The World’s Greenest Companies

December 12th, 2008 by Andy Mayer

The concept of being Green (eco aware) is fairly new and causes a lot of confusion. Many people do not understand what it means to be Green. In reality there is no simple definition for the concept as it varies greatly from one person to the next. There are many ways in which businesses can be Green. There is also quite a bit of difference in terms of how Green a business is, and it is not always easy to measure.

Keep it green, keep it for the children

Some companies emit enormous amounts of greenhouse gas which negatively affect the planet. If they can find a way to limit their greenhouse gas emissions it is considered to be Green. There are also ways that companies can offset their greenhouse gas emissions as well. This can be anything from planting trees to investing in some type of other Green activity.

Other companies find that they produce a large amount of rubbish. This can produce a disastrous effect on the environment when landfills begin to overflow. If a company were to participate in recycling programmes to eliminate their supply of rubbish or convert it to energy it would be considered as going green.

Now that we have a few ideas about what a company can do wrong, let us take a look at some of the companies out there that have made a reputation for themselves as being Green. The auto industry is one of the bigger contributors of greenhouse gases in the world. Millions of cars spread all over the world produce a great deal of toxic fumes that are damaging to the planet. The Honda Motor Company is trying to change this by not only making its fleet of automobiles more environmentally friendly but by also cleaning up their factories as well. Remeber their old F1 team - Earth Dreams?

Honda are one of the greenest car manufacturers around

Today Honda has the most fuel-efficient fleet of cars around. Between 2000 and 2010 Honda will reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions from their factories by 10 per cent. The company is constantly researching new technology to improve their fleet even further. Currently, they have on the market two new types of vehicle. One is powered by natural gas and the other is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. These impressive contributions help to make Honda one of the Greenest companies around.

S.C. Johnson can easily be called one of the Greenest companies operating today. This company is unique because matters relating to the environment have always ranked high on their agenda. Amazingly, back as far as in 1935, H.F. Johnson Jr. went to Brazil in search of a wax that was sustainable. This was found in the Carnauba palm tree, and was eventually converted into Johnson’s Wax; the first product the company ever produced.

Johnson a family company, who care about the environment

Today S.C. Johnson continues to work in an eco-friendly way. With the invention of the Green-list the company was able to categorise 95 per cent of the ingredients that make up their products. These ingredients were sorted by their impact on the environment and health. Using the list, S.C. Johnson has eliminated millions of pounds of pollutants from its products like VOCs and PVDCs.

S.C. Johnson has even gone one step further than this though. The company built a special power plant that actually uses methane from a landfill for energy. This has allowed S.C. Johnson to rely less on coal for power, which is a major source of pollution. The result was a dramatic decrease of 42 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. The many contributions made by S.C. Johnson, which span more than 70 years, establishes it as one of the greenest companies around today.

Cows - they pollute, but Johnson has plans for the moo factories
Airlines are incredible sources of pollution these days. While many are working to find new ways to emit less harmful gasses and to increase fuel efficiency, one airline stands out as being one of the greenest airlines around. Continental Airlines has taken painful steps to ensure its feel is much more environmentally friendly. This includes replacing all of their older aircraft with new fuel efficient models at a cost of £8 billion. Continental has also installed winglets on a great deal of the company’s 737 and 757 aircrafts.

Just Continental Airlines - the greenest of the airlines

These winglets help to make the aircraft more fuel efficient, resulting in a 5 per cent decrease of greenhouse gas emissions. Continental’s contributions in helping to keep the planet healthier go beyond their fleet; the company employs several environmentalists who monitor greenhouse emissions and help to design ‘greener’ terminals in airports. Another thing that Continental does to help the environment is recycle. All of the company’s rubbish gets sorted and then recycled; they also recycle chemicals.

These winglets could save the airline industry

One of the greenest companies, which might surprise a number of people, is Halifax and the Bank of Scotland. This bank has created some very unique ways to reduce its impact on the environment. One interesting thing HBOS offers is a Carbon bank account. HBOS, in partnership with the Carbon Trust, worked to determine the exact carbon footprint that a normal bank account produces each year. The new Carbon bank account is web based and produces very little carbon emissions. HBOS also sees to it that all of its cars are either hybrid or run on liquid petroleum gas. The bank also noticed that one of the things that contributed most to their carbon footprint was business travel. They have worked to limit travel by encouraging alternative methods of communication, such as conference calling. HBOS participates in a recycling programme as well.

A bank caring about something else other than money?

Hewlett-Packard is another great example of a green company. Now I know I have found myself in a situation where I purchased a new computer and then had no clue what do to with the old one. HP helps to solve the problem by operating several large recycling plants that take in old electronics and reclaims their materials. The great thing about these factories is that they are not limited to HP products. Anyone can recycle their electronics here. Computers produced by Hewlett-Packard come with the added bonus of being completely recyclable as well. The company is also working to decrease their energy usage by 20 percent before the year 2010.

HP products are completely recyclable…