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Table of Contents.- Introduction.- Case Methodologies.- Chapter 1: Technology and Capacity Building.- Chapter 2: Health.- Chapter 3: Environmentally Sustainable Energy Projects.- Chapter 4: Environmentally Sustainable Processes.- Chapter 5: Finance.- Chapter 7: Supply Chain Management.- About the Authors.- Index.

One of the challenges in the twenty-first century is to provide affordable environmentally sustainable products and services through engaging in sustainable projects. The cases in this chapter illustrate how that can be done in a variety of ways while at the same time providing needed jobs to local communities. Two companies, Husk Power and Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), work in very poor communities without power to provide electricity at low rates through low-polluting methods. BHP Billiton works to create environmentally sustainable mining in Mozambique, and Ecover produces biodegradable soap and other products in a self-recycled factory environment.

Poverty is created and sustained by a system, not merely low income. A weak infrastructure precludes safe water, electricity, efficient food production and distribution. The absence of a rule of law and/or dangerous neighbors, poor education, and scarcity of health facilities all exacerbate poverty. All of these factors work together to create a system of poverty that becomes almost inescapable. In this chapter we include four cases of projects aimed at addressing the system of poverty. Eskom, the leading energy company in South Africa faced the daunting task of electrifying neglected communities in that country. The Volta River Project, demonstrates the difficulties of providing adequate power and water in Ghana. Transforming Education In Rural Haiti: Intel and L’Ecole De Choix, narrates a school project in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and Zynga, a large interactive social gaming company, embarked on a series of efforts to raise funds through its games for various antipoverty initiatives in the developing world.

Despite efforts to the contrary, global poverty is still an issue, because almost two billion people still live in abject poverty, and another two billion live on the economic margins of survivability, even by local standards. This chapter describes three efforts to change these statistics: the work of Hindustan Lever in India to provide affordable products and jobs to the poorest villages, the well-known work of Mohammed Yunus in Bangladesh to take over six million families there out of-poverty, and E-Choupal, an ongoing effort to improve communication facilities between farmers in remote villages, allowing them to sell their products where they are needed rather than creating surpluses or shortages in various area.

We end this book with two important corporate cases on supply chain management: Nike and Walmart. Both cases illustrate the struggles of large companies in their work to be profitable, global, and sensitive to poverty and environmental issues in the communities in which they operate.

Environmental sustainability has become a focus for not only academics and scientists, but it is now at the forefront for most global corporations. In this chapter we present two exemplars of that corporate thinking. Baxter International has been working for some years in reducing is environmental footprint, with great success. Coca Cola, whose products are produced and sold worldwide, is an enormous user of clean water for its many beverage products, and it has recently embarked on a series of projects aimed at water conservation. Both of these companies are good examples of what forward-thinking companies can do without losing money. But we begin this chapter with another narrative, the story of Albina Ruiz, a Peruvian who saw a need for trash collection in the capital city of Peru, Lima, a need that was not being addressed by the city. Her story illustrates what one person can do to clean up the environment and provide jobs, even in a large city such as Lima.