Unilever sets an impressive bar for greening companies

You've heard of Unilever, even if you haven't. According to their website, two billion people around the globe use products they make every day. If you use Skippy peanut butter, or maybe Axe body spray, or finish off your day with a carton of Ben & Jerry's, you're consuming a Unilever product. They are, quite literally, everywhere.

When I hear about a company of that size, I think about corporate greed and tax dodging, not sustainability. But I read a statistic today that blew my mind:

50 percent of Unilever's factories are zero waste.

Seriously? That sounds like a classic greenwash script from a marketing campaign designed to give people an excuse to look away and continue what they were doing without feeling guilty. And to top it off, they are raising profits as they do it.

It's part of what they call their "sustainable living plan."

"In November 2010, we set out the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, committing to a ten year journey towards sustainable growth. What makes our Plan different is that it applies right across the value chain. We are taking responsibility not just for our own direct operations but for our suppliers, distributors and - crucially - for how our consumers use our brands. Underpinning the Plan are over 50 targets."

Making half of a global corporation's factories zero waste is extremely impressive on its own. Doing it ONLY TWO YEARS after starting is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.

If only Congress could take note and start executing on plans that fast. And the American business world should take note rather than fighting the EPA tooth and nail over every increase in regulation. Unilever is a Dutch-British company operating out of Europe where there has been a much more severe embrace of sustainability measures.   

The takeaway for me, though, is that there may be some merit to the idea that business can lead the sustainability drive better than government.

Image courtesy of Axel-D via flickr