When I was at the National Green Brands Forum a few weeks ago I received a book, and I read it, and thought I’d share my thoughts on it with you …

It’s called Sustainable Growth, and it is the brainchild of the guys at Sensis (you know – Yellow Pages/White Pages etc.).
 Sensis commissioned Jon Dee (super famous environmentalist) to write a book for small-to-medium business owners who want to implement sustainable changes into their business and are very short on time.

And get this – they are giving it away for free! (Seriously! Just click here for your free copy.)

But is it a worthwhile read? I have come across lots of ‘how-to’ books on sustainability that often leave me feeling either totally inadequate or a little bit bored. This book left me feeling neither.

While it started with the reasons why implementing sustainable change is important for the environment, it didn’t dwell on this fact. It focused more heavily on how sustainable changes are good for business. I think the challenge for many small companies is that there is not one central place for receiving ALL the information they need. Well, this is it – this is your bible!

I know quite a few small-business owners who have been forced down the ’sustainability path’ because their major clients (big brands) are ‘greening up’ their supply chain. This often leads to frantic scrambling about and paying for advice on how to ‘go green’ so that they can continue to supply these major brands.

Instead of waiting for that to happen (and it’s likely to happen sooner rather than later!) you can order one of these books and get started yourself. You’ll love the read because you can pick it up at any page and get some good advice. It’s bite-size chunks all the way from greening your fleet to waterless urinals!

I wanted to do a little more digging behind the scenes of this book. So I met up with its author, Jon Dee, and asked him a few questions on your behalf. Charming fellow! You can watch the video of our interview here: http://www.brands4tomorrow.com.au/video/book-review-sustainable-growth

This post was originally featured on the brands4tomorrow website on 19 July 2010.

Lisa Corduff is the creator of brands4tomorrow, an online blog dedicated to providing an open and transparent space for consumers to talk about the sustainability of the products they buy and use. Visit brands4tomorrow.com.au to read more articles by Lisa.

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