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According to Wikipedia “A business is sustainable if it has adapted its practices for the use of renewable resources and holds itself accountable for the environmental and human rights impacts of its activities. This includes businesses that operate in a socially responsible manner and protect the environment.”
When I look at how this applies to Beehive initially of course I look at how we respect the materials that we use daily – paper, ink cartridges, cans, boxes, rubber bands - and encourage everyone who is a part of Beehive to do their utmost to recycle and conserve by providing a ways and means to do so. We have very little waste as compared with traditional retail establishments. Our goods are not shipped from overseas factories in thousands of plastic bags and tons of boxes, with the majority of our products being made locally and brought to the store as needed by the designer we eliminate a lot of waste.
But for me, it’s the larger perspective that provides me with the most interesting and hopeful aspect of sustainability when applied to the Beehive concept. It’s the connections between individual and community and region that makes our business truly sustainable and exciting. It’s what makes me get up each morning and keep fighting to establish beehive into a thriving business (despite the odds). The connection between designer-producer, customer, and community in our business model is about as sustainable as it gets. It fosters development of small businesses within a locality, it fosters community pride, participation and interaction, it cuts down on waste and energy consumption, and at the same time it brings beautiful, unique and very competitive products to the market. How amazing to bring this sustainable concept to cities, towns, and communities all across America. For Beehive this kind of growth not only is sustainable but I believe is actually is a benefit to citizens. That's very exciting and dare I say revolutionary.
My hope for our culture is that this model is applied to more than just the retail industry. I think that as we become more and more global, which in my opinion isn’t in itself a bad thing, we should also redevelop the local roots that made this country so interesting. Right now I feel we are out of balance (in more ways than one), we’ve tipped too far to the global. Our shops, restaurants, culture are scarily homogenous – the same everywhere. It is my hope that over the next decade we see a shift back to basics, towards thoughtful consumption, towards thriving unique and individual communities. We haven't completely lost it yet...but to achieve this we will need government both locally and nationally to support and foster small, community based business AND consumers who realize that their purchasing power CAN and DOES shape the world they live in!
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Tags: sustainable business, local business, sustainable growth, Beehive |
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Categories: Entrepreneurship |
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