The Journey Continues

While catching my flight home from Las Vegas after the February market, I couldn’t help but smile. Why you might ask? Well, because of the reassurance that the home furnishings industry, despite the current state of the economy, is continuing to move towards embracing a more sustainable outlook on their businesses across the board.   

After a failed attempt at sleeping in the impossibly loud city, I was pleasantly surprised by the large number of people in attendance at the seminar lunch series put on by the Sustainable Furnishings Council, and more than that, by the level of engagement from these participants.

From what I could see, despite what is happening in the world, retailers and manufacturers alike are still focused on the environment and how it can help them improve their businesses and bottom lines.

The ones that are in this mind set and taking the time to educate themselves on what all this “green” talk is about, and more specifically what it means for them and their businesses, are set at the front of a metaphorical wave which they will be able to ride all the way into shore when the economic ocean swells yet again.

For those of you who are still lying on the beach (excuse all the corny metaphors for a moment, but I always think they help get the point across better plus given the snow in Seattle this week I’ve been daydreaming of sun all afternoon).…let me help you into the water.

If there is one thing I learned while sitting behind a desk for hours a day in business school, it is that the best way to truly learn is to get up from behind the desk and do something. That is, the best way to learn is through experience…and the second best is to read about other peoples experiences, learn from them, and then try it out for yourself.

For the month of April I will be unveiling a variety of case studies in what I like to call Sustainability 101: Retail and Manufacturing Success Stories in the Wide World of Green.

See you all next week, in school!