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ENVS 5150 PERSPECTIVES
ON GREEN
BUSINESS Fall 2007 |
Mondays, HNES 102 |
Course Director: Brian Milani <bmilani@web.ca>
Office Hours:
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Perspectives
on Green Business provides an overview of the dynamics of green economic
development, including enterprise practices, new regulatory approaches, system
design, and more. It is particularly
intended to provide context for
Click here for more information on the FES side of the collaborative Business and Environment
diploma program at York U.
1. Introduce students to contending paradigms of
sustainability and their practical implications for firms and economic
development strategies.
2. Examine important relationships, opportunities,
challenges and controversies in various sectors of green business. What is green business? What is its role in creating sustainable
economies, and what are the obstacles to the authentic greening of
business? Topics include scale,
accounting and management systems, forms of liability and accountability (e.g.
Extended Producer Responsibility), creation of green markets, and green
business incubation strategies.
3. Survey key sectors of the economy and the nature of
green business in each of those areas: agriculture, manufacturing, energy,
finance, etc. What is the
state-of-the-art in green production, technology and organization in these
sectors?
4. Provide a venue for wide-ranging discussion of issues
relating to green enterprise: including EPR, green infrastructure, worker
ownership/participation, economic growth, eco-labelling, bioregional
development, women’s and minority perspectives on green enterprise,
greenwashing, community business, and more.
5. Provide educational resources and counselling for
B&E students concerning their Areas of Concentration, research themes,
Plans of Study and Diploma Internship possibilities.
·
what is
sustainable or green business?
·
paradigms
& principles of green economic development
·
the
nature of green production in key sectors: agriculture, energy, manufacturing,
transportation, etc.
·
potentials
and limits of the profit motive; pros and cons of the “triple bottom line”
·
the
growing movement of values-driven
business
·
retail:
Local First or the Big Boxes?
·
people-intensive
vs. resource-intensive production
·
industrial
ecology and eco-industrial development
·
the
life-cycle approach and design for the environment
·
regenerative
work and right livelihood
·
sustainability
indicators
·
extended
producer responsibility and corporate liability
·
Peak Oil:
enterprise at the End of Suburbia
·
the role
of small business: opportunities and challenges
·
the role
of big business: opportunities and challenges
·
the role
of non-profits, third sector and co-operative businesses
·
the role
of trade
·
finance
and green development
·
business
in the community
·
bioregional
enterprise
·
green
marketing and green consumerism
·
worker
remuneration and participation
·
government
and the ground rules for enterprise
·
green
businesses in the
(a)
course-unit value: 3 credits
(b)
assignments: include three main
components:
1. book review:
approx. 5 pages. The student can choose
a book from those listed here or any
other approved book relating to green business.
Due by 8th week, but can be submitted earlier. (20% of grade)
2. class
presentation in final weeks of class: a concise 15 min. summary of any topic
relating to green business. (20% of
grade).
3. final term
paper: on any topic of the student’s choosing, approx.15 pages (40% of grade).
(c) class participation: will constitute 20%
of course grade.
Prerequisites
and Limitations; Relation to Other Courses:
Open to
all students interested in green business issues, especially those in the
Business and Environment diploma programme.
No business or economics background necessary.
This
course is a prerequisite for Dimensions of Green Business, offered in the
winter term, and it is meant to provide a foundation for more in-depth
exploration of green business strategies and dynamics.
Brian
Milani is coordinator for the
Jill Bamburg’s Getting
to Scale: Growing Your Business Without Selling Out.
Schedule: These
are the tentative topics planned for this year (not necessarily in this order):
Week 1, September 10,
Introduction: student introductions and
statements of interest, with an overview of key issues and relationships in
green business.
Week 2, September 17, Perspectives on Sustainability & Business
·
Eric Assadourian, “When
Good Corporations Go Bad,” World Watch magazine, May/June 2005
·
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, The Business
Case for Sustainable Development, WBCSD, 2002
·
Brian Milani, “What is Green Economics?”,
Synthesis / Regeneration, #37 (Spring 2005); and Race, Poverty and the
Environment: A journal for social and environmental justice (2006)
·
Bill McDonough & Michael Braungart, “The Next
Industrial Revolution,” Atlantic Monthly, Oct. 1998
·
Michael Marx and Marjorie Kelly, “Who Will Rule?” Yes! magazine, Fall 2007
·
Walter Stahel, “From Products to
Services: Selling performance instead of goods,” ITPS Report, #37
Jill
Bamburg, Getting
to Scale book, Foreward, Preface, and Introduction (to page 14).
POWERPOINT: Course
Introduction
Week 3, September 24, The Value
Revolution in Economic Development: Wealth, Indicators & Accounting
·
David Korten, “Living Wealth: Better than
Money,” Yes! magazine, Fall 2007
·
Susan Burns, “Keeping our
Eye on the Goal: How to measure corporate sustainability progress,” Natural
Strategies.com
·
Mehenna Yakhou and
·
Frank Dixon, “Total
Corporate Responsibility: Making SRI and CSR sustainable,” GreenBiz, April
2004.
·
Linda Baker, “Real Wealth: The Genuine Progress
Indicator Could Provide and Environmental Measure of the Planet’s Health,” E magazine, Volume X, Number III, May-June
1999.
·
Toronto’s
Vital Signs: skim/browse quickly.
Jill Bamburg, Getting to Scale book: Chapter 1: “
POWERPOINT: Value Revolution
Also See (optional):
Global
Reporting Initiative: browse various sections.
Sustainable
Measures: sustainable community indicators
Toronto’s
Ecological Footprint
Week 4, October 1, New
special guest Jose Etcheverry
Required:
·
Keith Parkins, “Soft Energy Paths”,
Gaia briefing paper.
Jill Bamburg, Getting to Scale book: Chapter 2: “Any Business
Can Do It.”
Recommended but Optional:
·
trailer: Escape from Suburbia
·
James Howard Kunstler, “The
Long Emergency: What’s going to happen as we start running out of cheap gas to
guzzle?”, excerpt from The Long
Emergency, Grove/Atlantic (2005), reprinted in Rolling Stone magazine,
March 24, 2005
·
Dan Woynillowicz, “How Canada Went from
21st to 2nd in World Oil Reserves,” World Watch magazine /Alternet
·
Sustainable Business.com, “Companies
Taking Climate Change More Seriously,” Sept. 25, 2007
·
David R. Baker, “Environmentally
minded ingenuity drives the latest business wave to plant its roots in the Bay
Area,” San Francisco Chronicle,
·
Renewable Energy
Businesses in the World
·
Switch Green:
Promoting Energy Efficient Appliances, David Suzuki Foundation
·
Alex Boston, Planning
for the Next Generation: 10 principles for Climate Protection and Innovation,
David Suzuki Foundation, May 2004
·
Danny Bradbury, “The Trading Game:
Emissions trading schemes offer pollution as a market commodity,”
Alternatives journal, vol. 31, no. 4/5, 2005
Week 5, October 15, Financing Green
·
Marshall
Glickman and Marjorie Kelly, “Working Capital: Can socially
responsible investing make a great green leap forward?”, E magazine,
March/April 2004, vol. XV, no. 2 
·
Jessica Brown et al, Developing
a Social Equity Capital Market 2006, report for New Economics Foundation
(UK), read Executive Summary and Next Steps (p.
11-14), Introduction (p. 14-17), and skim/browse the rest.
·
Richard Hudson & Roger Wehrell, “Socially
Responsible Investors and the Microentrepreneur: A Canadian Case,” Journal
of Business Ethics (2005) 60: 281–292
·
Michael Shuman & Merrian Fuller,
“Profits
for Justice,” The Nation,
·
Tara Lohan, “Big Banks Are Selling Us Out
on Climate Change,” AlterNet,
Jill Bamburg, Getting to Scale book: Chapter 3 “Organic is the Way to Grow”
& Chapter 4
“Finance Your Business”
POWERPOINT: Finance
Optional
Ø
Steven Lydenberg, “Universal
Investors and Socially Responsible Investors: a tale of emerging affinities,”
Corporate Governance, Volume 15
Number
Ø
Joel Makower, “At New
Resource Bank, Money Talks ... Green,” greenbiz.com
Ø
Ron Scherer, “New Combatant
Against Global Warming: Insurance Industry,” Christian Science Monitor,
Ø Studies of Socially-Responsible
Investing, UC-Berkeley
Ø York Coalition for Social
Investment: resources: studies
Also Check out these links:
§
Social Investment Organization
Week 6, October 29, New
special guest Mike Schreiner, Local Food Plus
·
Catherine Porter, “Food
Growers Target Customers with a Conscience,”
·
Richard Manning, “The Oil We Eat: Following the
Food Chain Back to Iraq”, Harper's Magazine, February 2004
·
Wayne Roberts, “U of T's
Plate-Side Revolution: Sustainable food initiative could serve up a banquet of change
if campuses use their massive buying clout,” NOW magazine,
·
Wes Jackson, “Natural
Systems Agriculture: A Radical Alternative”, The Land Institute website,
Also:
·
Store Wars: “Not long ago in a
supermarket not so far away…”
· The Meatrix: Take
the red pill (don’t worry, it’s organic)
· The
Ground Under Overtown: Permaculture in
Week 7, November 5, Consumption, Markets & Marketing
·
Michael Renner, “Moving Toward a Less Consumptive Economy”, Chapter
5, pp. 96-119, from the State of the World 2004, NY/Washington: Worldwatch Institute, 2004
·
Dara O’Rourke, “Market
Movements: Nongovernmental Organization Strategies to Influence Global
Production and Consumption,” Journal
of Industrial Ecology, vol. 9, no. 1-2, 
Winter/Spring 2005
·
Lisa Mastny, “Purchasing for People and the
Planet,” Chapter 6, pp.
122-142, from the State of the World 2004, NY/Washington: Worldwatch Institute,
2004 (skim)
·
Michael
Shuman, “Local
First: New Approach to Bay Area Development,” San Francisco Chronicle,
·
The Local Multiplier
Effect, Yes! magazine, Winter 2007
·
Chip Conley & Eric
Freidenwald-Fishman, “Why Marketing
Matters,” Introduction from Marketing That
Matters, San Francisco: Berrett-Kohler Publishers, 2006
·
Jacquelyn Ottman, Consumers
With a Conscience, chapter 2 of Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation,
New York: NTC-McGraw-Hill, 1998
·
Ben Elgin, “Little
Green Lies,” Business Week,
Jill Bamburg, Getting to Scale book: Chapter 5 “Build Your Values into the Brand”
POWERPOINT: Consumption
& Marketing
Optional/Recommended:
--Gary Gardner and Erik
Assadourian, “Rethinking the Good Life”,
Chapter 8, from the State of the World 2004, NY/Washington: Worldwatch Institute, 2004
--Tim Jackson, “Is
There a ‘Double Standard’ in Sustainable Consumption?”, Journal of
Industrial Ecology, vol. 9, no. 1-2, Winter/Spring 2005
--Aseem Prakash, “Green Marketing, Public
Policy and Managerial Strategies,” Business Strategy and the Environment, 11, 285–297 (2002)
--book description and excerpts: Sharing the Work, Sparing the
Planet: Work time, consumption and ecology, by Anders Hayden, MES
--David Morris, “Is Eating
Local the Best Choice?”, AlterNet,
--Stacy Mitchell, “The
Impossibility of a Green Wal-Mart,” GRIST,
--Stan Cox, “War, Murder,
Rape…All for your cell phone,” AlterNet,
--Green Marketing
News, Greenbiz.com
--Wind Energy
Principles of Green Marketing
Forbidden:
Ø
George
Carlin on Materialism and Consumerism
Ø
Rev. Billy, The
Week 8, November 12, Regulation
·
Neil Gunningham and Darren Sinclair,
“Regulatory
Pluralism: Designing Policy Mixes for Environmental Protection”, Law and
Policy 21, 49-76, 1997
·
Brian Milani, “Mindful Markets,
Value Revolution and the Green Economy: EPR, Certification and the New
Regulation”
·
Michael Braungart, "Product Life-Cycle
Management to Replace Waste Management", in Socolow, Andrews,
Berkhout & Thomas (eds.), Industrial
Ecology and Global Change, N.Y./Cambridge:
·
Michael E. Conroy, Certification Systems as Tools for Natural
Asset Building: Potential, Experience to Date, and Critical Challenges, Working paper No. 100, Political Economy Research
Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts-Amherst, July 2005 (skim)
·
Brian
Dunkiel, M. Jeff Hamond, and Jim Motavalli, “Sharing the
Wealth: If We Shift the Tax Burden From Work to Waste, Everyone Benefits”,
E magazine, March/April 1999
·
Eric Assadurian, “The Role of Stakeholders,”
Worldwatch magazine, Sept./Oct. 2005
Jill Bamburg, Getting to Scale book: Chapter 6 “Match Manufacturing to
POWERPOINT: Regulation for a Green Economy
Optional/Recommended:
·
“EPR: A
Prescription for Clean Production, Pollution Prevention and Zero Waste”,
Grassroots Recycling Network, August 2003
·
Brenda
Platt, Local
Inititatives Leverage EPR, ILSR Waste to Wealth report, Nov. 2000
·
Barry Commoner, “Pollution
Prevention: The Source of an Ethical Foundation for Sustainable Development”, 1990
·
Norman Myers with Jennifer Kent, Executive
Summary of Perverse
Subsidies: Tax Dollars Undercutting Our Economies and Environments Alike, IISD, 1998
·
Executive
summary, Tax Waste, Not Work,
Redefining Progress, 1999.
·
Wayne Roberts, Making Taxes
Sexy: Green gurus say we should use city taxes to punish ugliness and reward
sustainability, NOW magazine, vol. 24, no. 52, Aug. 25-31, 2005
Week 9, November 19, Network
Economics: The Real Knowledge Economy, Intellectual Property, Culture &
Stewardship
guest speaker: Michael Pilling,
High Productivity.ca
…on “Social Sustainability: Wikis, Community Development and Public Deliberation”
·
Yochai Benkler, The
Networked Information Economy, pp. 29-58, Part
One Intro & Chapter 2 of The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms
Markets and Freedom,
·
Don Tapscott and Anthony D.
Williams, Introduction
and Chapter One “Wikinomics: The Art & Science of Peer-Production,”
from Wikinomics:
How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything (Portfolio/Penguin, 2006)
·
Laurence Lessig, “Some Like It
Hot: Piracy & culture,” Wired magazine, Issue 12.03 (March 2004)
·
Jeffrey Chester: “Google: Search and Data
Seizure,” The Nation,
Jill Bamburg, Getting to Scale book: Chapter 7 “Morph Early and Often” 
Check Out/
Recommended:
Ø
Douglas Rushkoff, Open Source
Democracy: How online communication is changing offline politics,
Ø
What
Is a Wiki? and how to use one, O’Reilly Network
Ø
Pharos
Project wiki,
Ø
Paul Hawken, Natural Capital
Institute, Blessed Unrest video
Ø
Wiser
Earth database, Natural Capital Institute
Week 10, November
26, Social Justice & Participation
·
Catherine Lerza and Michael
Gelobter, “Changing
the Social Climate,” The Tides Foundation/Redefining Progress, April 2007
·
“Diverse,
Green, Beautiful Cities,” Sarah Van Gelder interviews Carl Anthony, Yes!
magazine, Summer 1999
·
Van Jones
and Ben Wyskida, “Green-Collar Jobs for Urban America: Oakland looks for a greener path toward
prosperity,” Yes! magazine, Winter 2007
·
Van Jones, “The New Environmentalists: How to make the green movement less white,” ColorLines,
August 2007
· Omar Freilla, Green Development for Environmental Justice and Healthy Communities, Green Worker Co-ops report, 2005
Ø
fyi (optional) : NY Times: Omar
Freilla Wins Jane Jacobs medal,
·
Fair Trade: An alternative economic model, CBC
website
·
Rualdo Menegat, “Participatory Democracy in Porto Alegre
Brazil,”
IIED, June 2002
Jill Bamburg, Getting to Scale book: Chapters 8-10
Optional Resources &
Links:
·
David Roberts, “A Van with a Plan: an interview with Van
Jones,” GRIST mag, March 2007
·
New
Energy for America: the Apollo
Jobs Report: Good Jobs and Energy Independence
·
Video: Eco-Equity with Van Jones, YouTube
·
Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, “Environmental Justice for
All,” Coop
·
Mark Engler, “Fair Trade Sweatshops?”, the New
Internationalist, November 2006
·
Annie Gallop and Daniel
Schugurensky, “Porto Alegre, Canada?”, Rabble.ca
·
Nadia Martinez, “What the Rise of Democratic Movements in Latin America Means for the
Rest of the World,” Yes! mag,
August 2007
· Mae Burrows, Just Transition: Moving to a green economy will be more attractive when programs are designed to reduce job loss fears, and focus on transition to a more sustainable future, Alternatives Journal, Winter 2001
·
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
(Oakland)
·
Low Income Energy Network, Ontario
·
Green Worker Coops (New York City)
·
Inner City Development
(Winnipeg)
·
Carolyn Chase, “Sustainable
Jobs”
·
REPP, Job
Creation and Renewable Energy
·
Blue-Green Alliance: United
Steelworkers and Sierra Club
·
Foodshare,
·
Wikipedia, Environmental Justice
·
Center
for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ)
·
Environmental
Justice Resource Center,
·
Environmental Justice Foundation
·
Kellie Lunney, “Will ‘Green’ Building be the
Future of New Orleans?” The American Prospect, Feb. 2007
Week 11, December
3, Presentations
Week 12,
December 10, Presentations
to Green Economics Homepage