Valley businesses join the Conscious Capitalism movement

PHOENIX (FOX 10) - When you choose where to spend your money, does the company's mission ever come into play? Maybe you flock to brands that give back to the community or are environmentally friendly. The idea of more than the bottom line is what conscious capitalism is all about, and two prominent Valley businesses subscribe to the theory.

In Scottsdale, the solution to the world's water problems might not come from the ground. It might actually come from the air.

"Our vision is to perfect water for every person in every place, we do that with our hydropanels that use sunlight and air to create drinking water," said Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, Director of Brand for Zero Mass Water.

Kaitlyn Fitzgerald is the Director of Brand for Zero Mass Water. The science behind their product is pretty cool.

Using hydropanels, Zero Mass uses sunlight and air to make water and dispenses it like a regular water fountain.

"It makes it so you don't have to compromise your commitment to sustainability or recycling for quality," explained Fitzgerald.

In Tempe, Ray DelMuro and his company, Refresh Glass, take those empty wine bottles you just finished off and gives them a new life. It's some engineering mixed with art and recycling.

The number of bottles that typically go to waste is eye-opening.

"Usually in the 70 percent range, that's billions of tons of glass that gets buried every year," said Ray DelMuro.

What do both companies have in common? Business with a purpose.

While public perception about businesses might be that they only care about the bottom line, both Zero Mass Water and Refresh Glass are trying to buck that trend.

"The real goal for us is to show by engaging people emotionally and in terms of the community aspect and having that corps that purpose, is that your employees will be more productive, they'll stay longer, and the impact that your team will have is more fiscally successful, they'll make more money based on relationships," said DelMuro.

Both Refresh Glass and Zero Mass Water are part of the Conscious Capitalism movement, an idea based around community development and a higher purpose, not just appeasing shareholders every quarter.

Solving water problems for people around the globe is part of Zero Mass' D-N-A - not just selling the product.

"We're a purpose-driven business, we all show up and do what we do every day because of our vision to perfect water for every person in every place, it's part of every business model, every motivation, every team member, it's built into the fabric of our company culture," explained Fitzgerald.

And at Refresh, they recently partnered with the Waste Management Phoenix Open to re-purpose thousands of empty wine bottles from the golf tournament.

DelMuro believes his company can profit and help, a philosophy he thinks more companies should have.

"You want to be able to do good and do well, which is a big part of what conscious capitalism is all about, doing good for the environment and the community to the people outside your circle, as well as doing right by the people that you work with directly both fiscally and emotionally," said DelMuro.

Both businesses will be participating in the annual Conscious Capitalism conference being held in the Valley this year.

Brian Mohr is the President of the Conscious Capitalism Arizona chapter, and he says consumers are making the purpose driven business model choice more powerful.

"Consumers are voting with their wallets towards the companies that are doing well and doing good in the world," said Brian Mohr.

The conference hopes to encourage more businesses to find a purpose beyond the almighty dollar, which could benefit them, and us, in the long run.

"They're really leading the way for businesses to just sustain themselves, and instead for businesses to solve global challenges, and we take on the world's biggest challenge, water," said Fitzgerald.

"11 years, we're almost at 1.5 million bottles rescued, will probably hit 2 million late this year or next," said DelMuro.

The annual Conscious Capitalism takes place April 23-25 at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass. Hundreds of business leaders from around the world are expected to attend.