Urban cowgirl

Hunter Lovins

As co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, co-author of “Natural Capitalism” and a founding professor at San Francisco’s Presidio Graduate School, L. Hunter Lovins’ influence is wider than the brim of her signature cowboy hat.

But that’s not stopping Lovins, who has consulted for huge clients including Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and U.S. Department of Energy, from looking for new areas that can benefit from her expertise. This time around, though, she’s shooting at a smaller target. Through a venture she’s working on with New Voice of Business co-founder Elliot Hoffman, Lovins is working to help more small businesses improve their operations through sustainable practices.

Sustainable Industries caught up with Lovins in San Francisco, where she talked about her new endeavor, the importance of sustainability-focused education programs and her plans for world domination.

SI: What are you working on these days?
LHL: I run a group called Natural Capitalism Solutions, which is a nonprofit that works with companies, countries and communities on ways to use resources more efficiently.
We are also creating a for-profit, Natural Capital Inc., that is working particularly with small business on ways to cut their carbon emissions, use of energy [and] use of resources. We’re helping small businesses become more sustainable, more profitable, by pulling leaders of small businesses together in learning circles using a Web-based implementation tool … that lays out for a small company how to do business. It’s the equivalent of hiring me of or my staff, but at a much lower price point. … We are running our first beta group here in the Bay Area. We’ll be launching several more over the next couple months.

Now if you’re a tiny business, we have several other products, one being the tool itself. You can buy this Web-based implementation tool ... [and] also sign up for a weekend workshop where one of our coaches will walk you through how to use the tool. And this is a very cost-effective way for small businesses to actually implement this stuff. How do you do a carbon footprint? What does it mean? What are the measures that can cut your use of energy and water … that can increase the profitability of the business and also engage your employees?

When businesses start doing this, one of the first things they find is what they’re doing in the business and what their employees want for their families and their communities starts to come together. And this unleashes a lot of creativity, helps businesses innovate and better engage with their stakeholders, better brand themselves and gain a whole array of competitive advantages.