18 Examples of sustainable businesses

1. SHORT SUMMARY

• Total duration of this lesson: 45 minutes

• What will the students learn?
o How sustainable development connects with entrepreneurship
o Discern the conventional business model from the sustainable business model
o Understand the importance of local green entrepreneurship
• What will the students do during this lesson?
o Discuss different aspects of the essence of sustainable businesses
o Explore examples of sustainable business initiatives around the world
o Reinforce their understanding of the importance of the sustainable way of think-
ing
o Fill in a self-assessment that will give them a clue whether they can be a (green)
entrepreneur.
• What skills are the students going to improve?
o Research skills and analysis of factual information
o Presentation skills
o Creativity
o Synthesis of information and decision making
o Effective communication
o Critical thinking
o Team work
• Cross-curricular links:
o Geography
o Philosophy
o Economics / Entrepreneurship
o Foreign languages
• Materials needed:
o Multimedia projector
o Laptop / computer with speakers
o Internet connection in the classroom (if there is no Internet in your classroom,
you can download the online videos in this lesson in advance and bring them on
a flash drive, or alternatively you can ask students to form groups and use their
smartphones/tablets in order to watch the videos)

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 Lesson 18

CORE 2. INTRO – THE GIST OF IT

Tell the students that in this lesson they will learn about the term sustainable business and will an-
(2 min.)

swer the question – is there a difference between entrepreneurship, green entrepreneurship and
sustainable development, or there is something in common between them. They will also learn by
attaching real life examples to the term.
Remind the students that last time you talked about “sustainopreneurship”. Ask them:
• Do you remember the main features of “sustainopreneurship”?
After you collect some answers, tell the students that today they will continue exploring sustain-
able business.

CORE 3. THE THEORY

Write the statements below on the flipchart before the lesson. Ask the students to share their
(6 min.)

views on the information and draw a conclusion about green entrepreneurship – which ones do
they agree or disagree with and why.
• A green entrepreneur is someone who starts a business to make or offer a product, service,
or process that benefits the environment.
• Green entrepreneurship is not accidental operation in an environmentally-friendly manner.
Environmentally-friendly activities are not a side effect of the company’s activities. They are
the conscious foundation of the company’s mission.
• “The point of view of a green business person should extend well beyond cost savings or
environmental protection. The green entrepreneurs need to think like eco-citizens, which
involves an environmental ethics philosophy.” (http://ecopreneurist.com/2016/10/26/
green-entrepreneurs-think-eco-citizens/)
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is trying to make a business that is not sustainable at
its core a bit more sustainable, without addressing the root cause of environmental and
social problems.
• The green enterprise starts off as green and sustainable from the very beginning with the
conscious aim of creating a product/service that is beneficial to the environment and society.
• Marketing doesn’t mean green entrepreneurship.
• Should the major criteria to determine the success of a business be sustainability-based
ones (such as environmental indicators), conventional existing measures of firm perfor-
mance (such as financial indicators, market share and growth), or the added value (benefit)
which they provide to the broader society?
• The terms eco-entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship (sustainopreneurship),
green entrepreneurship, sustainable business, green business are all an expression of one
and the same trend – to create businesses where sustainability is the core mission and rea-
son for existence of the business.
After discussing these issues with the students for a couple of minutes, proceed to the next section.

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Examples of sustainable businesses

4. ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES CORE

You can use one or a couple of the video profiles below, but have to leave enough time to discuss

(15 min.)
the video. Don’t forget the flipchart statements to draw conclusions and differences or connections
between the examples students see and the statements. A main point for discussion should be
what consciousness and convictions the entrepreneurs in the videos exhibit.
• “Indonesia: An inspiring story about green business (2013)”: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=FHpW2GH0EiM (05:20 min.). The video documents success stories and learning
processes of young entrepreneurs who received the Start and Improve Your Green Business
(SYGB) training and coaching as well as start-up capital by the Central Bank of Indonesia.
In the video, the young entrepreneurs demonstrate how they turn waste into a business.
The programme was part of the ILO’s Development of an Effective Entrepreneurship Pro-
gramme, funded by Sida.
• “Sustainable, eco-friendly vacations”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV4EfiEPPCc
(8:54 min.). This video from 2002 is about Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast and Farm (in Wis-
consin, USA), but the business is active and thriving until today. Former advertising agency
fast-trackers, the husband and wife duo – John and Lisa – are nationally recognized for their
contemporary approach to ecopreneurship, homesteading, conservation and more sustain-
able living. Inn Serendipity is powered by the wind and sun. It has been considered among
the “top 10 eco-destinations in North America.” Inn Serendipity features vegetarian cuisine
with ingredients harvested mostly from the Inn’s organic gardens. The Inn is a “Platinum”
Green Leader for Trip Advisor, “demonstration home” for Real Goods, “Gold” level Green
America Business and Energy Star Small Business, serving as a showplace for energy conser-
vation and more environmentally and socially responsible living.
• Brilliant Earth: http://www.brilliantearth.com/about-us/ (2:30 min.). This very original
business, Brilliant Earth, was co-founded by Beth Gerstein and Eric Grossberg, who met at
Stanford University. When Beth was about to be engaged, she experienced firsthand, with
her fiancé Alex, the challenge of finding a conflict free engagement ring that represent-
ed her values. Eric, through his research at Stanford, became impassioned with the idea
that responsibly-sourced jewelry could be an effective tool for social change in developing
countries. Together, Beth and Eric founded Brilliant Earth in 2005. Brilliant Earth provides
the highest quality jewelry originating from pure sources and harvested using socially re-
sponsible practices. Brilliant Earth provides education about the social and environmental
issues affecting the jewelry industry and identifies ways to help. Brilliant Earth supports
underdeveloped communities ravaged by the jewelry industry by donating a share of our
profits. Apart from the video, you can also show the website of the company: http://www.
brilliantearth.com/.
• “Promoting green entrepreneurship in East Africa”: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=M-EDC7urqx0 (6:13 min.). The Youth Entrepreneurship Facility (YEF) is a partner-
ship between the Africa Commission, the Youth Employment Network and the ILO. Through
training and business plan competition it promotes green entrepreneurship among young
women and men in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda.

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 Lesson 18

CORE 5. PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES

Tell the students that with the next lesson a new section begins. Through it, they will have the op-
(17 min.)

portunity to learn a lot about what entrepreneurship is and how green businesses are created and
operated in practice. They will come to know a lot of different useful tools. But before that, maybe
what one needs to know is whether they have what it takes to be an entrepreneur and also what it
takes to be an eco (green, sustainable) entrepreneur. Choose one or both of these activities below
to complete with your students during the class.
1) Option 1: Quiz: Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur?
Students can take this quiz individually to explore how their personality compares with the popular
profile of today’s successful entrepreneurs.
Access the quiz here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246454.
After everyone has completed the quiz, ask a couple of questions:
• Do you think the results reflect how you feel about yourself in reality?
• Had you ever thought about yourself as possibly one day becoming an entrepreneur before
taking that quiz?
• Do you agree the qualities described in the quiz questions are the ones that define success-
ful entrepreneurs?
Let the students know that quizzes inevitably tend to generalize, so they shouldn’t feel worried
or frustrated with themselves if they didn’t score too high. Or on the other hand – scoring high
doesn’t mean that they will become successful entrepreneurs. But such quizzes are a good way to
start exploring yourself and thinking about what you prefer and dislike, what you are good at and
where you need to improve, etc. And let’s not forget that entrepreneurship skills can be acquired
through hard work and education. And finally – sometimes you can be just as wrong about your
entrepreneurial abilities as a quiz can be:
“12 Mistakes I Made My First Year as an Entrepreneur”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg-
c89GEO_nE. Play the video from 0:22 to 0:49 to emphasize that point.
2) Option 2: Self-assessment “Are you an ECOpreneur?”
This self-assessment sheet is based on this article: http://www.innserendipity.com/ecopren/eco-
pren-quest.html. Have it printed out for everybody in the class and distribute to the students to fill
in individually:

Self-assessment “Are you an ECOpreneur?”

Are you more interested in what you do and with whom you work than
how much you make? YES / NO

Does community, environmental and social issues drive what you focus on
with respect to your livelihood or volunteer time? YES / NO

Do you view your experiences, growing and diverse knowledge base and
unique skills sets as the primary value you can offer clients, customers or YES / NO
workplace?

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Examples of sustainable businesses

Do you think the economist Milton Friedman was wrong when he said
that “the only social responsibility of business is to make profits”? YES / NO

Do you focus your life pursuits on helping others or restoring, enhancing

or preserving the environment? YES / NO

Are you more concerned about achieving balance in your life, seeking
quality of life that doesn’t adversely impact the Earth or exploit people? YES / NO

Do you readily try new ideas, explore new ways of doing things or adopt
new practices or use new products or services that reflect your values? YES / NO

Are you mindfully aware of your direct and indirect impacts on life on
Earth, and accept responsibility that results in you being actively engaged
as a steward of limited resources for the benefit of all life, not just for the YES / NO
present generations but for future generations as well?

Is work a reflection of your passions and values, deeply fulfilling and pro-
viding meaning and purpose, or merely only the focus for paying the bills, YES / NO
building personal wealth and funding your retirement?

After the students have completed the self-assessment tell them that if they answered at least 2-3
of the questions with “yes”, then they have the passion and way of thinking to be ecopreneurs.
From an enterprising individual operating a small retail business to an inventor who comes up with
a better way to fuel our vehicles, from the founder of a non-profit organization to the organic grow-
er who feeds our local community, just about anyone can be an ecopreneur. Everyone can follow
their dreams. A change of perspective, a new approach to money and wealth and the necessary
hard-thinking work of pruning your passions and forming your life purpose and business plan are
the necessary ingredients.

6. REFLECTION CORE
You can ask the following questions to the whole class and collect several answers from volunteers.
(5 min.)

Alternatively you could ask the students to fill in their answers individually in written form in the
worksheet provided:
• Can sustainable business be profitable?
• What do you think the global trends that make sustainable business an appealing option for
entrepreneurs today are?
• Based on what you learned, how can you contribute to promoting the benefits of green
entrepreneurship as a model of social development?
• Do you think that sustainable development and green entrepreneurship begin with educa-
tion? (Use this video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OdP7bYe5wk. Investing
in quality education for every child, youth and adult is essential - not only to achieve the
education related goals and targets, but to realize the other sustainable development goals
and targets.)

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 Lesson 18

OPTIONAL 7. HOMEWORK
For homework you can assign to your students these two very informative videos to watch that will
help reinforce the theory about sustainable businesses from today’s lesson:
• “The Journey of Sustainable Business”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSDnAVk-
daAM (12:54 min.). Can business profit through sustainability or is this all just wishful think-
ing? Trace the journey from the Industrial Revolution to the present to find out. The vid-
eo provides useful information on the differences between corporate social responsibility
(CSR) of conventional companies and true business sustainability integrated at the core of
a business.
• “Business Case for Sustainability”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlW8-WW0k3g
(4:37 min.). A great and useful guide into the sometimes intricate terminology of sustain-
able business. What are the 7 benefits to companies’ profits from using a sustainability-driv-
en business model?
To demonstrate their understanding of the videos, ask the students to take the reflection questions
for today and fill them in at home after watching the videos.

8. A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

Tell the students that next time a new chapter of the GREENT course begins. They already learned
a lot about the global environmental challenges and how we humans affect the natural cycles with
our activities. They also learned what sustainability means, how it is applied on a personal, on a
business, and on a more global level. They got to know a lot of innovative ideas of eco entrepre-
neurs from around the world – people who believe they can change the world with what they do. In
the next chapter, students will find out how this mission and inspiration can be turned into a reality
with the instruments of entrepreneurship.

9. ADDITIONAL LINKS
These are additional resources that you as a teacher can use in order to prepare for the lesson
broadening your knowledge. You can also use these resources by assigning them to the students
as out-of-class reading/viewing.
• “Green Entrepreneurs Need to Think Like Eco-Citizens”: http://ecopreneurist.
com/2016/10/26/green-entrepreneurs-think-eco-citizens/. Eco-citizens are people who
commit to healthier communities for a more sustainable world. They choose places to live,
careers, foods, products, and leisure activities that are environmentally friendly and that
encourage green consumption. These initiatives include everything from energy efficient
devices to reusable shopping bags. As a result, the point of view of a green business per-
son should extend well beyond cost savings or environmental protection. Green entrepre-
neurs need to think like eco-citizens, which involves an environmental ethics philosophy.
• “Brief introduction into strongly sustainable business models”: http://www.slideshare.
net/AntonyUpward/strongly-sustainable-business-models-brief-intro
• “Pavan Sukhdev: Theory of sustainable entrepreneurship”: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LIE8ouqcd4U (4:15 min.). Pavan Sukhdev presents his theory of sustainable en-
trepreneurship at Deutsche Bank. Sukhdev’s key demand: Natural capital must no longer
be free of charge. Taxation must target resource use, not profits. Sukhdev explains the
options that banks have for taking action and their responsibility for promoting a “green
economy”.

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Examples of sustainable businesses

• Checklist for a green bed & breakfast business: http://www.greenvacationhub.com/

property-detail.php?property=1195. Check out the “Green profile” section at the bottom.
If you ever think of setting up your own closed-loop guesthouse business and organic gar-
den, here is a checklist that can be very useful for you.
• Green entrepreneurship online workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldjwXCN-
pQhM (Part 1, 10:17 min.) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfo3tqBQck8 (Part 2,
10:38 min.)
• Green entrepreneur handbook: https://www.crcpress.com/Green-Entrepreneur-Hand-
book-The-Guide-to-Building-and-Growing-a-Green/Koester/p/book/9781439817292.
Written by a practicing business attorney with startup experience in the environmental
and technology sectors, Green Entrepreneur Handbook: The Guide to Building and Grow-
ing a Green and Clean Business assists entrepreneurs in tackling the wide variety of oppor-
tunities to go green. It helps you incorporate clean technology, environmental practices,
and green business approaches into your work environment.
• “CNN Marketplace Middle East - The Sustainable City”: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=b2Kd6gi8dYo (3:10 min.). Dubai Sustainable City, created by Diamond Develop-
ers, is the first residential community of its kind in Dubai and meets the highest environ-
mental standards by adopting a sustainable approach in its quest to become a regional
leader in eco-tourism and global environmental protection. Diamond Developers aims to
adopt sustainability in day to day life, and as a way of thinking, and in all aspects of human
behavior.

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 Worksheet

Examples of sustainable businesses Lesson 18

Self-assessment “Are you an ECOpreneur?”

Are you more interested in what you do and with whom you work than
how much you make? YES / NO

Does community, environmental and social issues drive what you focus on
with respect to your livelihood or volunteer time? YES / NO

Do you view your experiences, growing and diverse knowledge base and
unique skills sets as the primary value you can offer clients, customers or YES / NO
workplace?

Do you think the economist Milton Friedman was wrong when he said that
“the only social responsibility of business is to make profits”? YES / NO

Do you focus your life pursuits on helping others or restoring, enhancing or

preserving the environment? YES / NO

Are you more concerned about achieving balance in your life, seeking
quality of life that doesn’t adversely impact the Earth or exploit people? YES / NO

Do you readily try new ideas, explore new ways of doing things or adopt
new practices or use new products or services that reflect your values? YES / NO

Are you mindfully aware of your direct and indirect impacts on life on
Earth, and accept responsibility that results in you being actively engaged
as a steward of limited resources for the benefit of all life, not just for the YES / NO
present generations but for future generations as well?

Is work a reflection of your passions and values, deeply fulfilling and pro-
viding meaning and purpose, or merely only the focus for paying the bills, YES / NO
building personal wealth and funding your retirement?
 Worksheet

Examples of sustainable businesses Lesson 18

Can sustainable business be profitable?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

What do you think the global trends that make sustainable business an appealing option
for entrepreneurs today are?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Based on what you learned, how can you contribute to promoting the benefits of green
entrepreneurship as a model of social development?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Do you think that sustainable development and green entrepreneurship begin with
education? (Use this video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OdP7bYe5wk.
Investing in quality education for every child, youth and adult is essential - not only to
achieve the education related goals and targets, but to realize the other sustainable
development goals and targets.)

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________