Green offers a plan for recovery.

• Author: Winston, Andrew S.
• Position: Viewpoint essay

For the past few years, the business world has been swept up in a rising tide of interest and concern about environmental issues. Pressures from natural forces and key stakeholders alike have made "going green" somewhat unavoidable. But many hold on to the outdated view that environmental practices always cost a lot of money. In reality, green doesn't raise costs. It lowers them--quite often in the short run and definitely in the long run.

Although your instinct may be to retreat from green initiatives in hard times, that would be shortsighted and a huge mistake. In tight times, most companies need to focus on their bottom lines, cut costs and conserve cash--and fast. Reducing energy use and waste, two pillars of green operations, can save a great deal of money.

But, as the adage goes, nothing in life is free. Though some projects will save money immediately at virtually no expense, greater rewards often require some commitment. So, to reduce energy costs, asking people to turn off lights doesn't cost anything. But changing light bulbs and installing motion detectors to achieve larger savings takes some capital. The return on investment will be high and the payoff fast, but it requires some up-front expense.

The critical distinction is between costs and investments. To be blunt: If your business is unable to allocate any human or financial capital for investment--in R&D, customer relationships, people, process changes or anything--then no strategy, including a green one, will matter now. Survival will be the only priority and that means conserving cash, above all. But most companies, even in these difficult times, are still making decisions about where to put their attention, people and money.

For those companies that are navigating tricky waters but wanting to position themselves for future dominance, green thinking can make all the difference. The logic for going green is no different from the logic for pursuing other business strategies. Companies look to drive profitability, innovation, customer loyalty, employee engagement and more. But unlike most other strategies, the external forces driving green thinking make this unique and unavoidable.

Most of the forces that compel companies to go green have not gone away. Environmental crises such as climate change and water shortages continue to evolve. Megaforces such as technology-driven transparency and the rise of the middle class in India and China--which over time will probably force...