Enlisting in the Green Army

Is the green movement one of the most fundamental business and lifestyle events in our history or is it just another passing fad?

Count me squarely in the camp of the green-is-here-to stay folks. What surprises me really is how many people I run into who don’t see it that way. They view all the talk about green and sustainable supply chains as the just the latest cause du jour. Just keep ignoring it, they figure, and it will eventually go away.

Yet I see too many signs that contradict that point of view. Green in general-and green supply chain management particular-is the new way of living and doing business.

First off, green SCM seems to be everyone’s agenda.  At the most recent CSCMP annual conference in Chicago and at gatherings of organizations like the Institute for Supply Management green and sustainability are prominent items on the docket.  And tellingly, they also are among the best attended sessions.

Another good indicator that green’s not a passing fancy are the companies who are activity pushing the concept in their own organizations and with their trading partners. Front and center, of course, is Walmart.  The retail giant has staked out a claim as a green champion and is “inviting” all of its suppliers and service providers to join the crusade. Target was a little late getting into the green game, but now they are advancing full steam ahead on a wide range of logistics and recycling-related initiatives.

And industry giants like Hewlett-Packard and GE have made green a core value of their respective organizations. 

Automakers are outdoing themselves in attempting to prove who’s got the greenest wheels on the block.  And the list goes on.

The state and federal regulators are getting ready to pounce in the green arena with stricter rules and regulations on how product is moved, used, and recycled. For a preview of how all this might shake out five years from now, look at the strict environmental rules now in effect in the European Union.

Finally, there’s the consumer influence on green adoption. Put simply, more and more U.S. consumers want the products they buy and the containers and cars in which they transport them to be green. That number is accelerating by the day.

With this brief recounting of some of the forces driving green, I rest my case. Supply chain folks need to adapt to the new realities to assure their own bright and green future.