The Cost of Conservation
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have a saying: “It takes cash to care.” Some people might get turned off or even offended by this statement, but the truth is conservation costs money. Sure, there are numerous incredible volunteer efforts, such as the International Beach Cleanup that has attracted more than 16 million volunteers since it began in 1986. Concerned citizens from more than 100 countries have collected in excess of 339 million pounds of trash from the planet’s beaches. That is truly impressive. What some may not know is that this event was launched by two ambitious women, Linda Maraniss and Kathy O’Hara, who worked with the nonprofit organization Ocean Conservancy. Today, the OC is a multi-million dollar machine that invests tremendously into conservation. Just like the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, the Ocean Conservancy’s work is funded by philanthropic groups and individuals and a percentage of product sales. The point — volunteers are essential, but they can only do so much. Effective, on-going marine conservation is expensive. 8 | GuyHarvey.com
There is great news on this front. More and more companies are devoting a portion of their earnings toward saving the planet. Not only is that a good public relations strategy, but it can also be a great business model. What has been called Cause Marketing has morphed into the term “Corporate Social Responsibility.” CSR is gaining traction simply because more companies are seeing the wisdom in being green. In fact, if a company in 2021 doesn’t have a sustainability and conservation strategy, they are already behind the curve and are setting themselves up for failure. When it comes to the products they buy, consumers want to know how, where and from what those materials come from. For example, our customers are thrilled when they learn that Guy Harvey shirts are made in a facility that runs mostly on solar power and uses recycled materials (see article on page 15). Consumers want less plastic packaging and more earthfriendly products, and we are always working hard to deliver on those goals.
As companies continue to ramp up their investments into conservation, those funds help grassroots, nonprofit organizations, as well as the GHOF and hundreds of other groups that do vital work. That’s good for the planet, and we can all use some good news these days. In this issue of Guy Harvey Magazine, we are shining a spotlight on some of those forwardthinking companies. One is Florida Power & Light. By investing in renewable power, they are taking solar power and electric vehicles to impressive levels. By 2030, FPL will have installed more than 30 million solar panels across their service area; by the end of 2021, they will have built more than 1,000 charging stations for electric vehicles (see article on page 46). That’s just good business, and it also benefits Mother Earth. Beyond companies devoting their profits to conservation, other businesses have taken these concepts to the next level and created their business model 100% on sustainability and conservation. One of the best examples is
