Can a business go green and stay in the black? Yvon Chouinard has built the model.

“Business has been accused of despoiling the environment, but it can enrich our lives and make a profit without losing its soul,” Chouinard, owner of Ventura-based Patagonia outdoor gear and clothing company, told a standing-room-only crowd at his Palo Alto store Tuesday. All the way back in 1970, Chouinard ditched the most successful element of his business, metal pitons, because they damaged rock, substituting reusable chocks that became wildly successful - a perfect example of doing well by doing Read the rest of this entry »