It’s important to walk the talk. Changent Zero Inc. is currently an incorporated business modeled on a social enterprise.
What is a social enterprise?
Social enterprises invest in the ‘triple bottom line’ – people, planet, and profit.
Social enterprises are inspired and work toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Social enterprises are change-makers in the form of a business.
A social enterprise creates social and environmental value through trade which includes making a profit. This creation of economic wealth helps to deliver environmental and social change. It is a key part of a social enterprise mission. A healthy portion of the financial profit is typically directed toward its social and environmental objectives, reinvested back into the company and helps sustainable and healthy communities.
This means that Changent Zero does not solely exist as a for-profit business but one where ‘profits’ are measured by environmental and social indicators.
The future business landscape is changing. Changent Zero Inc. believes ALL businesses (whether an entrepreneur, non-profit organization for for-profit corporation) should work toward some form of social and environmental responsibility in how they operate, the products and services they offer (including packaging!) and investing a percentage of profit toward these environmental and social aims.
Why is this important?
Our current economies and way of living are not sustainable. Depleting natural resources, increased pollution, non-compostable waste, and non-renewable energy consumption along with widening social inequalities in socio-economic status, human rights, gender, and health are just some of the very real and critical problems we can no longer ignore.
Research states we’ve already ‘breached critical planetary boundaries’ and ‘nothing short of a seismic shift in consumption, technologies, values, and political organization will suffice.’
Social enterprises can play a vital role in these ‘seismic shifts’ that are required for all living things and the planet. As mentioned above, Changent Zero Inc. plans to walk the talk.
How do you become a social enterprise?
Currently in Canada, there is no legal entity or accreditation to be a social enterprise. At present, any business whether a non-profit organization or a for-profit business can claim this title. Changent Zero Inc. hopes this will change in the near future. Otherwise the integrity of what it represents and its potential impact can be diluted. Over the next year, Changent Zero Inc. will create a social enterprise business model. We will share this model with the Changent community and collaborate with others who wish to do the same.
References
Bansal, S., Garg, I., & Sharma, G. D. (2019). Social Entrepreneurship as a Path for Social Change and Driver of Sustainable Development: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda. Sustainability, 11(4), 1091.
Chell, E., Nicolopoulou, K., & Karataş-Özkan, M. (2010). Social entrepreneurship and enterprise: International and innovation perspectives. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 22(6), 485–493.
Connelly, S., Gismondi, M., Markey, S., & Roseland, M. (2016). Towards Convergence An Exploratory Framework. In Scaling Up: The Convergence of Social Economy and Sustainability (pp. 7–26). AU Press.
Morrison, C., Ramsey, E., & Bond, D. (2017). The role of social entrepreneurs in developing community resilience in remote areas. Journal of Enterprising Communities; Bradford, 11(1), 95–112.
Shove, E. (2010). Beyond the ABC: Climate Change Policy and Theories of Social Change. Environment and Planning. A, 42(6), 1273–1285.
Steinerowski, A. A., & Steinerowska-Streb, I. (2012). Can social enterprise contribute to creating sustainable rural communities? Using the lens of structuration theory to analyse the emergence of rural social enterprise. Local Economy, 27(2), 167–182.