It’s clear that none of these frameworks are perfect, and some have little practicality, but creating a plan to follow is crucial to beginning the leap into being more sustainable. Each framework that was talked about clearly had positives and negatives laid out, but to me it seemed like some would work better than others. What is needed is balance between the sectors–social, environmental, and financial. When looking at each framework, though, it’s hard to determine which one is best. They are all unique and bring different solutions and initiatives to the table, some more practical than others. I’ve chosen Natural Capitalism as the framework that I think is best.
After reviewing all of them, it seems to me that Natural Capitalism is the most well rounded framework that fits the three aspects of sustainability. It is able to focus on the social, environmental, and financial sectors of sustainability. Also known as eco-efficiency, its goal is to focus on transforming existing products and principles into more efficient processes. I found the vision of this framework to be well understood and easy to follow as opposed to others. A big aspect that I liked was recognizing that there was different versions of capital, and there are ways within each to become more efficient. Natural Capital is the natural resources we get from the Earth and the processes within our ecosystems; Human Capital is the ideas and work contributed by people; Manufactured Capital is the materials created through industry that aren’t found in nature; and Financial Capital is money and the forms it comes in. With businesses finding a focus on all of these versions of capital, there can be redesigns and shifts that bring sustainability to the fingertips of corporations.
The four shifts that are incorporated with this framework allow it to flow smoothy and quite easily for businesses. Among those are processes like increasing the productivity of our natural resources, and decreasing the energy usage of the products we already create and use. Nathan Shedroff points out that this is merely a continuation of what we are currently seeing in our system today; this adds to the point that this framework is easy and practical. Ecological redesign encourages us to shift our perspective on nature and the materials the come from it, and fully understand the processes to creating better efficient services. We can clearly have an effect on the capital in our world now without even the innovation of new ideas. All we need is what is already here. By making efficiency a priority, “we don’t have to wait for new advances to make a radical difference.” I especially like how Natural Capital focuses on sectors of sustainability that are constant in peoples’ energy lives, like transportation, heating, electricity, water use, and food. It is pointed out that the processes of becoming sustainable is gradual, and the good thing about Natural Capital is that it can start right now and be a stepping stone into more intense and extensive frameworks for the years to come.