An environmental enterprise is an environmentally friendly/compatible business. Specifically, an environmental enterprise is a business that produces value in the same manner which an ecosystem does, neither producing waste nor consuming unsustainable resources. In addition, an environmental enterprise rather finds alternative ways to produce one's products instead of taking advantage of animals for the sake of human profits. To be closer to the goal of being an environmentally friendly company, some environmental enterprises invest their money to develop or improve their technologies which are also environmentally friendly. In addition, environmental enterprises usually try to reduce global warming, so some companies use materials that are environmentally friendly to build their stores. They also set in place regulations that are environmentally friendly. All these efforts of the environmental enterprises can bring positive effects both for nature and people. The concept is rooted in the well-enumerated theories of natural capital, the eco-economy and cradle to cradle design. Examples of environmental enterprise would be Seventh Generation, Inc., and Whole Foods.
Background
Economic globalization is an irreversible trend
Natural resource scarcity or/and abundance are drivers of globalization, as they incite supply and demand forces in global markets.
Environment and sustainability
For the past 50 years we have amassed unprecedented financial wealth, but have also chronically under-priced risk in terms of our natural resource base (our endowment of minerals, forests, fish, water and climate). We have financed our extraordinary growth in aggregate living standards while systematically under-pricing the goods and services we derive from our planet's natural resources, the negative externalities we create by polluting them and the future risks we face from their cumulative depletion and degradation. The phenomenal economic growth we have enjoyed over the past 50 years has seen our world's built environment and transport networks expand in size and complexity at an unprecedented rate. We have developed a vastly more interconnected global human ecosystem to provide us with food, fuel, water, homes and transportation than has ever been. Sustainability can be achieved because the companies adapt sustainable production to improve their image. Being environmentally friendly is good for product branding. Meanwhile, as social issues come up, some companies focus on the environmental issues in order to create the positive image of the company. As environmental social concerns increase, some companies start to supply environmentally friendly products and distribution systems. The meanings of the systems can be explained either by the viewpoints of the company's management or the idea that an environmentally friendly management guidelines will give a positive image of the company and its goods. In other words, these thoughts are based on economic and ethical reasons. The Kyoto Protocol can be an example: It was intended to solve global problems of climate change and global warming; however, some companies had already put reducing emissions and getting better energy efficiency into practice, which is helpful to create a positive public image.
Nature
An environmental enterprise is an environmentally friendly/compatible business. Specifically, an environmental enterprise is a business that produces value in the same manner which an ecosystem does, neither producing waste nor consuming unsustainable resources. The concept is rooted in the well-enumerated theories of natural capital, the eco-economy and cradle to cradle design. The flow process shows the loop between enterprise and natural capital. Evidently, nature is the spring of wealth and the only thing that could and should be done is to promote the economy efficiency in the inner cycle.[6] In another word, strengthening the utilization ratio of raw materials to increase output, and meanwhile, enhancing the technology to reduce input of sources and waste products. To accomplish sustainability is, in this case, to make the economy functioning better.
External cost
In economics, an externality is the cost or benefit that affects a party who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit. The cost of the environment is usually termed as the external cost of an enterprise. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels causes damages to crops, (historic) buildings and public health. "Social cost − private cost = External cost". The ideal situation of environmental enterprise is to cut the negative external cost.