The Good Ol' Bottom Line

How do you get business and industry to care about waste reduction? Hit them in the pocketbook: tell them it will save them money, raise their tipping fees, do something that will affect the dollars and cents. It’s all about the bottom line.

Ah, the bottom line, determiner of destiny of all things business. Defined (according to dictionary.com) as “the last line of a financial statement, used for showing net profit or loss.” If it’s good for the bottom line, it happens. If it adversely affects the bottom line, it ain’t gonna happen. End of story.

Or is it? The bottom line is also “the deciding or crucial factor”. So another bottom line for business could be the shareholder and what the shareholders want. If shareholders are demanding corporate social responsibility, that the business reduce its environmental impacts and strengthen its connections to the community, then that is what the company must do. If the shareholders ain’t happy, the company ain’t happy. It’s the bottom line.

A third definition: the bottom line is also “the ultimate result; outcome”. The ultimate result is bigger than shareholder happiness. We are all part of the biosphere and it is governed by some straightforward rules:

1. There is no “away” — everything ends up somewhere, in the air, land, or water. So eventually, no matter where you dispose of something, someone will breathe, eat or drink it.

2. The biosphere has a limited carrying capacity and we are currently exceeding it. We are drawing down our capital instead of living on the interest. We must change or the system that supports us all will break down.

Well, when you put it that way, waste reduction is a no-brainer. It’s all about the bottom line.

(Source: Sept. 2006 WasteWatch)

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