Sustainability: People, Planet, Profit
Sustainability is a word that’s been thrown around a lot these last few years. Most companies use it as a buzzword – maybe they’ve started recycling wasted office paper, or they’ve gone paperless. To them, sustainability is a way to save money and get good PR.
At Bama, sustainability is more than lip service. It is a strategy that we implement from the bottom line to the waistlines of our team members.
Our sustainability comes through in three major areas: People, Planet, and Profit. These areas are applicable to a large corporation as well as your own personal life.
1) People
We rarely think of ourselves in terms of sustainability. How long will we live? How good do we feel? How effective are we? As the old idiom goes: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So, for us–and for you–prevention is key to personal sustainability.
We look at 5 metrics we can measure when looking at personal health. Those key metrics work very well when examining physical sustainability. The metrics are: HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol, BMI or Waist Circumference, Weight, and Blood Pressure.
We have our employees get these key metrics tested once per year. We want them to be in the optimal level for their height and age, or at least be improving. Weight alone is not a great measure of health, and neither is BMI, but together all five of these numbers will give you a comprehensive view of your health.
2) Planet
It’s great to practice at home on the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This is what we implement across our organization.
Remember, every time you throw something out, it has to go somewhere. An old chair, a plastic bottle, an old cell phone. Imagine if everyone in the world threw these things away – where would all that trash go? Could you reuse or donate the chair? What about the bottle? You should recycle it. And the cell phone? Think about sending it to Gazelle.com or donating it to Cellphones for Soldiers! There are always options to consider.
At Bama, we try to minimize the amount of resources used and the waste and emissions generated when making our products. Last year, over 96% of our food waste was recycled into animal feed.
3) Profit
This is what the business guys want to see. Are you sustainable financially? Are you spending more than you make? Are you in a lot of debt? All of these questions contribute to your financial sustainability – both in business and in your personal life.
You can work with something like Mint.com to help you figure out where you might be having budget problems. Mint will help you organize your spending, create budgets, and even put money away for a rainy day.
In business, things are much the same. Our goal is to manage financial viability so that we and our business partners can make wholesome products for many generations.
