In 2008, Seventh Generation, Burlington, Vt., grew its revenue by more than 50 percent over the previous year. Every one of the company's major selling channels – the company's traditional natural food sales channel and newer ones like food, drug and internet sales – yielded double digit growth.

Here is what the numbers do not tell. The small enterprise grew its revenue without sacrificing its 20-year mandate to "… consider the impacts of every decision on the next seven generations." The company did not meet all of its self-imposed goals as co-founder and top executive Jeffrey Hollender willingly admitted, but it improved performance, reduced impacts, revisited once-cherished decisions, expanded transparency and reached out even more forcefully to promote sustainable business practices in its supply chain. For Hollender, sustainability was more than a good idea, it was a mission and a responsibility. Hollender said, "it's the best insurance any company can have for long-term success."

In an interview with Pollution Engineering, Hollender offered his insights on some of the challenges and opportunities that confront companies in creating a more sustainable business today.

1. Systemic thinking enables one to understand the real impacts of their company and its products and to spur innovation. Companies without systemic thinking are not as likely to make a big difference, either in their own operations or on the environment. His company used a systemic approach to promoting sustainable practices. The approach enabled significant changes in sourcing materials, reducing synthetic chemicals, cutting emissions from its distribution system and redesigning packaging designs. But, it was not enough. A broader audit surprised even Hollender when it showed that 80 percent of the company's environmental impact came from making products that required the use of hot water. The company could easily have decided that its customers' impacts weren't the company's responsibility but it didn't. Instead, it went to the source of the impact and reformulated its products for cold-water use and became a leader in growing the category of cold-water cleaning products.

2. Look at the big picture to note the biggest problems and prioritize available opportunities. Risk management alone won't help reach real, strategic opportunities. Early on, the company distinguished itself by using vegetable oil, primarily palm oil, in its products rather than the petroleum product typically used for cleaners. For nearly 20 years, using palm oil was a point of pride but skyrocketing global demand caused forests and wetlands to be replaced by plantations to feed the demand for palm oil. In 2009, the company joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an alliance of businesses, financial groups, environmental and social non-governmental organizations, to find a direct sourcing of sustainable palm oil.

3. Communicate to employees, stakeholders, vendors, customers and companies across the industrial landscape. Sustainability requires a real culture change, not just within any individual organization but within industry segments and the general business community. In 2008, the company hosted its first Manufacturing Partners Sustainability Summit, as a forum for sharing sustainable best practices with 15 of its manufacturing, packaging, ingredient and distribution partners. One manufacturing company described a new tank sterilization process that saved his company water and money, and that inspired another supplier to investigate a similar approach for his company. PE