By Sara Martin
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Gone are the days when a company’s success is measured solely by the amount of money it makes. In today’s economy the bottom line has been replaced by the “triple bottom line,” a phrase coined by John Elkington, author of Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. Essentially, triple bottom line reporting takes into account a company’s environmental and social impact as well as its financial performance.

Faced with today’s rising food and energy costs, consumers are taking stock of how far their dollars can stretch—and companies with an eye toward sustainability have the advantage over their less eco-savvy competitors.

Take Toyota, for example. In the early 1990s when Toyota wanted to design the 21st century car, it gave environmental factors a higher priority than traditional selling points like size or speed. The result was the hybrid gas-electric Prius. By the time the Prius was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year in 2004, there was a six-month waiting period for the vehicle.

Houston was one of the first cities to purchase a Prius for its nonemergency vehicle fleet. Today more than 40% of the city’s nonemergency vehicles are Toyota Priuses or hybrid Ford Escapes. The city estimates that it saves 250,000 gallons of gas for a total savings of $800,000 a year using the hybrid vehicles.

Small changes=big savings
At Eagle’s Trace, Houston’s premier address for retirement living, eco-friendly products and practices are improving the community’s efficiency and its “triple bottom line.”

“The conservation and energy-saving measures we take on campus add up to major monetary savings as well as intangible benefits for the environment,” says Adam Weycker, director of general services at Eagle’s Trace.

Some of the recent energy improvements on campus include a new chiller unit that operates on demand; compact fluorescent lightbulbs in all common areas; and motion sensors on the lights in common areas, storage areas, and public restrooms.