|
April 17, 2009
|
 |
What large company is the greenest?
— The Editors
Santa Fe, New Mexico
 I know what you're thinking: Patagonia. And you'd be making a great point. After all, it installed solar panels above the parking lots at its headquarters—producing enough power for 60 homes. It gives employees rebates when they buy hybrid cars. Its Nevada distribution center is gold certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED (which is a big deal.) The company gives 10 percent of its pre-tax profits to environmental groups. It makes clothes out of recycled soda bottles, for goodness sake. Never has paying $27 to buy a single pair of boxer shorts felt so morally right than it does with Patagonia.
Still, it doesn't make the cut because I'm not looking for corporate do-gooders, I'm looking for companies that are truly transforming commerce through their sustainable practices, innovations, or products. I'm too much of a wimp to declare the one company that stands at the top of the heap—so I'll give you my top five. Feel free to argue with me or dismiss my choices altogether. But here they are: The Top 5 Greenest Companies in America.
Pacific Gas & Electric
Yes, that PG&E. The San Francisco-based power company of Enron and rolling blackout infamy that went bankrupt and ultimately cost California Governor Gray Davis his job. The one that produces 47 percent of its electricity from natural gas, 4 percent from coal, and 23 percent from nuclear. The one that will be required by the state to generate 33 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020, whether it wants to or not. Like I say, I'm not focusing on do-gooders, here. But this is why I included it: if we're going to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels, the country's utilities will likely follow much of PG&E's model for how to do it successfully. Consider that the company has become so aggressive on renewables that one-half of all American solar power installations are now housed in PG&E territory—and the company still made a profit of $1.34 billion last year. It also recently announced that it will be funding a series of solar projects over the next five years capable of producing 500 kilowatts of power—enough for 150,000 more homes. The CEO of PG&E says he's serious about ensuring his company remains a leader in green initiatives, and regardless of the motives, it's hard to argue with the results the utility is achieving.
|
|
Do you have a question of your
own?
|
|
Google
The Bay-area based tech behemoth (and huge energy consumer) uses sustainable measures to make workers more productive and happy. (Workers can take a free van service to work and eat local organic food served for free at the company's cafeterias.) Google uses sustainable measures to cut costs and reduce its impact, like the solar arrays atop its headquarter buildings that supply 30 percent of the energy at the main campus. It's predicted they will pay for themselves with utility savings within eight years. But it also recently unveiled a plan to break all utilities free from fossil fuels by 2030, and has been funding renewable technology start-ups and initiatives aimed at achieving this goal. Doubt the nerds at Google can get it done? I wouldn't bet against them.
UPS
Nearly 5.6 percent of Brown's operating revenue goes to gas costs—so the company has a huge incentive to find ways to improve fuel efficiency. As a result, the package delivery company now operates the world's largest fleet of alternative fuel, low-emission vehicles, employing natural gas, propane, hybrid electric, hydrogen, and hydraulic hybrid technologies—all 1,500 of them. It's also using advanced computer routing technologies that shaved 28.5 million miles from its delivery routes in 2006 alone. UPS is proving that sustainability makes for common sense capitalism.
Organic Valley
A Wisconsin-based organic food-producing cooperative owned by 1,332 family farms across 34 states selling meats, dairy, produce and juices to the sandal-wearing masses, who are willing to pay a higher premium for them. Organic Valley is successfully promoting healthier lifestyles, saving the earth and saving American farmers all at the same time.
Recyclebank
The concept is simple enough. The more we recycle, the more we save the earth. And the more materials a city or town recycling program collects, the more money it makes selling the stuff (and the more it saves on its shrinking trash collection). It's a win-win. But how to encourage people not to toss that water bottle or paper scrap into the garbage? Philadelphia-based Recyclebank works with municipalities to encourage recycling two ways: 1) by distributing a huge wheeled recycling bin to each house that can hold everything recyclable—no more sorting plastic, paper, cans, glass; and 2) giving people an incentive to recycle. Your bin gets weighed each week, and you're rewarded with gift certificates to local businesses based upon how much you've recycled.
Eco Adventurer
Greg Melville is the author of Greasy Rider, a new book in which he drives across the country in a fry-oil-powered car investigating the future of green technology. A journalist who has written for Outside, The New York Times, and Popular Mechanics, Melville blogs about all things eco at greasyriderbook.blogspot.com. He lives with his wife, kids, and dog in Asheville North Carolina.
|
