A green company claims to act in a way which minimizes damage to the environment. As

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

continues apace and becomes an increasingly prevalent topic amongst world governments, many companies are doing their part to become environmentally more responsible or "green".

Examples

Automotive

A number of major auto companies have developed

alternative fuel vehicle An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum fuels (petrol or petrodiesel). The term also refers to any technology (e.g. electric car, hybrid electric vehicles, solar-powered ve ...

s and all-electric vehicles in a move to reduce petroleum consumption. Technologies include

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...

Fuel cell vehicle A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate elec ...

Battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, wi ...

s, and

Hybrid electric vehicle A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an electric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The presence of the electric powertrain is intended ...

Aviation

The

environmental impact of aviation Like other emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion, aircraft engines produce gases, noise, and particulates, raising environmental concerns over their global effects and their effects on local air quality. Jet airliners contribute t ...

is significant, though a number of companies are working on mitigation of aviation's environmental impact through new technologies including

aviation biofuel An aviation biofuel or bio-jet fuel Note: About">Investable Universe>About' or bio-aviation fuel (BAF) is a biofuel used to power aircraft and is said to be a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) c ...

Doors and Garage Doors

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient c ...

, Masonite, Marvin,

Jeld-Wen JELD-WEN is an American company with its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operates more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries. JELD-WEN designs, produces and distributes interior and exterior doors, wood, vinyl ...

and other top door manufacturers claim that their entry doors meet

Energy Star Energy Star (trademarked ''ENERGY STAR'') is a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that promotes energy efficiency. The program provides information on the energy consumption of prod ...

requirements. Entry doors represent an important source of energy waste in buildings. Ultimately, doors are an important cause of

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and l ...

(buildings account for about 41% of our primary energy consumption and an almost equivalent amount of emissions).

Petroleum

Suncor Suncor Energy (french: Suncor Énergie) is a Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in production of synthetic crude from oil sands. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Suncor Energy was ranked as the 48th-larg ...

, a Canadian-based oil company, was named a top performer among 23 global petroleum-producing firms with its environmentally responsible greenhouse gas management programs.

Household

S.C. Johnson Company, maker of household items such as

Windex Windex is an American brand of glass and hard-surface cleaner that was invented by the Drackett Company in 1933 and has been marketed throughout the intervening decades—originally in glass containers, later in plastic ones. Drackett sold the ...

and

Ziploc Ziploc is a brand of reusable, re-sealable sliding channel storage bags and containers originally developed and test marketed by The Dow Chemical Company in 1968 and now produced by S. C. Johnson & Son. The plastic bags and containers come i ...

plastic bags was environmentally aware long before it became popular to be so. Using its innovative "Greenlist" process which serves to evaluate what environmental impact certain raw materials used in producing its products can have, S.C. Johnson has been able to eliminate some 1.8 million pounds of

volatile organic compounds Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature. High vapor pressure correlates with a low boiling point, which relates to the number of the sample's molecules in the surrounding air, a t ...

and 4 million pounds of

polyvinylidene chloride Polyvinylidene chloride, or polyvinylidene dichloride (PVDC), is a homopolymer of vinylidene chloride. History Ralph Wiley accidentally discovered polyvinylidene chloride polymer in 1933. He, then, was a college student who worked part-time at ...

from commonly used household items.

Small-business partnerships

In 2009,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

's Virginia-Highland became the first

carbon-neutral Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...

zone in the United States. This partnership, developed by Verus Carbon Neutral, links 17 merchants of the historic Corner Virginia-Highland shopping and dining neighborhood retail district, through the

Chicago Climate Exchange The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) was a voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas reduction and trading system for emission sources and offset projects in North America and Brazil. CCX employed independent verification, included six greenhous ...

, to directly fund the Valley Wood

Carbon Sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in lan ...

Project (thousands of acres of forest in rural

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Controversy

Supporters of green companies claim that it is far more economical to

go green Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...

than it is to continue adding harmful chemicals to the atmosphere and the environment in general. Opponents believe that the environmental claims of "green companies" are often exaggerated and have variously raised accusations of

greenwash Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called "green sheen", is a form of advertising or marketing spin in which green PR and green marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization's products, aims ...

ing. In 2013,

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

was accused of

greenwashing Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called "green sheen", is a form of advertising or marketing spin in which green PR and green marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization's products, aims ...

, after marketing a new line of plastic bottles.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

Sources

CNNMoney.com

Green Companies

Green Company Directory

Environmentalism