Cool ideas (and, sadly, bluefin tuna) served up at Brainstorm Green

Just returned from the Fortune Brainstorm: GREEN conference and thought this might be the perfect reason for me to write my first blog post: For the second year in a row, it was the best conference I've ever been to. What made it so great? The biggest single reason was the interesting and candid conversations that took place about sustainability. It was the business guys (and it was the guys. By my calculation only 21% of attendees, and 12% of panelists, were female) talking very frankly about the coolest ideas and the biggest challenges in a fast-paced and open way.

It's truly uplifting hearing about the revolutionary things going on out there that together could save the planet and have business opportunity written all over them. Some of the best were the ones that EDF worked hard to unearth in the Innovations Review 2009 that we released at the conference. Some fall into the category of extremely creative with far-reaching impact, such as Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles that lets consumers track the impact of specific Patagonia products. Patagonia gets why this is important. More companies should get it. It reminds me of something someone said at Fortune Brainstorm: GREEN — Your supply chain is your company.

Some of the environmental innovations in our report fall under the "No Brainer" category in my mind: Things like hotels using a system that links all heating, cooling and power to the keycard that guests insert upon entering their rooms. That simple change can save 25 to 45% of the energy used by hotel rooms, yet few hotels in U.S. have taken advantage of these systems. I again think of the Fortune conference. I overheard a senior executive from Marriott talking to Bill Clinton about the funds they were committing to the rainforest and thought "Great, but what about your hotels?" Right there at the conference I had seen water glasses filled up automatically before people arrived and bluefin tuna served at dinner (a health and overfishing double-whammy). Perhaps the small things they could do right here at the Ritz Carlton (owned by Marriott) would add up to a big environmental impact.

It's clear that companies that "make sustainability part of their DNA" (in the words of Cisco's Laura Ipsen) will reap the benefits. They will survive (Ford was at the conference) and thrive (Wal-Mart was too). They are saving money, reducing risk, gaining customers. It's not always an easy choice. Fisk Johnson, CEO of SC Johnson, talked about changing Saran Wrap from a chlorine-based polymer which cost them customers who didn't like how the change affected the product's feel and performance. Fortune's Marc Gunther half jokingly said, "We only like the positive stories here." But I think that this, no doubt, is a positive story. Products that harm our health and our earth should go away and companies like SC Johnson that have the courage to act on their green principles are most certainly doing the right thing for their business in the long term.

Here at Environmental Defense Fund Corporate Partnerships Program we work with business because we think that it's one of the most effective ways to create big, meaningful environmental change. I'm more hopeful than ever after the Fortune Brainstorm: GREEN conference.

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