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The Capacity to Endure: Following Nature’s Lead

Author

Listed:
  • Frank Fogarty

    (Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology Program, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Amy Villamagna

    (Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, 100 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0321, USA)

  • Allen Whitley

    (Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, Austin, TX 78753, USA)

  • Kelly Pippins

    (Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology Program, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

Abstract

Many businesses today are striving to improve their environmental sustainability for a variety of reasons, ranging from consumer demand for “greener” products to potential cost-savings. For many business decision-makers who lack formal environmental training, the process of identifying facets of their organization that can be improved is unclear and challenging. Inspired by the fields of biomimicry, industrial ecology and organizational ecology, this paper draws on the inherent capacity to endure (CTE) of the natural world and recognizes that ecosystem function can be used as a technical advisor to guide business sustainability. We identified major attributes of ecosystems that both contribute to their CTE and can be easily translated into applications for the business world. Each of these attributes (fitness, functional redundancy, keystone species, waste and efficiency) and their applications are discussed at length. While further work is needed to evaluate their effectiveness and appropriateness for individual firms, we hope they can serve as a starting point for businesses seeking to improve their environmental sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Fogarty & Amy Villamagna & Allen Whitley & Kelly Pippins, 2013. "The Capacity to Endure: Following Nature’s Lead," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:6:p:2480-2494:d:26295
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shahid Naeem & Shibin Li, 1997. "Biodiversity enhances ecosystem reliability," Nature, Nature, vol. 390(6659), pages 507-509, December.
    2. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rogério João Lunkes & Fabricia Silva da Rosa & Januário José Monteiro & Daiane Antonini Bortoluzzi, 2020. "Interactions among Environmental Training, Environmental Strategic Planning and Personnel Controls in Radical Environmental Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-13, October.

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