Profits and Sustainability

This engaging and authoritative history of green entrepreneurship shows that its origins go far further back than most readers will realise, to the mid-19th century. The author traces the often eccentric lives and ideas of green pioneers in organic food, vegetarianism and energy, including Rudolf Steiner, who impacted food, agriculture, medicine and design. Wind energy in its modern form goes back to the 1850s, and by the end of the First World War Denmark had 250 electricity producing wind turbines, while the first solar company was formed in 1892. The book proceeds chronologically through the 1930s to 1950s, then to the rise of green business in the 1970s, including recycling and ecotourism. Since the 1980s, the growth of green businesses has been accompanied by a major shift in attitudes towards the natural environment and a corresponding proliferation of green institutions and certifying agencies. Another chapter is devoted to green finance, such as the Triodos Bank, and government initiatives, then the features and limits of corporate environmentalism. Many of the original green entrepreneurs were motivated by romanticism, but they were also the historical originators of a sustainable world for the future. Reverting to the title, the author concludes that profits and sustainability have been hard to reconcile but the whole process has brought into the foreground the need to address major ecological issues and redirect policy, especially in relation to food, agriculture and energy.