It's Day 2 of the Premier Business Leadership Series here in Vegas, which kicked off this morning with a special edition of BetterManagement TODAY. (The show is taped live in the heart of the networking area of the conference.) One of the featured guests--and a keynote speaker yesterday--was Andrew Winston, bestselling author of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value and Build Competitive Advantage.

Winston evangelizes the idea that going "green" is not only the right thing to do for the environment, but it can actually make good business sense. His examples are compelling. Implementing waste management and energy-saving practices saved Dupont $1.9 billion -- a huge impact on their bottom line. Winston also claims that environmental commitment can drive companies to be more innovative and provide opportunities for market leadership and branding (take the Toyota Prius).

It's not easy going green, especially for large companies. I mean, I often fight an internal battle over whether I really need to walk the cereal box to the recycling bin or just reach down and toss it in the trash (I wonder what my own carbon footprint is?) -- but to invest millions? Winston's goal with the book was to give companies a starting point, a framework to get started.

It's encouraging to hear the business angle to the topic of environmental change because I wonder: unless they're required to, how many companies would really take the plunge to go green out of the goodness of their corporate hearts?