More and more corporations are realizing that current business environmental practices cannot be sustained in the long run by an overburdened environment and ecosystem. These companies are looking for ways to practice sustainable development. They recognize the importance of and examine the "full life cycle consequences of products and services upon not only the natural environment but also regional, national and global economies, ecosystems, and prospects" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 9, Issue 4, page 61). These organizations act upon this information in ways that promote life cycle accounting, accept responsibility for products from cradle to grave, and practice responsible stewardship. Initiatives like design for disassembly, alternative energy sources, and producer/source-responsibility-for-waste programs encourage sustainable outcomes. In short, sustainable development can be defined as "a strategy for meeting people's short- and long-term needs by building on a foundation that integrates the environment and the economy" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 9, Issue 4, page 47).

Despite the broad acceptance of the general principle of sustainable development, it has proven very difficult to define specifically. Definitional details are neither standardized nor widely practiced nor extensively implemented. Advocates are faced with such questions as 'Who sets the levels that will sustain development into the infinite future?' and 'How do we even know what those levels are?' Furthermore, supporters often find that they need to provide an incentive for corporations to sustain development for future generations since a common response to the subject is 'Why should I care? I won't be around then.' Both business people and environmental advocacy groups must overcome these major barriers in order to ensure the future health of our economy and our environment.

Even considering the major barrier of apathy and lack of will in government, traditional accounting, and the business community, it is not always necessary to provide an outside incentive to corporations to practice sustainable development. In theory, it should not be necessary to force a corporation into sustainable development. Sustainable development is economically beneficial in and of itself when the full costs of such problems as waste disposal, environmental cleanups and legal fees are considered. However, if society continues to allow companies to discount social costs or treat pollution costs as externalities, the economic costs may never be fully appreciated.

Due to this lack of appreciation for the full cost of most so-called 'externalities, it is often necessary to find alternative incentives to induce corporations to develop in a responsible and sustainable fashion. Many corporations have been responding to the voluntary incentive of a growing consumer and investor market that is more conscious of the environmental practices of corporations. This has led to "marketing executives and environmentalists [joining] forces to spawn the 'green consumer'" alternatives, programs, and services because "the popular sentiment has indicated for some time overwhelming support for doing more to clean up the environment" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 1, Issue 4, page 61). In order to suggest progress with sustainable development economically, certain corporations have been advertising themselves as environmental-friendly with the endorsement of environmental groups in order to attract this new green consumer. For example, "Loblaw Companies has launched under its President's Choice label a 'green' line of environmentally friendly products with the slogan 'something can be done' [and] some products are endorsed by Pollution Probe and Friends of the Earth, which will receive 1% royalty on sales of those products" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 1, Issue 4, page 61).

For those corporations that cannot see the financial benefit in tapping into this new market, "direct incentives, most likely in the form of taxes, make the polluter pay regulations, and producer/source-responsibility measures on the generation and disposal of wastes, are probably necessary to ensure appropriate allocation of resources" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 1, Issue 4, page 61) "Subsidies to encourage recycling systems would also be desirable" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 1, Issue 4, page 61). "The object of taxation would not be to punish polluters but rather encourage them to change non-sustainable or seriously harmful production processes. Adjusting to such taxes would not be a matter of altruism but of minimizing cost and maximizing profit. As with recent voluntary marketing initiatives, a pollution tax approach would serve to align self-interest with the public interest" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 1, Issue 4, page 62). These incentives will make sustainable development not only desirable but economically necessary for corporations to survive in this more informed market.

What can a corporation do to modify its operations to reflect the principles of sustainable development? First, all corporations should conduct a sustainability audit with the following characteristics: "(a) employ measurable standards to assess environmental management and performance and link them to other standards or factors; (b) use a trained audit team; (c) release a progress report, either internally to the Board, externally to the public, or both; (d) ensure independence of the audit team; (e) regularly schedule the audit to address all sites and operations; and (f) publicly disclose the audit information" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 4, Issue 4, page 61). After considering the results of the initial audit, a corporation that wants to 'go green' should integrate the following ten characteristics of a green company into its corporate policy to create a successful environmental management system. These characteristics are:

1. "planning and operations that reflect a commitment to sustainable development
2. an environmental policy and a detailed code of practice are in place, routinely communicated, and reinforced
3. ethics-based goals that meet or exceed today's applicable laws, both in letter and spirit
4. all decisions are assessed within an ascending hierarchy of reducing harm, doing no harm, and doing good with respect to the environment
5. adopt the five Rs: reject, reduce, reuse, reprocess and recycle
6. use a cradle to grave perspective for all activities
7. disclose information about hazards and associated risks to everyone, including customers and employees
8. practice stewardship by adopting, supporting, and rewarding fair, ethical business practices
9. speak out publicly in support of environmental issues beyond one's own or immediate corporate impacts on the environment
10. contribute to community environmental groups and projects" (The Corporate Ethics Monitor, Volume 3, Issue 4, page 43).

If more corporations were to use sustainability audits to monitor the success of their environmental management systems and sustainable development programs that were based on the ten characteristics of green companies, environmental activists and the planet could declare victory in terms of sustainable development.