Jack Kutner is a businessman who’s not afraid to describe himself as an environmentalist. And it’s not just because he is CEO of BigBelly Solar, the fast-growing company that makes the trash bins with solar panels you’ve seen around your city or town.

After leaving a career that included a VP post at Merrill Lynch and CEO of First Data Corp.’s Investor Services Group, Kutner spent time teaching classes through a nonprofit he founded, Sustainable Lifestyles, about how small life changes can make an environmental difference.

In recent years, Kutner also co-founded a socially conscious cafe (Clear Conscience Cafe in Cambridge) and an all natural restaurant (Rafiki bistro in Cambridge). He recently shared his perspectives on the intersection of business and the environment with reporter Kyle Alspach.

Did your corporate background influence your environmental interests?
I guess I am a little cynical about the corporate world. … The people that work there aren’t bad people but you get driven toward such a single-minded set of goals that you end up making lots of decisions that aren’t necessarily good for the common good. That’s starting to change a little bit — companies with their sustainability programs, and their social awareness, and the like.

Along with environmental sustainability you’re also interested in promoting fair-trade products?
One of the things I’ve learned as an environmentalist is that to be pro-environment you have to be sort of socially conscious and pro-social responsibility as well, because the two end up going hand in hand. The coffee industry is a great example. Coffee is considered the second largest industry in the world after oil. If coffee growers get a fair price, and shade-grown organic principles are followed in the growing, then you’re having a massive global impact. That’s one of the best examples of how the two work hand in hand. It’s the same thing with small farmers — locally grown has a big reduction in footprint, in terms of transporting stuff, and also gets the local businessman better paid rather than a conglomerate.

What is your response to those who say economic growth and the environment are at odds?
That is 100 percent poppycock. Usually smart sustainability and environmental initiatives for a company are also really good business initiatives long term.

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