When expenditures for the basics of business are largely frozen after a slew of layoffs and budget cutbacks, what’s left over for continuing your sustainability strategy? Before the economic meltdown, most companies were playing with the idea of investing into short- and long-term sustainable initiatives for a variety of reasons such as achieving compliance with regulations, keeping up with greening competitors, and maybe dabbling with going beyond compliance because it’s “the right thing to do.” Sounded great just 12 months ago. Now many companies wonder how they are going to pay the light bill instead of paying for a comprehensive re-lamping project.

A recent energy audit for a manufacturing firm proudly displayed a tangible payback period for 11 sustainability initiatives after 2.5 years—not a bad turnaround for most industries. The catch is, the company has to shell out nearly three quarter of a million dollars during the first year to reach that carrot. So this is a no go, right? Wrong. We often consider each sustainability initiative on the same financial level: A recycling program is just as good as a new roofing system which is just as good as a new waste water treatment system. In fact, there are hundreds of things to go green but that doesn’t mean you implement the first five. That’s random and doesn’t make business sense. In my industry, we called it “spray and pray” which spells disaster. What you need is a plan for the right project at the right price.

Your sustainability initiatives are too important to freeze, especially when the expectations for greater compliance are increasing daily from consumers, buyers, investors, employees, and other stakeholders. Take another look at your Energy Audit. Where $780K may be a no-go investment in this down economy, consider instead investing $100K on those projects producing the greater return first. As illustrated in the graphic below, rather than folding cost savings back into the budget soup, never to be seen again, convince the CFO to reinvest the savings into strategically-selected projects that produce the greatest returns. Finally, relevant criteria to use when faced with a hundred things you can do to go green!

I call this “Sustainability Cash Flow Calibration.” It’s critical to understand and yes, you have to speak to the CFO or corporate accountant to get their buy-in for this process. They’ve been trained for this so they will understand. Now in the first year, you have $80K to work with which can be reinvested for the next couple of projects. Repeat for several years and your goals are achieved. Some of your projects will include reducing carbon, streamlining your supply chain, reducing fresh water use and reclaiming waste water. Each has financial value that can contribute above the bottom line. Plus you have time to learn, reflect, and make changes to your strategies as they evolve. It takes longer to implement but the investments are able to be made which is better than a no-go proposition. Stay competitive, save money, re-invest your sustainability savings, and grow your company successfully while making a difference for the planet.