The Capacity to Endure: Following Nature’s Lead

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dc.contributor.authorFogarty, Franken
dc.contributor.authorVillamagna, Amy M.en
dc.contributor.authorWhitley, Allenen
dc.contributor.authorPippins, Kellyen
dc.contributor.departmentFish and Wildlife Conservationen
dc.date.accessed2014-01-06en
dc.date.accessioned2014-01-15T14:16:38Zen
dc.date.available2014-01-15T14:16:38Zen
dc.date.issued2013-06-06en
dc.description.abstractMany businesses today are striving to improve their environmental sustainability for a variety of reasons, ranging from consumer demand for greener products to potential cost-savings. For many business decision-makers who lack formal environmental training, the process of identifying facets of their organization that can be improved is unclear and challenging. Inspired by the fields of biomimicry, industrial ecology and organizational ecology, this paper draws on the inherent capacity to endure (CTE) of the natural world and recognizes that ecosystem function can be used as a technical advisor to guide business sustainability. We identified major attributes of ecosystems that both contribute to their CTE and can be easily translated into applications for the business world. Each of these attributes (fitness, functional redundancy, keystone species, waste and efficiency) and their applications are discussed at length. While further work is needed to evaluate their effectiveness and appropriateness for individual firms, we hope they can serve as a starting point for businesses seeking to improve their environmental sustainability.en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationFogarty, Frank; Villamagna, Amy; Whitley, Allen; Pippins, Kelly. 2013. "The Capacity to Endure: Following Nature's Lead." Sustainability 2013, 5(6), 2480-2494; doi:10.3390/su5062480.en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/su5062480en
dc.identifier.issn2071-1050en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/24862en
dc.identifier.urlhttp://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/6/2480en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherMDPIen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectSustainabilityen
dc.subjectecosystem attributesen
dc.subjectsustainable businessen
dc.titleThe Capacity to Endure: Following Nature’s Leaden
dc.title.serialSustainabilityen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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