Green Jobs … in Manufacturing?

The two terms sound like an oxymoron. But they need not be.

Nadine Gudz answered, in part, some of the questions that I initially posed for green job seekers in my posting early last week, ‘Green Job Search in a Carbon Economy‘, covering the World Changing Careers symposium. This dynamic manager of Sustainable Strategy for the prominent carpet manufacturer, InterfaceFLOR, hit all the high notes in her presentation, ‘The InterfaceFLOR Model of Business Sustainability‘.

Two key items that one must look for when conducting due diligence on a potential “green” employer are:

1. Confirm that your prospect’s values meet your values of environmental responsibility and,
   
   by extension, social responsibility;
2. Identify and separate the greenwashing from authentic sustainability.

Sound vaguely familiar? If, as a mid-career changer or new graduate, you were paying attention in school, you would have heard at least one of the instructors advise you to check the “corporate culture” (or something similar). To a large part, it determines career satisfaction and growth, or not.

Right. But, carpet manufacturing?

Business Values and Sustainability

Gudz used InterfaceFLOR to illustrate the importance of values and sustainability as a core business strategy

On the “values” point, InterfaceFLOR is a company with a conscience. Carpet manufacturing is traditionally a high-polluting industry with high use of water, high wastage, and a large carbon footprint. But why should a billion dollar company, one of the largest in the world, be concerned? The CEO, Ray C. Anderson, put it well when he described the traditional business model of his industry as “a plunder” in the film clip, ‘Ray Anderson – The Way of the Plunderer‘ (you may have seen part of this in the documentary, ‘The Corporation‘):

Moreover, according to Gudz, “only six percent of material flow ends up in the products” of the carpet manufacturing industry — since the industrial revolution. Anderson looked at this as a business waste (i.e. $$$) in addition to environmental irresponsibility.

Action: Incremental Change

1. The progressive CEO set out to redesign his business and change mindsets within, by:

2. Reassessing the product lifecycle and measuring the impact of each stage on the environment

3. Intervening in the business processes of InterfaceFLOR at every level of the organization for incremental change

Results

InterfaceFLOR proverbially walks the talk:

• Reduced water consumption by 72% since 1996.
• Reduced solid waste to landfill by 70% since 1996 – equivalent to US$336 million in waste savings since 1994.
• Uses renewable energy from landfills for both manufacturing products and recycling at the plant
• Closed the new product lifecycle loop by reducing InterfaceFLOR’s use of raw materials, increasing use of recycled carpet, for new carpet production.
• Uses fair traded raw materials and products in textiles through InterfaceFLOR’s FairWorks Just™ products program (currently a pilot program initiated through InterfaceFLOR Europe).
• Obtained green building, LEED certification for the company’s plants and showrooms in the U.S. state of Georgia, China, and Thailand .
• Provides customers the opportunity to purchase green carpet products that are “carbon neutral” through the Cool Carpet® program where InterfaceFLOR invests in carbon offsets.
• Offers a “floating floor” modular carpet which eliminates installation waste and yields a 90% lower environmental footprint
• Offers (about to launch) ‘Eco-Labeling’ for all products to meet customer expectations and near-future government regulations, following ISO 14025 declarations.

A Sustainable Business Strategy

Benefits for InterfaceFLOR as a sustainable business:

• Smarter business choices have led to innovation.
• Innovation has led to smarter business choices and superior, healthier products.
• Superior, healthier products have appealed to a growing base of environmentally-responsible customers.
• A smarter, innovative, environmentally- and socially-responsible business has created a shared culture among InterfaceFLOR’s motivated employees.
• Lower costs and resilience to adapt. The current financial crisis has not hit InterfaceFLOR as hard as many other businesses.

Transforming an Industry

It doesn’t end there. InterfaceFLOR‘s genial CEO is on a mission to transform the carpet manufacturing industry. Why? To quote Ray Anderson:

“There is only one institution on earth large enough, powerful enough, pervasive enough, and influential enough, to really lead humankind in a different direction. And this is the institution of business and industry.”

Take-Home Lesson

For green job-seekers (even in the current economic climate), look for an organization whose authentic values – with corresponding actions — meet yours. It’s fundamental to setting the framework for your career satisfaction and growth. Assess your skill set in terms of the potential role and purpose within that company.

What’s the best fit for you?

Revisit thegreenpages.ca for practical career advice offered by another well-grounded speaker at the World Changing Careers symposium.

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Meanwhile, check out the following books recommended by Gudz:

• ‘The Ecology of Commerce‘ – by Paul Hawken; published by HarperCollins Publishers (1994)
• ‘Mid-Course Correction‘ – by Ray Anderson; published by Peregrinzilla Press (1999)

Watch and listen to Ray Anderson’s views on sustainability (note: 9:35 minute video clip):