Can companies be sustainable AND grow?

How can better business processes and technology find ways to solve sustainability challenges involving materials, energy, water and more?

A group of global businesses have begun working together to look for innovative answers to those problems. Along the way, they’re hoping to find solutions that are not only environmentally responsible but can help their own businesses grow … a double-pronged challenge, to be sure.

The Innovations in Environmental Sustainability Council, formed by IBM and the World Environment Center, plans to hold its first meeting in Orlando next month.

The idea behind the council is to help members share information and learn from one another about how to incorporate sustainability efforts into business strategies and corporate practice. By collaborating in this way, the companies participating hope to make their organizations more efficient and effective, while also finding new ways to develop opportunities for growth.

“(W)e are always interested in how today’s best practices can transform sustainability in business,” said Wayne Balta, IBM’s vice president of Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety.  “Innovation goes a long way to accelerate sustainability, and we look forward to collaborating with other like-minded companies.”

Charter members of the council will include Boeing, CH2M HILL, The Coca-Cola Company, The Dow Chemical Company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, General Motors, IBM, Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies, The Walt Disney Company and WEC.