Natural Capitalism on the U.S.-Mexican Border

The report proposes 'Natural Capitalism' as an alternative to the traditional border economy based on cheap labor and lax environmental controls. It outlines four shifts for businesses: increasing resource productivity, adopting biologically inspired closed-loop production, moving to a solutions-based service model, and reinvesting in natural capital. The document emphasizes that global supply chain pressures and consumer perceptions are forcing suppliers, including maquiladoras, to improve environmental performance to remain competitive. It further extends these principles to community development, distinguishing between 'expansion' (physical growth) and 'development' (betterment), and suggests strategies like import substitution, vendor matching, and waste-matching to increase local wealth without increasing environmental throughput.

• Natural Capitalism is defined as a business approach where companies operate as if 'Nature’s ecosystem services' are properly valued, focusing on four synergistic shifts: increasing resource productivity, using biologically inspired production models, adopting solutions-based business models, and reinvesting in natural capital.
• Companies along the U.S.-Mexican border, specifically maquiladoras, face increasing pressure from international buyers and global consumer perceptions to improve environmental practices, regardless of local regulatory leniency, to avoid being cut from supply chains.
• The document identifies critical ecosystem services—such as flood control, water purification, and climatic stability—that are declining along the border; it cites the 1993 Tijuana flood as an example where the loss of natural vegetation increased the disaster's severity.
• Resource productivity can be dramatically increased through design changes, as evidenced by Sony's Video Tec de Mexico plant in Tijuana reducing plastic use and Pacific Coca-Cola reducing rinse water needs by 79% using air.
• Biologically inspired 'closed-loop' production aims to eliminate the concept of waste; examples include Hasbro's Juguetrenes plant in Tijuana saving $230,000 annually by selling plastic wastes and the industrial ecosystem park in Kalundborg, Denmark.
• A 'solutions-based' business model shifts from selling goods to delivering a continuous flow of services, which incentivizes durability and non-toxicity; for example, Interface leases floor covering services rather than selling carpets, reducing material consumption by 80%.
• The report distinguishes between 'expansion' (physical enlargement) and 'development' (betterment), arguing that increasing 'throughput'—the rate at which resources are turned into waste—does not necessarily lead to community prosperity.
• Natural Capitalist Development for communities involves plugging 'economic leaks' through strategies such as vendor matching, import substitution, microcredit, and waste-matching programs like WasteWise in the Tijuana-San Diego area.

APA

Kinsley, M., & Lovins, H. (n.d.). Natural Capitalism on the U.S.-Mexican Border. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER00-35_NatCapUsMexBrdr.pdf

Chicago

Kinsley, Michael, and Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism on the U.S.-Mexican Border. RMI, n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER00-35_NatCapUsMexBrdr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kinsley |first1=Michael |last2=Lovins |first2=Hunter |title=Natural Capitalism on the U.S.-Mexican Border |publisher=RMI |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER00-35_NatCapUsMexBrdr.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kinsleyndnatural, author = {Kinsley, Michael and Lovins, Hunter}, title = {{Natural Capitalism on the U.S.-Mexican Border}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER00-35_NatCapUsMexBrdr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }