Triangle Sustainability Blog

China is changing everything. In the U.S., we witness China’s effects all the time: many of the goods we buy are from China; we hear about how the Chinese manipulate their currency to keep the prices of their exports low; newspapers carry stories on their massive infrastructure expansions and political suppression. Without a doubt, China is what the technology world might call “disruptive”.

From an environmental perspective, China has major problems. According to a World Bank Survey, 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China. The Chinese government – notorious for padding the numbers – admits that at least 400,000 Chinese people die prematurely from respiratory illnesses annually. Half the population drinks water polluted with human and animal waste. Those numbers could be far higher, and the list of environmental offenses goes on and on.

Americans should be careful to point the finger. We are the most wasteful nation in the world in terms of energy and raw materials, and China isn’t likely to take that crown from us anytime soon.

But the reason China makes for such a fascinating case is because it’s just such a big country: four times the size of the U.S. in terms of population. With so many people and with such rapid economic growth, China’s potential to pollute the global environment is huge.

Some signs, however, are pointing to China’s problems with its abuse of the environment. Besides the millions who die from exposure to pollution, environmental problems are starting to hit China in a particularly sore spot – its economy.

In the last few years, Chinese products have come under international scrutiny for a multitude of quality and safety concerns – items directly related to the triple-bottom-line concept of sustainability. In one of the most recent episodes, Chinese drywall installed all over Florida was purported to have high levels of sulfur, causing corrosion to piping and electronics and, to add insult to injury, producing a really bad smell. Other product scares and recalls have involved children’s toys, high pesticide levels on vegetables and melamine-tainted infant formula.

While the bad press might be easy to hush up within China, in the rest of the world Chinese products are losing any brand value they might have had. At the moment, attempting to avoid the “made in China” label is pretty tough. But this should get a bit easier thanks to country-of-origin legislation, like the 2002 Farm Bill requiring labeling on seafood, meats fruits and veggies.

So what will the long-term ramifications of China’s unsustainability be? It’s hard to say for sure now, but the Chinese hunger for short-term growth is almost certainly going to result major, possibly insurmountable, economic hurdles in years to come. Just how far can China push its environment before its environment starts pushing back even harder? They seem determined to find out.

The global economy – currently languishing in the doldrums – seems to get worse daily. Each morning’s news includes fresh rounds of layoffs, profit declines and grim economic forecasts. Many Americans are feeling pessimistic about their financial situations and prospects.

To some, this might not seem like the ideal moment to be greening their home or business. In truth, there has never been a better time, and the principles of greenomics can lead the way.

As an emerging field, greenomics – or the economics of going green – still lacks proper definition. The most simplistic view includes only the cost-benefit structure of implementing environmentally-friendly projects. But from a broader, more dynamic perspective, greenomics adopts the principles of sustainability to link environmental success with economic success.

Greenomics is about more than sitting around calculating the return on investment for environmental projects. Instead it’s about leveraging green concepts to boost long-term growth potential.

For example, a company taking a simple-ROI approach might decide to put solar panels up on their roof. They calculate the costs of the panels, the price of electricity, potential output and some other factors, and come up with a break-even point.

By contrast, greenomics would start by developing a strategy. Solar panels might be part of the strategy – they might even be amongst the “low-hanging fruit” of high priority items – but probably not. More likely, the first steps on the strategy map would involve mitigating environmental impact and developing efficient practices. Once demand is lowered, it’s much easier to determine the appropriate methods of supply.

Without a strategy, companies and families are guaranteed to waste time, money and energy on projects that don’t provide the best return. Not only that, but you might end up doing more environmental harm then good if you can’t properly see the proverbial forest for the trees. The objective of Triangle Sustainability is to help you develop a strategy – for your business or family – to make the way you operate truly sustainable.

We’ll be creating a series of new posts in the upcoming weeks and months with more information on Triangle Sustainability’s view of greenomics. These will include discussions of managing risk, leveraging the ailing economy to your benefit, and understanding the components of a triple-bottom-line approach. We hope that you’ll keep checking back on this page and that you’ll post comments or e-mail us with your ideas on these critical topics.