Four crazy reinventions for truly sustainable businesses

And the even crazier alternative known as “realistic”

B. Lorraine Smith
5 min readMay 29, 2024
Train painted by Montreal artist Gary Bray in 2024 (used with permission).

Casting a critical eye on any company’s not-really-sustainable sustainability initiatives can be depressing. Thankfully, we know what’s needed to reinvent businesses and whole industries to be truly sustainable.

Different people organize this knowledge in different ways. I will share one way—briefly outlining four elements that any company can apply. I will also respond to the recoil as people take these in and exclaim: “Are you crazy? This is totally unrealistic!”

What follows is the quick sum, and then the anti-crazy antidote.

Four requirements to reinvent industry in service of life

When I examined global fast fashion company H&M, I saw in their Sustainable Fashion Framework that they intend to “lead the change by pushing ourselves and the industry to reinvent and transform.”

In response to this inspiring intention, I offered four things that would demonstrate they have indeed reinvented and transformed industry for true sustainability. They are:

  1. Accept zero revenue from degenerative practices.
  2. Measure progress towards serving life.

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B. Lorraine Smith
B. Lorraine Smith

Written by B. Lorraine Smith

Former sustainability consultant replacing ESG with reality-based insights about corporate purpose and impact. https://www.blorrainesmith.com/

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