Natural Capitalism Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

Hawken (The Ecology of Commerce) and Amory and Hunter Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank, have put together an ambitious, visionary book advocating natural capitalism. Based on the principle that businesses can be good for the environment, Natural Capitalism shows how leading-edge companies are practicing a new type of industrialism that is both more efficient and more profitable, while simultaneously protecting the planet and creating jobs. Natural capitalism is a way of thinking that seeks to apply market principles to all sources of material value, most importantly natural resources. The authors have two related goals: first, to show the vast array of ecologically smart options available to businesses; second, to argue that it is possible for society and industry to adopt them.

"The authors argue that it is possible for companies to reduce energy and materials consumption by up to 90 percent but still increase profits, production, and employment." Booklist

"The book...yields unique value as a broad collection of intriguing ideas that work and compelling pleas for the benefit they bring: increased profits. Despite their unease with the present economic system, the authors ultimately favor individual responsibility and local and entrepreneurial initiatives for solving environmental problems." Kirkus Reviews

The world of business is changing — fast. The prevailing model for creating wealth — which has its roots in the industrial revolution and which dominated the last century — no longer applies. Natural Capitalism introduces an alternative, a new paradigm. Praised by business and political leaders as well as economists and environmentalists around the globe, this groundbreaking book reveals how tomorrow's most successful global businesses will draw profit from their own environmental responsibility.

This groundbreaking book reveals how today's global businesses can be both environmentally responsible and highly profitable.

Hawken, in the mid 1960s, while still in his twenties, he founded Erewhon, the largest distributor of natural foods. More recently, he founded Smith & Hawken, the mail order garden tool company famed for the high quality of its tools, its low overhead and employee-management relations.

L. Hunter Lovins is the founder of Natural Capitalism, Inc. and Natural Capitalism Solutions and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute. She is a professor at the Presidio School of Management's MBA in Sustainable Management program.