Sustainability is the latest buzzword, but what does it mean to businesses, and how and when will businesses make it a priority?

Monday's SustainaBiz one-day conference aimed to address these questions and more. Katie Roberts, the executive director of the Summit Independent Business Alliance, and Carly Wier, executive director of High Country Conservation Center, organized the event to help Summit County business owners better understand what sustainability is and how to achieve it.

“A lot of communities are addressing this, and ours (as a whole) really hasn't,” Roberts said. “We want it to be a … shared-vision approach.”

Approximately 55 people attended the conference, held at the Summit County Community and Senior Center in Frisco. Since Roberts received overwhelmingly positive feedback from written evaluations after the event, she plans to organize a SustainaBiz conference again.

The morning began with a keynote address by Graham Russell, executive director of CORE Colorado, an organization that helps fuse sustainability with business, then continued with panel discussions by locals involved in sustainable practices, both financially and environmentally. State Rep. Christine Scanlan delivered the afternoon keynote address.

Overview

Russell provided a global overview of the world's environmental problems and possible solutions. And it turns out it's not all Americans who are causing the biggest threat.

China's middle class currently exceeds the population of the United States, and India's population continues to grow as well.

By 2031, China's grain consumption will be two-thirds of the world's grain consumption, China's paper use will double the world's current total production, the nation will need nearly four times the amount of vehicles that the U.S. currently has, and China's oil use will be nearly 20 percent above the world's current total production, Russell said.

“These problems are going to be solved by businesses, not by government, not by nonprofits and not by philanthropists,” he said. “Every company in the world has a role to play in making our world more sustainable.”

He suggested companies take a three-prong approach. First, they should look within, to eliminate waste, improve resource production, lower upstream and downstream costs and reduce environmental risks. Second, they should look outside of themselves for breakthrough products and services that address environmental needs. Third, they should create a culture around sustainability so employees learn to practice sustainable measures until it becomes a habit, which can spill into the surrounding community.

“Any business can be more sustainable,” he said. “It's not the business you do; it's how you do business.”

A panel of six local business and government representatives followed his talk to show how they use sustainable practices.

For example, Mark Wimberly, owner of Pioneer Sports, has created a culture of sustainability by educating his employees. He gives them warmer uniforms so the store can turn the heat down a couple degrees, he places recycle bins in the store, he uses fluorescent bulbs and he sends old skis to foreign countries, rather than trashing them.

Peggy Hiller, assistant general manager of Arapahoe Basin, pointed out how the ski area purchases wind power and educates guests about sustainability.

“We're in the right environment to promote sustainability,” Hiller said, explaining that people come to Summit County because they love the mountains.

Amy Yundt, co-owner of The Next Page bookstore, advocated government acting as a model for green practices, rather than mandating them. The Town of Frisco's senior planner, Jocelyn Mills, was there to review some of the town's efforts.

“People are starting to expect green practices from businesses,” Yundt said. “It's beyond a feel-good (deed); it's a responsibility of business owners to be sustainable.”

Clarke Becker, executive director of the Colorado Rural Development Council, stressed that “the county has to come together collectively so people know what to expect when they come here.”

When Scanlan gave her keynote address, she focused on how Colorado can become a model of sustainable practices, pointing out that the state provides wind and solar resources that most states don't have, and that the bark-beetle epidemic offers opportunities for recycled use of wood, particularly if the federal and state government gave tax incentives for entrepreneurs, because right now, harvesting the dead trees isn't financially practical.

Four afternoon breakout sessions revolved around thriving in tough financial times, communication in business, energy- savings tips for businesses and sustainable lodging.

One of the younger attendees, Elizabeth Brogan, came up from Denver to learn more about starting a business. A

few weeks ago, she attended a similar conference in Jefferson County, which was ten times bigger, but much too diverse and all-encompassing, she said, adding that she gained more from the SustainaBiz event.

“This just focuses on working together and on independent businesses,” Brogan said. “Everyone seems to be seasoned here … it's a great networking opportunity.”

Like others, she appreciated the practical approach to greening business, which encouraged first going for “low-hanging fruit” such as changing out light bulbs to fluorescents, rather than throwing tens of thousands of dollars into buying solar panels. Throughout the day, speakers said that if green practices aren't profitable, they're not going to last — or be embraced in the first place. And if a company makes green standards its No. 1 priority to the exclusion of generating income, that company won't be around long enough to continue its fine deeds.

“It's good to see people making sustainability profitable,” said Barbara Rankin, a real-estate agent with Cornerstone Real Estate Company in Keystone.

“The (green) idea has to make sense from a business standpoint,” said Markus Klett of Summit Video Surveillance. “If it's not viable, then it's not going to be supported.”

He grew up in Germany and sees how “a lot of good ideas come from America but are implemented more in Europe because energy prices are so high.”

And Russell assured participants that energy prices will rise to the point that Americans think oil at $147 a barrel is cheap.

“Embracing the concept and importance of sustainability for some people takes time,” wrote Roberts and Wier in their conference welcome letter. “… We wanted to bring you together with others in the county, so that as a small, intimate group, we could listen, learn, discuss and even toss out some possible strategies for ourselves and one another.”

And, it seemed to work. Take Lynn Myers of Harmony Interiors, after listening to Jon Kinstad, energy programs manager of the High Country Conservation Center, talk about making buildings more energy efficient, she became inspired to “pick his brain,” work as a team and incorporate more green practices for homeowners who hire her as an interior designer.