Lovins issues practical plea for the planet.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: Small Biz

WHENEVER THE SUBJECT OF "SUSTAINABLE" OR "GREEN" business practices comes up, I'm forced to think about my own inaction. I could have solar panels installed on my roof to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels; I could make more of an effort to throw bottles and cans in the purple bin provided by the city; I could use organic fertilizer on the lawn.

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But I don't do any of that. I'm just one person. What does it matter what I do? Maybe I'll get solar panels when my mortgage is paid off and my 401(k) is more plump. The planet may be in peril, but that problem, for all its enormity, doesn't impinge on the senses like the cable bill or a clogged drain requiring a visit from the plumber or plans for a vacation.

Similarly, I suspect most business owners are concerned first and foremost with turning a modest profit or getting out of debt, keeping valued employees satisfied or finding time to spend with their own families. The fact that the planet's currently favored energy sources might be exhausted doesn't change the order of those priorities.

Hunter Lovins put this problem and solutions in a graspable, attainable light in her talk "Implementing Natural Capitalism: Finding the Competitive Edge" March 7 in Boulder. Trained as a lawyer, Lovins is best known for co-founding the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy-related think tank, with ex-husband Amory Lovins in the early 1980s. He still runs the institute in Snowmass and was cited in the October 2004 issue of this magazine for spearheading the quest for a car design that would get 99 miles per gallon.

Hunter Lovins, meanwhile, has gone on to found Natural Capitalism Solutions in Eldorado Springs, a consultancy that helps businesses and organizations implement environmentally sustainable practices and improve their bottom line in doing so.

Clad in a colorful Native American-style poncho and a black Western hat with an eagle feather stuck in the brim, Lovins looked like an eccentric counter-culture figure--as you might expect from a speaker giving a talk on saving the planet.

But her message to a packed crowd of 300 at the University of Colorado's Memorial Center was not a plea to the back-to-nature fringe--she already has captivated that fan base--but a wake-up call to the mainstream.

And on this evening, mainstream business particularly.

Lovins' presentation was an equal mix of evidence showing the imperiled state of the planet, and a look at large companies that have...