The E-factor: The Bottom-Line Approach to Environmentally Responsible Business

Explains how corporations can bring environmental concerns into everyday business policy and decision making to enhance productivity and profitability

Integrating concern for the environment as a regular business practice can be as economical as it is ecological, maintains Makower ( The Green Consumer ) in this sweeping, dispassionate and heartening survey of "green" activity in mainstream industry. He describes official disincentives: corporate managers responsible for industrial pollution draw increasingly stiff jail terms as the FBI joins activists and whistleblowers in tracking down violators. For the most part, however, Makower's approach is positive. He explains how such companies as Lockheed, 3M and Xerox cut toxic emissions, reduce waste and boost energy efficiency. He also salutes the enterprising: a furniture maker incinerates wood scraps and sawdust to heat his plant in winter and cool it in summer; an airline flight attendant organizes an industrywide recycling network. Encouraging environmental responsibility, Makower concludes, brings unexpected benefits in employee morale, public relations and profit margins. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The essence of being green is to minimize waste and use of resources. Makower ( The Green Consumer , Viking, 1991, and The Green Commuter , LJ 2/15/92) instructs companies on how to approach the "environment factor" in terms of economics, enforcement, empowerment, education, efficiency, and excellence. Using an anecdotal format, he quotes executives and describes programs that allow companies to comply. Much of Makower's attention goes to potential cost savings, a subject near and dear to the heart of executives. Communication with "stakeholders," who include anyone with an interest in what the company does, are considered crucial. Makower provides enough concrete examples of projects actually undertaken by business to allow most readers to find something to use. Also, he offers brief guidelines for applying trendy programs like Total Quality Management and benchmarking. This book would interest businesspeople, rather than those seeking general environmental information.
- Sue McKimm, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.