Shari Arison – Billionaire Without a Carbon Footprint

Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Last week, Forbes unveiled a list of the world’s “Top 10 Greenest Billionaires.” Prominently featured was Israel’s own Shari Arison, heiress to the Carnival Cruise Line’s fortune. While claiming to be “green” is quickly becoming a cynical way for companies today to make more green of the paper and cotton blend variety without truly reducing their carbon footprint, Shari Arison is a model businessperson for her sincere commitment to environmentalism.

Environmental sustainability and profits are usually seen as opposing forces, but not for Arison, whose businesses are a great success not in spite of, but because of their commitment to doing right by the planet.

“Sustainability is the key to our survival on this planet and will also determine success on all levels,” said Arison in an interview with BusinessWeek.

One of the “levels” she’s talking about must be the bottom line. Ms. Arison’s is worth 3.4 billion dollars thanks to her successful companies like Miya, a water company based on technology that eliminates water loss in transit. With over a billion people lacking access to clean water, and most cities running inefficient systems, Miya is an important project for all of us.

To read more about Ms. Arison’s amazing work, check out BusinessWeek‘s profile of her from 2009.

To see more of Forbe’s list of the world’s greenest billionaires, click here.

2 people like this post.

Unlike