Sustainability in innovation: time to walk the talk
In today’s complex business environment, sustainability has become more than a KPI or marketing initiative – it’s an innovation imperative. As stakeholders demand more than incremental change, companies and teams are challenged to rethink not only what they innovate, but how. What does it look like when sustainability becomes a conscious part of the innovation process? And what does it take to truly align action with ambition in a responsible way?
By Mars Aeschlimann and Samantha Oberholzer
The growing role of sustainability
In the last five years, sustainability has become a driving force in how we approach innovation. What were once two separate disciplines are now – as they should be – increasingly intertwined. In the past, sustainable innovation conjured up ideas of USPs, eco-efficiency and low-impact design. Today, it reaches more deeply into business to address complex systemic challenges like circular business models, inclusive technologies, decarbonizing supply chains and weighing up the ROI of more sustainable materials.
It’s a change fueled by customer expectations, stricter regulations and the increased transparency of business practices. Integrating sustainability into innovation is no longer about staying ahead – it’s an essential part of staying relevant.
Lessons from the field
At Creaholic, an innovation agency that helps organizations across industries build sustainable futures, we have established a bottom-up approach to innovation that has organically brought sustainability to the forefront of our incubation projects. Our employees are encouraged to champion the ideas they care about. This intrapreneurial mindset means that many of our most impactful ideas start with intrinsic motivation – particularly when it comes to sustainability. We ask not only “Can we do it?” but also, “Should we?”. The result is a number of spin-offs, including Smixin, Gjosa, Joulia and Arboloom. Each one addresses an environmental challenge, and they have all originated from team members who felt passionate about making a difference. By working in this way, we encourage our partners to take these questions into consideration as well.
Rooting sustainability in strategy
For sustainability to successfully guide innovation, it has to be included in more than just the mission statement. It needs to be lived in governance, processes and culture. This means hiring people and working with partners who see the big picture as businesspeople and inhabitants of this planet. It means balancing short-term gain with long-term impact. And it means empowering employees to consider social and environmental impact while they innovate. Sustainability becomes real when it’s treated as a design compass, not an afterthought. In fact, responsibility doesn’t stifle creativity – it allows it to bloom.
Creating consciously
Strengthening sustainability’s role in innovation also calls for a shift in mindset. We need to cultivate compassion: an awareness of how our decisions ripple outward and affect communities, ecosystems and future generations. Alongside this comes a deep sense of duty. Businesses shape markets, employ people, influence supply chains and impact the world at scale. With that influence comes responsibility– regardless of the company’s industry, size or reach.
"“Responsibility doesn’t stifle creativity – it allows it to bloom.”
Innovating with urgency and intent
The scale of the challenges we face – from climate change to resource scarcity – means we can no longer treat sustainability as a secondary objective. Innovation without sustainability is no longer viable; sustainability without innovation lacks the momentum to move us forward.
Sustainability is no longer merely “nice to have.” And it can’t be left up to others. As business owners, leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators, the time to walk the talk is now.
Key Takeaways
To stay relevant, businesses need to embed sustainability into how they innovate.
Bottom-up ideas from empowered employees can spark sustainable innovation from the inside out.
Embedding values into strategy and culture turns intent into action.
Mindset matters – compassion and duty help employees see their broader role and impact.
Innovation without sustainability isn’t viable; sustainability without innovation lacks momentum. The time to walk the talk is now.
Mars Aeschlimann
is an inventor, entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Creaholic. He’s been involved in 200+ patent families and several spin-offs. With a creative flair and a passion for sustainability, he guides high-tech projects from idea to launch with a hands-on approach.
Samantha Oberholzer
is a writer and communications specialist at Creaholic. With a background in journalism, she explores the crossroads of innovation, sustainability, product development, strategy and culture.