record is built on nearly 15 years of successfully
cleaning up and revitalizing real estate with
consistent and sustainable returns being
generated. Most importantly Darden’s work has
shown that profitability and responsibility are not
mutually exclusive; they go hand in hand.
As a schoolboy in the 1970s Darden was
surrounded by potential environmental disasters,
from the threat of nuclear weapons in the
ongoing Cold War to books such as The Limits
to Growth, which sketches a future planet
running out of resources from overpopulation.
The destructive images of the Vietnam war
also triggered a reaction of despair in Darden
about the future of the planet. His passion for
rehabilitating land started when he bought
four brick manufacturing plants and found 150
underground sewerage tanks on them as well as
petroleum-contaminated soil. When regulators
suggested he take the soil to a landfill for
disposal, Darden instead proposed mixing it with
clean clay in the brick-making process, during
which the combustion in the kilns burnt up the
fuel in the soil. From this small beginning he has
built his company into the largest soil remediator
in the mid-Atlantic region, cleaning up to 15
million tons of contaminated material. He has
found up to 40 different chemical solutions,
destined for disposal, which can be recycled.
Darden starting buying industrial sites with a view
to rehabilitating them and has now invested in
over 550 properties worldwide, with US$2 billion
under management.
Following a cleanup, the company implements
thoughtful and sustainable solutions that create
long-term value. In doing this, their investors,
partners and the communities they serve have
seen the first-hand benefits of the company’s
financial and environmental expertise, with a
focus on sustainability. A highlight is that many
of the impaired properties under their care
become vibrant, healthy communities that
feature sustainable, mixed-use developments with
transportation choices and other public amenities.
“We sometimes do urban planning to change
the zoning of the land from industrial to retail, or
towards a more suitable use,” says Darden.
“We are also excited by our call for people to
donate sites for rehabilitation to an independent
non-profit entity CIP helped establish for
rehabilitation. In this way we can hand sustainable
land back to communities to thrive on.”
Cherokee Gives Back is the company’s
philanthropic arm and supports a wide range of
initiatives, including real estate development, an
exchange and volunteer program for Ethiopian
students, a project to rebuild part of New Orleans
after Hurricane Katrina and a venture with North
Carolina universities which develops commercial
processes to convert biomass to electric power
and other valuable byproducts.
“The greatest threat facing our planet today
is what we don’t know about chemicals,” warns
Darden. “Rising consumer demand has spurned
lab-generated chemicals for millions of products,
of which most are unregulated. Our seas are
awash with these materials, which have found
their way back to the ocean and we cannot even
begin to guess the consequences. If there are
250 chemicals regulated by consumer and public
health authorities, there are a further 250,000
which have not been assessed appropriately.”
He is concerned that all of us see pollution
around us all the time, yet carry on in our daily
lives as if it will magically resolve itself.
“A philosophy for your company is the best
way of ensuring that you can implement change.
The philanthropy angle is good, but just dishing
out money without a plan is not.”
WPO Rebel / [email protected] /
www.cherokeefund.com
marc lubner
Philanthropic / NonProfit Organization
Marc Lubner’s charity businesses are run on the
same principles he learnt at business school, yet
his investments into communities has bought
him the most valuable ‘asset’ a man can own –
a reputation – in return. “You own the
reputation,” says Lubner. “The community owns
the assets, for they are the ones who realize the
real value through using these assets. In turn, this
hopefully starts a chain reaction of sustainable
practices among participants.”
Lubner’s involvement as CEO of outreach
organization MaAfrika Tikkun as well as executive
connect / uk SHINE Unconference for Social Entrepreneurs: www.shineunconference.co.uk connect / ASIA sustainable investment roundtables: www.asria.org
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