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Often when folks think about “green” initiatives, they often think they are costly and counterproductive.  In the case of today’s supply chain, that could not be any further from the truth. 

Let’s think about when the Sarbanes-Oxley act was passed a few years ago…many companies complained about how prohibitive and overbearing complying with this would be, only to find out that there were some distincebenefits from having better control of financial records. 

The same is true in the supply chain, many may think that sustainability efforts are a bad business decision-but may find their companies more in the black by going green. 

Consider Fortune’s telling of Wal-Mart’s sustainability efforts.  In working with supplies on how to reduce packaging they increased cube-ing of trailers, decreased warehouse usage and allowed for more product to be shown on store shelves.  Also in the auto industry and similar heavy manufacturers using returnable dunnage instead of corrigated boxes–GM was able to save millions across their enterprise. 

So consider going green and don’t dismiss it.  You shareholders and the community at large will be happy with your efforts to reduce your carbon footprint and you’ll be happy with the bigger bonus you take home.