and the work that went into getting there. This is a small example with generally large impacts across a community. What if we looked around at other things we’d like to change? Imagine what could be possible and the benefit to the brand that brought it to the forefront: community, culture and increased profits come to mind for initial plusses.