Sustainable Innovation: Strategies, Benefits, and Future Trends

This essay delves into the concept of sustainable innovation, emphasizing its significance in modern business and its positive impact on the environment. It begins with an introduction to the topic, highlighting the need for businesses to adapt and innovate sustainably. The essay provides a comprehensive definition of sustainable innovation, explaining its importance in the current climate and detailing the requirements for enterprises aiming to implement it. The main body explores various strategies for achieving sustainable innovation, including functional improvements, enterprise modifications, and structuring schemes. The essay also examines the benefits of sustainable practices, such as increased long-term revenue, enhanced brand image, and compliance with environmental regulations. The reflection section shows how the author plans to integrate sustainable practices in their daily life. Finally, the essay concludes by summarizing the key points and reinforcing the importance of sustainable innovation for both the planet and businesses.

SUSTAINABLE
INNOVATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION: ..............................................................................................................................2
Innovating sustainably requires the following: ..................................................................................3
Ways to get sustainable innovation:.....................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION:...................................................................................................................................5
REFLECTION:.....................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCE:......................................................................................................................................8
INTRODUCTION:
The modern businesses require continuous innovation if they are to survive while this
innovation is necessary it doesn't help the environment for which a new concept has been developed
called sustainable innovation this requires innovation to be conducive to the improvement of the
environment.(Afeltra, Alerasoul,and Strozzi 2021) The essay below will start with the example of
revolutionary new technology which is tackling a monumental challenge which has come about due
to the harm caused to the environment. After which a comprehensive definition of sustainable
innovation will be provided along with why it assumes such significance in modern times and what
is required by the enterprises who wants create sustainable innovations further this essay discusses
the various ways through which an enterprise can achieve the goal of sustainable innovation.
MAIN BODY:
The rapid changes to the environment and climate change have left one of the most vital
pollinators in shambles. The population of bees have been on continuous decline which could mean
that the food we eat or the flowers we admire would no longer exist. The bees according to the
university of Reading account for around 700 million dollars in the economy of the united
Kingdom. The B- droid is an new attempt to create bees which are robotic and which could
pollinate the crops the aim of these miniaturized robots is to do the heavy lifting when it comes to
pollination the plants which are not that attractive to bees since these plants or crops have less
nutritional value and require much more toil. These tiny robots are not seeking to replace the bees
but want to work in conjunction with bees. Huge flock of these tiny robots which work
autonomously could effectively identify and pollinate the crops.

Innovating is essential for any business to survive and thrive, the companies which fail to do
so are left in the dust by their competition and become defunct (Aka, K.G., 2019). however
conventional way of innovating could make the revenue of a company grow but in conjunction it
may also cause damage to employees health or excessively use the resources which are finite and
non renewable.
For example the machines which brew coffee which is at par with the quality provided at a
professional brewing outlet are owned by majority of people who drink coffee but also they create
waste so much waste.(García‐Piqueres and García‐Ramos 2020.) Innovating sustainably can mitigate
these perverse environmental consequences as the concept connotes that companies could deliver
goods and services which fare better for their revenue prospects in conjunction with having positive
impact on the environment. (Abdelaal, M.S., 2019).Innovating sustainably connotes making deliberate
modification to the commodities, services,or the process of production that is adopted by an
enterprise so that environmental welfare could be achieved whilst reaping revenues for the
enterprise.
How the goal of sustainability in innovative commodities, service or processes could be
achieved depends on the outlook of the enterprise it could for instance. Develop new commodity or
service by using this concept and could discover or forge new commodity or services which bestow
sustainability through its use for example better place which is a company that has developed
innovative service to swap out car batteries at dedicated stops so that the biggest hurdle to electric
adoption which is the charging time could be eliminated since the company would swap out fully
charged batteries for the batteries which are drained.The companies could develop a method of
production which consumes way less power or generate less carbon emission from the process of
production.(Bag, S., 2018) which could be that the company uses recycled product or product which
is extracted in a manner which could be considered responsible or the commodity may be built to
last so that it doesn't need to be purchased again and again and by extension need to be produced
again and again.
Innovating sustainably requires the following:
It could be argued that since both of these methods result in a new product being brought to
the consumer they both don't differ very much Innovating sustainably means that the sustenance of
buisness could be ensured in other words the needs of the present times do not put hindrance on the
need of the future time for which it becomes essential for the enterprises to keep their focal point

the changing climate and rights of people and innovate around these two concepts enterprise for
achieving this purpose may need to forgo getting returns on their investments in short periods of
time but rather keep their horizons broadened to what it could bring them in the long term.
(Gunarathne 2019)
A kind of systemic thinking or a bird eye view is required by the enterprises seeking to
innovate sustainably which may mean reviewing all of the companies which are related or have
ancillary functions that are intertwined with their own such as community or their own surroundings
they need to know how their decisions have a bearing on others around them, and conversely how
those other factors are affecting them. The culture of the enterprise must be such that sustainability
concept is so enmeshed into their working that not just the department responsible for research and
development is thinking about but the whole section of each department have it in the back of their
heads that they must develop sustainably otherwise the pre existing culture of going after ways to
increase revenue and not keep the big picture in mind will eliminate their cognitive element which
thinks about the need to develop sustainably whilst not forgoing the revenue aspect.
The need for development through sustainable means have assumed paramount significance
during the recent times due to the various legislations and the need to ensure their compliance but
more than that the companies which are going to grow revenue in the long term are going to be the
companies which think of the need to develop in a transformational way, these companies also tend
to employ the people who are very skilled and have a conscience regarding the environment and
their ethics drive those people to work for the companies which share their personal values in some
way or another.(Van Wassenhove, 2019) Since the two concepts of growing revenues and caring for
the environment is amalgamated the horizons of the enterprise's thinking as a whole unit gets very
broadened which have a bearing on their overall well being because the growing awareness about
the environment makes the people or the end customer choose the products of the company which
has sustainability as one of their goal moreover the governmental authorities are inclined to make
concessions for such companies. the companies which are innovating in a sustainable way show
more elasticity relatively to those who do not meaning they can take severe hits without going
defunct, since they keep the long term goal in mind they are more attractive to investors since their
way of manufacturing or their commodities are less likely to not suit future customers or be in
compliance with future legislations.

Ways to get sustainable innovation:
Although it sounds like a really beautiful concept but by no way or measure it is easy to
achieve as it requires time resolve and a whole lot of work so in what ways the firms can achieve
sustainability whilst innovating? Well it could be classified under different aspects of business such
as functional improvements, enterprise modification and structuring schemes.(Nielsen, 2020)
Functional Improvements:For transformational improvements enterprises can make unique new
commodities and services which can better serve society and be beneficiary to the planet this way of
thinking goes beyond the horizons of minimizing damage and concentrates on doing goes by
transforming the way of doing things . These enterprise interpret the sustainability aspect as
opportunity.
Structuring schemes : the best and far reaching method of innovating sustainably requires
collaboration with other businesses to bring out optimistic consequences for the human race and for
the Earth itself, as companies are a part of a complex chain and therefore the goal of sustenance
can't be recognised in vacuum. These companies realize that in order to achieve their goal they must
involve or do business with the companies who share their values. For instance the fossil fuel
industry could be aiming for greater efficiency which automatically reduces their carbon footprint
while they could also make investment that will make way for reducing dependency on fossil fuel.
CONCLUSION:
Sustainable innovation is not just good for the planet but also good for the businesses. The above
essay started out by giving an example of a revolutionary new technology which could help one of
the most pressing concerns related to the environment which is the decline in the bee population
after which a comprehensive definition of sustainable innovation was given and why the goal
assumes significance for the business and for the future generations who will inhabit the planet
further it gives an account of what is needed by the businesses to achieve sustainable development
and makes suggestions about the different ways the bsiness could realize the goal of sustainable
innovation.

REFLECTION:
The practice of living by sustainable means could be adopted by anyone who shows consideration
towards environment. I have looked at my own daily routine to find out how I can comply with
sustainable ideals. As far as I understand the sustainable way of life demands that I rely very little
on the Natural resources and making sure that whatever I use should be replaced.
Some of the measures are very simple to adopt such as the use of public transportation on a regular
basis, only using personal vehicles when absolutely necessary, maintaining cleanliness within my
surroundings. While some other require some effort such as
-Replacing the lights in my house which consume more energy such as bulbs to LED's, using
natural lighting will create a a better environment by minimising waste as well as being more
friendly to my budget.
-The chemical products I use could be replaced by natural cleaners such as water and vinegar or
some other combinations which are home made. Which minimises the pollution introduced to water
and the pollution associated with plastic.
-I shall spend more time in character building through books and outdoor activities since they do
not need any energy and I shall reduce my dependency on the form of entertainment which is
energy intensive such as television or video games.
- I shall remodel my house in future to use more Eco-friendly materials such as cement which is
made from methodologies which emit less pollutants, giving way to having lot of natural light in
my house, using material for insulating which is environment friendly and at the same time can
reduce my electricity bill significantly
 I shall minimize my need to buy the products which are new, if there is minimized waste
then there is no need for me to reusing or recycling. Using one thing which serves multiple
purposes is good for the environment. Also recycling whatever which could be used again
such as bottles of glass and so on.

 I shall use the modes of transportation which are not energy intensive such as using a bike or
walking or carpooling while going to work if there is no public transportation available, this
shall not only reduce pollution but also keep me healthy physically and mentally since
traffic can be very stressful and carpooling lets one interact with other people.
 I shall make use of technology which is sustainable in nature for example using green
hydrogen as fuel for my vehicle, using solar energy for my energy needs and I shall support
the companies which promote sustainable innovation such as the various companies which
plant trees as a way to offset their carbon emissions.
 And lastly I shall try to switch my diet to a vegan diet which shall not only improve my
health but also shall make the environment better since as we all know the meat industry
emits double digits pollution in form of methane. Using meat as regular diet preference is
also know to cause various health ailments so switching to part vegan diet is essential for an
individuals health.

REFERENCE:
Books & Journals
Abdelaal, M.S., 2019. Biophilic campus: An emerging planning approach for a sustainable innovation-
conducive university. Journal of Cleaner Production, 215, pp.1445-1456.
Afeltra, G., Alerasoul, S.A. and Strozzi, F., 2021. The evolution of sustainable innovation: from the past to the
future. European Journal of Innovation Management.
Aka, K.G., 2019. Actor-network theory to understand, track and succeed in a sustainable innovation
development process. Journal of cleaner production, 225, pp.524-540.
Bag, S., 2018. Supplier management and sustainable innovation in supply networks: An empirical
study. Global Business Review, 19(3_suppl), pp.S176-S195.
García‐Piqueres, G. and García‐Ramos, R., 2020. Is the corporate social responsibility–innovation link
homogeneous?: Looking for sustainable innovation in the Spanish context. Corporate Social
Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), pp.803-814.
Gunarathne, N., 2019. Sustainable innovation measurement: Approaches and challenges. Innovation for
sustainability, pp.233-251.
Nielsen, K.R., 2020. Policymakers’ views on sustainable end-user innovation: Implications for sustainable
innovation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 254, p.120030.
Van Wassenhove, L.N., 2019. Sustainable innovation: Pushing the boundaries of traditional operations
management. Production and Operations Management, 28(12), pp.2930-2945.