If you have ever doubted that going green could increase production and result in greater profits for any business, Gary Hirshberg’s new book is for you. As an eco-entrepreneur, Hirshberg is president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s largest manufacturer of organic yogurt. He is a passionate capitalist who has created thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of capital appreciation for hundreds of investors. He is also the recipient of six honorary doctorates and numerous awards for his commitment to environmental issues. Hirshberg believes that his business success is a direct result of his passion for environmental issues and his commitment to keep Stonyfield green. Furthermore, he believes that any other business can find the same success by embracing the same environmental commitments. This book explains how.

Heartwarming anecdotes from Stonyfield’s history add passion and colour to his business advice: stories of milking cows in subfreezing weather every weekend and calling the landlord to inform him that the rent would not be paid for one full year. The business advice is clear, easy to understand, and practical to follow. Hirshberg’s goal is to share all he has learned and make it easy for others to follow in his footsteps.

Working his way through commonly held myths behind the reasoning that going green will reduce business profits, Hirshberg refutes each one of them with real life examples and stories based on his own experience as well as those of many other large and small companies such as Patagonia, Whole Foods, New Belgium, and Timberland. Hirshberg believes that regardless of the size of a business, profits will always increase with the adoption of a commitment to the environment. Nature, he reasons, is the most productive of all systems. Therefore, working with nature rather than against it will always work in the favour of profitability. “Nature and business are born allies,” he writes, “potentially the richest partnership in the history of capitalism.”

Each of Hirshberg’s first seven chapters outline a step he believes is necessary to establish this partnership. These include the formation of a mission statement, the importance of pollution-cutting efforts, environmentally friendly marketing and advertising, awareness of government regulations, the role of recycling, and the need for stable, fair pricing to worldwide ingredient suppliers.

In his final chapter, Hirshberg shares his vision for the future and his certainty that these guidelines will work for anyone. “This is no longer a hypothesis,” he writes, “it’s a surefire plan for solid transformation. I could sit down with anyone at any level of a company, walk through his or her business, and come up with numerous alternative choices that could make the business more sustainable and more profitable.” There is much to be gained.