Meet journalist Esha Chhabra, who spent a decade exploring the world for examples of social ventures — businesses that blend profitability with creating equitable human outcomes — for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and other publications. In her new book, Working To Restore: Harnessing the Power of Regenerative Business to Heal the World, she describes her journeys and the entrepreneurs and activists she met in the US, India, Africa, and the fjords of Scandinavia. She describes social and environmental innovations transforming coffee, shoemaking, healthcare, energy, and hospitality companies that are becoming familiar to Earth911 readers. But for many, the reflective, environmentally responsible thinking in Working To Restore may be a revelation.
Esha explores additional dimensions of two terms that dominate green business discussion, “regenerative” and “restorative,” weaving the environmental benefits with social impacts that can help low-income people access resources sustainably. She discusses the key role the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals play in setting new social priorities and establishing how we measure the value that business creates in society. Working to Restore is available from Amazon, Powell’s Books, and local bookstores. You can follow Esha’s journalistic work at eshachhabra.contently.com and eshachhabra.com.
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This podcast originally aired on March 17, 2023.