Editing Triple bottom line (section)

==== Planet, the environmental bottom line ====
The planet, environmental bottom line, or [[natural capital]] bottom line refers to sustainable environmental practices. A TBL company endeavors to benefit the natural order as much as possible or at the least do no harm and minimize environmental impact. A TBL endeavour reduces its [[ecological footprint]] by, among other things, carefully managing its consumption of energy and non-renewables and reducing manufacturing waste as well as rendering waste less [[Toxicity|toxic]] before disposing of it in a safe and legal manner. "[[Cradle-to-grave analysis|Cradle to grave]]" is uppermost in the thoughts of TBL manufacturing businesses, which typically conduct a [[life cycle assessment]] of products to determine what the true environmental cost is from the growth and harvesting of raw materials to manufacture to distribution to eventual disposal by the end user.

Currently, the cost of disposing of non-degradable or toxic products is born financially and environmentally by future generations, the governments,  and residents near the disposal site and elsewhere. In TBL thinking, an enterprise which produces and markets a product which will create a waste problem should not be given a free ride by society. It would be more equitable for the business which manufactures and sells a problematic product to bear part of the cost of its ultimate disposal.

Ecologically destructive practices, such as overfishing or other endangering depletions of resources are avoided by TBL companies. Often [[environmental sustainability]] is the more profitable course for a business in the long run. Arguments that it costs more to be environmentally sound are often specious when the course of the business is analyzed over a period of time. Generally, sustainability reporting metrics are better quantified and standardized for environmental issues than for social ones. A number of respected reporting institutes and registries exist including the Global Reporting Initiative, CERES, Institute for Sustainability and others.

The ecological bottom line is akin to the concept of [[eco-capitalism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Gaia Atlas of Green Economics|last=Ekins|first=Paul|publisher=Anchor Books|year=1992|isbn=0-385-41914-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/gaiaatlasofgreen00ekin/page/191 191]|author-link=Paul Ekins|url=https://archive.org/details/gaiaatlasofgreen00ekin/page/191}}</ref>