Natural Capitalism

This book's three authors, Paul Hawken and the couple Amory and Hunter Lovins, are world-renown environmentalists and business consultants to Fortune 500 corporations. Their ideas and actions build bridges to a better future. In 1998 they said in this book that most businesses still operate according to a world view that hasn't changed since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Then, natural resources were abundant and labor was the limiting factor of production. But now, there's a surplus of people, while natural capital -- the natural resources and ecological systems that provide vital life-support services -- is in decline and relatively expensive. The next Industrial Revolution, like the first one, will be a response to changing patterns of scarcity. It will create upheaval, but more importantly, it will create opportunities. Business must adjust to these new realities. Innovative companies are already doing just that. They're profitting and gaining decisive competitive advantage -- and their leaders and employees are feeling better about what they do, too. They're in the vanguard of a new business model: natural capitalism.