Businesses have been responsible for a dramatic increase in waste since the 1950s – along with all of the environmental hazards that come with it. Kerry Slade examines two companies that have been altering their business model to reduce waste, Subaru and Terracycle, to demonstrate how companies can become more sustainable and still save money.

Slade argues that the most important step for companies developing sustainable practices is to ask employees what the company should be doing differently. Employees often have innovative ideas because they are working directly with the production materials. 

While there may be additional costs associated with implementing sustainable practices, they are offset by reducing the costs of bringing in waste, processing waste and throwing waste away. Slade emphasizes that these changes do not need to be transformative. Oftentimes, small changes around the edges can make a big difference in impacting the company’s bottom line.