Ray Anderson on the business logic of sustainability

[Jurbobow]

Respect!

[crudhousefull]

This guy gives me more hope than any other person that 'talks' about climate change on TED. This guy is someone who actually does it (did it!), while others just jump on the bandwagon of promoting what others should do. You are a great man!

[kboann]

"The cheapest, most secure, barrel of oil there is, is the one not used through efficiencies."

[benduncan87]

There's a lot of this at the moment. The global carbon market, according to the World Bank, was worth $142bn last year, which is more than 13 times its value six years ago. Almost all major companies have CRCs, sustainability ambitions etc. This man really was a revolutionary.

It's really not that difficult to create our own ambitions: Youtube '2degrees Essentials'

[ShineolaCom]

Ray leaves a legacy of hope. Love the mathematical equation he concocted that includes a factor for Happiness. The world needs more of that kind of arithmetic :o)

[rbrichard51]

Ray Anderson, RIP at 77.

A towering leader of the type of change we need.

[GinaRGilberto]

Rest in Peace Ray, I wish more CEOs thought like you

[350orbust]

RIP, Mr. Anderson. Thank you for your inspiring leadership.

[TurtugaBlanku]

Very inspirational guy! (Has been an inspiration for the lyrics of this solar power song on youtube: watch?v=8W_sR-fbKo0 )

[Dust3317]

Other organizations like yours can take the lead with sustainability by getting a sustainability assessment. Check out GOIConsulting for more information.

[whowaaa]

progressives ....No common sense what so ever...None...the biggest lie in human history ...this is a fight for freedom and america...these people lioke this are the insane of the earth...common sense...with the regulation a progressive eniviromentalist terrorist will put on america will take your freedom through regualtion,,,the czars have by passed congress..the regulation and mandates have by passed congress...who are making the laws?..progressivise communists..100 years of distruction

[majik2hanz]

Theft of our childrens future would be a crime. Well that means most all politicians who have been mortgaging future generations should be incarcerated.

Great Presentation!

[bobian81]

just found out rays got cancer,god bless him

[johnbambammorgan]

At the MAIN PLANET in Georgia, they have a MASSIVE, MASSIVE Machine actually built by the German Scientists nick named, The White Coats that consumes ALL OTHER manufacturing polluted carpets and goes through this amazing process and on the other end comes this sustainable NEW Material. They make the BEST carpet on the planet.

[docbrown1471]

This guy is a genius light years ahead of the rest, it's a shame no other major corporation can follow his example.

[TurtugaBlanku]

Great and inspiring presentation!

Cheers,

Turtuga Blanku

*Solar Power Music*

[cordawgydawg]

holy fuck! wow, what a wise old man... but tomorrows child i think, is quite a long way away... it's still good to know atleast some people of his stature are thinking about it

[aarondkeogh]

Live simply so others can simply live.

[pcq19947]

This dude is well ahead of the curve. Even if you don't get it yet this is how we are going to be doing business and living life in the future. That is if we don't poison the World before the future child is born.

I really hope that more people follow this man's wisdom.

I'm going to look the guy up and send him an email to thank him on behalf of my unborn future children.

[resourcebasedeconomY]

THE VENUS PROJECT. COM

[acrooney]

@resourcebasedeconomY and yet they have a store... and they charge MONEY for things... I'm confused

[abram730]

it every "waste" is seen as a "resource",, then sustainability and growth can exist together.

[branboom]

i think that if an old man that made his fortune at the expense of the earth can so completely reevaluate the way he does business, we all can. We just have to want to.

[laxhockfiendmb]

powerful poem

[frederickfarrell]

fantastic, what a great man

[Dayvit78]

very humble speaker

[resourcebasedeconomY]

Logic is eradicate capitalism and abolish money

The Venus Project. com

[kDest]

Yeah, and then let's go back into living in tribes and sacrificing animals for the next big harvest.

[resourcebasedeconomY]

hey, kDest

Read before post, that shows how ignorant you are.

The Venus project. com

[lyolik777]

buddy. If only you guys were the first ones with this idea. People are not ready for that, capitalism is about ownership, and unless nobody wants to own anything eradicating capitalism will not really work. May be a sophisticated socialism system like in Sweden is possible.

Abolishing money? Money is for trading? You ever studied economics, and why money exists? Wake up!

[astara091]

I have to remind at this point that the Nordic model (which is in place in all Nordic countries, not just Sweden, hence the name) is not some magical eco-communist way of government and has little to do with protecting the enviroment by itself.

Nordic countries, like all "western"

industrialized countries, spend and waste huge amount of resources.

[jimmshorts]

we ALL own this Earth. Wake up to the uber / macro view.

[lyolik777]

wake up to the fact that most people don't think that, especially people in poverty

[jimmshorts]

the cynic believes and perpetuates scarcity. Hubris, greed, avarice restricts abundance to a priviledged few. My studies and observations say that more accurately reflects the sentiment of those in poverty, in hunger, in disease. To work with the Earth, wth social responsibility is an invitation to live in solution. Perhaps you prefer to be part of the problem.

[lyolik777]

Dude check your grammar, I did not understand what you wrote about your studies.

And I don't see how I or anybody else prefers to be part of the problem. I am against removing money from the economy, that's all.

[blularkspur]

What?? Have you ever been part of a real poor community? TED is about removing conventional thought, and these 'wake up things can't be different' attitude is like totally missing the point..

[mlpoulter]

This guy is one of the world's true heroes. The world needs a lot more like him.

[lvildos]

what was the achievement in increasing "profits"? what are profits? what are profits used for? where do they end up?

Even with the sample group of "independent" certifying agencies, this carpet business fails to be conclusively sustainable

[gabydewilde]

There was a poem.

:-)

[Sepero1]

Let us see some evidence of Government Pollution vs Corporate Pollution.

Currently, I'm convinced that Governments are the greatest polluters on earth.

[simpledaylife]

wow... first time meeting ray anderson.

had a speaker from interface come to our lects last yr, interesting philosophies/principles for a carpet company...

[ProfessorT07]

I feel asleep watching this and Im an insomniac...

[sudiin]

There is no award in existance that would measure up to the deeds and accomplishments of Ray Anderson. *salute*

P.S. watch "The Corporation"

[humanist7117]

Bravo!!

[austpom333]

I watched 2:20 of this vid he has the right idea, i only want to say that the ideals of grass roots need to be changed in order to introduce electric engines and other sustainable ( forward thinking ideas ). Now changing the ideas of grass roots is not easy.

[chawk111]

He sounds like Randy Newman dose when he sings, but not when he talks.

[T8R]

It appears the invisible hand now has a green thumb.

[BallinTrollin]

Heh oh wow, carpet company talking about sustainability....if only that company grew some BALLS and actually produce their carpets out of HEMP/Marijuana...now THAT WOULD BE SUSTAINABLE!@!!!

[sunrisewalker]

No material is, on its own, sustainable. Hemp needs water, soil and space- as well as an input of energy to produce it, and then process it into a finished form.

In addition, given that Interface is an American company- where the laws regarding marijuana and hemp are not friendly- I think the word you're looking for is not balls- but illegal and thus unlikely to make an impact because the company would be shut down.

You have perhaps been using to much of the substance you are advocating.

[BallinTrollin]

yea that's why it fails to advocate it's own ideas...COMPANY....why not put up a company somewhere OUTSIDE US (like in CANADA) because IT IS THE ONLY INDUSTRIAL COUNTRY that bans HEMP growing....make the effort. Out of all the plants, hemp is the most useful for industrial use and most products derived from it are non toxic. Hemp is a billion dollar crop...I ADVOCATE HEMP (male plant of weed) first....it can save the world...

[sunrisewalker]

I agree that Hemp is a useful product, but am going to ask you how adding another product, or switching to another product is the answer to our problems, when our problems stem from over production and over consumption as much as they do wrong consumption and wrong production?

[BallinTrollin]

because in and of itself hemp is sustainable....no fertilizers needed no pesticides, it's a healthy & cheap source of protein and omega 3 and 6. it can be made into plastic that's biodegradable. i could name more but ultimately hemp is a threat to many corporations that continue to propagate unsuitable activities because of blind pursuit of profit. Male & female cannabis=better world *oversimplified but nevertheless cannabis **female** is a definite counter to dumb drugs like tobacco and beer.

[cordawgydawg]

people will never stop using paper products... trees are not really a renewable resource because they take 50-200 years to grow, and take up much more room... hemp however is only an answer to half the problem... thats when the engineers have to find non petroleum based and low polluting ways of milling the products

[cordawgydawg]

As wind, wave, solar, and geo thermal power are all element based sources of renewable energy, there are also man made sources... you could probably manufacture an oil hybrid in a factory without to much hassle, but THAT, is counterproductive to the goals of the earth (not like half the industry heads care anyway) hemp can be grown in small areas and seed very easily, be harvested in 4-6 months or less, and more can be planted in the same areas without any additives to the earth besides water

[sheepwshotguns]

this guy's actions bring a glimmer of hope to humanity.

[omgitslukky]

I liked the talk, but his voice got weird during the poem.

[Atoyota]

Good talk recognizing the unsustainability of the retail mercantile systems we now have, and ways to correct it..

BUT the real 'primary' culrpit of the biosphere is agribusiness and NOT these other industries... yes they too need to follow this example, but agribusiness has done more to ecosystems than all the rest combined.

[KirneH004]

My college's cafeteria once offered a lunch of "sustainable fish"; on the day that it was to be served, the cooks prepared it wrong and it burned. The cafeteria couldn't "sustain" the sustainable fish.

Henrik

PS: They didn't have time to make another main dish, so we had to fall back on pizza, burgers, and weak chicken soup.

[Th0usandMaster]

lol yawn @ 7:30

[ManoloRafael]

@Th0usandMaster hahahahaha!!! How did you see that?! Sooooo funny!! Good catch! :)

[rflosi]

Government is the largest polluter and plunderer.

[HempForPresident]

Thank God for democracy, then, because we can change that! Get active!

[awerner2007]

Fuck god! Thank the greeks!

[mooxim]

I'd stand after that.

[aceofspades989]

Lovely talk. I really enjoyed it.

[llennonbrown]

Does anyone know whether there are many other companies carrying out similar schemes?

[HigherPlanes]

yawn

[Happy0]

Wow... He's aged since I saw him in the documentary "the corportation" xD

[Happy0]

Corporation*

[dorotwhy]

This man brings hope and promise to humankind. I think I'm in love. If anyone deserves a standing ovation... He does!

[xTriad]

Great speech, the world could use more people like this man.

[DescentToCocytus]

Translation: the drive to maximize profits works to protect the environment.  Free market advocates have been saying this for decades.

[Ekove]

exactly, that is not to say that man actions didn't have a moral side to them.

[asmodeus585]

Socialists in USSR have destroyed the environment in a much greater scale than any capitalistic country.

[DescentToCocytus]

Strange that both of the comments responding to mine agree with me, but I have been rated down. Perhaps those who do not agree choose not to respond via comment because they have no argument.

[IhaveNoCreativity]

Irrelevant.

Also remember that the United States was the number one atmospheric polluter on the planet for years.

Capitalism doesn't equal greener, neither does communism. The system of government in a state does not denote its technological level, nor its inhabitants consumption or waste rate.

[IhaveNoCreativity]

Previous response was to "asmodeus585'

But to "DecentToCocytus", while some fields of production could benefit financially in their production costs by switching to green, many (if not most) cannot.

I agree with the notion incentive has to be given in order for change to be made, but in some cases I feel the incentives have to be legislated. Meaning reparations would have to be made by corporations and companies that refused to 'greenify' their businesses.

[lostinaparadox]

we need to scale back the government in many aspects but the remaining budget requirement it should seek to achieve financial sustainability by deriving as much of its tax revenue as possible from harmful products to the earth

[IhaveNoCreativity]

If I understand what you mean by 'scaling back government', I think I agree.

Government should be kept at the level where its most beneficial, no less, no more.

And when waging a war to save the environment, one should not pull any punches (so long as your not punching a metaphorical cactus) against negative environmental influences, IE harmful products to the earth.

[asmodeus585]

Nonsene. Communism equals anti-green attitude as marxists believed that Earth fully belongs to humans and people can do with it whatever they want - they can change rivers directions, destroy mountains, etc.

[moulingalette]

Just because people can do what they want to the Earth doesn't mean they would be "anti-green." In fact, since the Earth belongs to the people, they should do their best to take care of it...

As usual, you can't base a complicated social system like "Communism" on what certain people have chosen to use it for. That would be like me saying all Capitalists only seek to make capital even if that means having slaves. Just because some people have done it doesn't mean you can make that label.

[IhaveNoCreativity]

Again... same attitude had been expressed (and is still expressed today) by capitalists, particularly in America. That world view isn't rooted in communism, if you wish to find its beginnings you have to look to religious institutions, for example Christianity/Islam/Judaism. It is taught in those faiths that man is above the rest of the world, and the rest of the world was made to be subservient and conquerable by man.

[IhaveNoCreativity]

Regardless, my initial point stands.

A nations governmental system does not denote its technological level. The more technologically advanced a civilization, the more potential for cleaner generation of products. Even if the leader's philosophies consist of egotistic self-centered views of the world... once the acid rain starts falling, they will make measures toward a cleaner system. The above is true for the United States.

[IhaveNoCreativity]

Not that I'm Anti-American... I was born and live in the United States, and I feel it is a great country with a superb system of governance, in most respects.

[asmodeus585]

Ok, I can agree upon that - but this can be only achieved through concious entrepreneurship, just like Ray Anderson tried to tell us.

[ratholin]

Great speech. It's so good to see someone with the courage of their convictions. The world could use a lot more like him.

[aarondkeogh]

if only everyone could live in a co2 neutral way

[fog13]

rerun, but a goodie!

[JmkLcAeJsm]

Superb talk, highly uplifting. Now why can't they play that in American schools instead of this 'Story of Stuff' rubbish.