Substantial Profits, Sustainably: Part II

This article is part of The Sustainable Studio column originally appearing on the Business of Design Online.

Wal-Mart recently made a decision that you need to know about: the country’s largest retailer announced that beginning in 2008, “packaging sustainability will be a formal part of [the company’s] purchasing decisions.” That means that over 61,000 suppliers will have to revamp their packaging if they want to continue working with the retailing giant. Now take a wild guess at who will ultimately be responsible for specifying these sustainable packaging materials and creating accurate label designs. That’s right: the honors land squarely with you.

But this isn’t a simple case of Wal-Mart twisting the arm of its supply chain; in fact, Wal-Mart’s environmental requirements may very well be a financial boon to your design practice. Last month’s Sustainable Studio described the ways in which greening your operations can significantly reduce your overhead; I’ll now share the ways in which it can actually increase your revenues, both directly and indirectly...

Read the full article on Business of Design Online.