Today the Social Enterprise Association (SEA), NYU Stern School of Business’ chapter of Net Impact, is having a lecture of Prof. Daneil Esty, the co-author of 'Green to Gold'. I thought this is a good opportunity to present this interesting book on our green books series. It's not a new book (it was published on 2006), but this award-winning book is still one of the best green business books written to date.

The lecture will be held today between 6-7:30 PM at Cantor Boardroom, 44 West 4th Street. RSVP Required - please check SEA's website for further information.

So now that you know where you can listen to Prof. Esty tonight, it's time to introduce the book:

Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage

Author: Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston (their website - http://www.eco-advantage.com/)

Daniel Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University. He holds faculty appointments in both Yale’s Environment and Law Schools. He is the Director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy as well as the Yale World Fellows Program.

Professor Esty is the author or editor of eight books and numerous articles on environmental policy issues and the relationships between the environment and trade, globalization, security, competitiveness, international institutions, and development. His current research agenda includes projects on environmental protection in the Information Age, a rethinking for corporate environmental strategy, global environmental governance, and “next generation” approaches to pollution control and natural resource management.

Prior to taking up his current position at Yale, Professor Esty was a Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Economics (1993-94), served in a variety of senior positions on the US Environmental Protection Agency (1989-93), and practiced law in Washington, DC (1986-89).

Prof. Esty has advised companies across the world on energy, environment, and sustainability issues and serves as the Chairman of Esty Environmental Partners, a corporate environmental strategy group based in New Haven, CT. He sits on the Board of Directors of Resources for the Future and the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.

Andrew Winston is founder of Winston Eco-Strategies and works with leading companies to use environmental thinking to drive growth. He has consulted with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies such as Bank of America, Reuters, Coca-Cola, and IKEA.

Andrew is a nationally recognized expert on green business, and has written for or appeared in Time, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, ABC News, National Public Radio, and CNBC. He is a sought-after and engaging speaker, providing audiences with a timely and dynamic view on how companies turn green to gold. Andrew gives keynote addresses and also moderates "Q&A" and panel discussions at events of all sizes and venues -- from small meetings to large conferences, from world-class universities to corporate campuses.

Andrew sits on the Antron Sustainability Advisory Council for the $6 billion industrial manufacturer Invista. He also served as the Director of the Corporate Environmental Strategy Project at Yale’s renowned School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and is a Fellow of the Center for Environment and Business at Yale. Andrew received his BA in Economics from Princeton, an MBA from Columbia, and a Masters of Environmental Management from Yale.

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published in: October 2006

What it is about: (from the publisher's website): The essential guide for forward-thinking business leaders who see the Green Wave coming and want to profit from it. This book explores what every executive must know to manage the environmental challenges facing society and business.

Based on the authors' years of experience and hundreds of interviews with corporate leaders around the world, 'Green to Gold' shows how companies generate lasting value, cutting costs, reducing risk, increasing revenues, and creating strong brands, by building environmental thinking into their business strategies.

Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston provide clear how-to advice and concrete examples from companies like BP, Toyota, IKEA, GE, and Nike that are achieving both environmental and business success. The authors show how these cutting-edge companies are establishing an “eco-advantage” in the marketplace as traditional elements of competitive differentiation fade in importance. Esty and Winston not only highlight successful strategies but also make plain what does not work by describing why environmental initiatives sometimes fail despite the best intentions.

Green to Gold is written for executives at every level and for businesses of all kinds and sizes. Esty and Winston guide leaders through a complex new world of resource shortfalls, regulatory restrictions, and growing pressure from customers and other stakeholders to strive for sustainability. With a sharp focus on execution, Esty and Winston offer a thoughtful, pragmatic, and inspiring road map that companies can use to cope with environmental pressures and responsibilities while sparking innovation that will drive long-term growth.

Why you should get it:
This book is not new, but still essential to anyone who wants to get better understanding what it means to integrate environment into the corporate/business thinking. You can find in this book analysis based on the experiences of leading companies, which is extracted to strategies and tools businesses can an should use to make environmental challenges their completive advantage. Definitely a book that is worth gold :-)

What others say on the book:
"Green to Gold provides the definitive thinking on how business leaders can address environmental issues in the new economy, a world where companies win by integrating company strategies with social challenges, rather than treating economic and social as separate and different." - Michael E. Porter, Professor, Harvard Business School

"No executive can afford to ignore the green wave sweeping the business world. Esty and Winston show how to make sustainability a core element of strategy—and profit from it." - Chad Holliday, CEO, DuPont

"Green to Gold is a must-read for the twenty-first century CEO. Esty and Winston provide convincing examples of how companies out-compete their peers by tackling sustainability head on, engaging stakeholders, developing NGO partnerships, and folding environmental stewardship into their corporate culture." -Tensie Whelan, Executive Director, Rainforest Alliance

This green book review was original posted at the Eco-Libris blog.

More resources:

1. The book on Amazon.com

2. The introduction of the book - The Environmental Lens

3. Interview with Daniel Esty on Triple Pundit

Back to Eco-Libris green books page