State of Green Business 2010

In this third annual edition of our State of Green Business report, we continue our efforts to measure the environmental impacts of the emerging green economy. This year’s effort was colored by the Great Recession and its myriad of impacts on individuals, companies and governments around the world. Would the economic downturn nip the green economy in the bud?

Of course, 2009 also was a time of political transition in the United States, the principal arena of our focus. How would regime change affect companies’ environmental policies, performance and progress? Would companies envision a new era of environmentally activist government? If so, would that compel them to become more proactive or to dig in their heels?

The answers aren’t simple, and therein lies the foundation for this report. As in previous years, it shows a mixed bag of encouraging and discouraging news and trends.

On balance, however, we were pleasantly surprised by what we found. First and foremost, green business activity did not go away amid the harsh economic environment. It survived — and even thrived. In some cases, such as with energy efficiency, the recession provided a stimulus, as the need to cut operating costs in order to maintain competitiveness became ever more valued by executives, their boards and their shareholders.

Our quest for information gathering for this report isn’t an end to itself. As in previous years, we try to provide context to the robust green business taking place and to help answer the question: Is all of this activity actually moving the needle? That is, did all of the hundreds of environmental announcements and achievements by companies during 2009 actually result in their doing better, environmentally speaking, than the year before?

Clues to the answers can be found in our annual GreenBiz Index, in which we look at 20 measures of green-economy progress, from energy use to e-waste to employee commuting habits. In many cases, progress is evident, though not necessarily at the scale and speed needed to effectively address climate change, water shortages, resource scarcity and the toxicity of consumer products, among other pressing issues.

Definitive answers to our questions can be subjective, often in the eye of the beholder. We’ll leave it up to you to decide for yourself whether all of this amounts to good news or bad or, more likely, something in between.

How will all this play out as the recession ebbs and the economy rumbles back to life? Will newfound efficiencies and sensibilities fall by the wayside, or have things indelibly changed?

How the green economy fares during the economic recovery will be the subject of another year’s report. Hopefully, the next one.
— Joel Makower, Executive Editor, Greener World Media, Inc.

• Introduction
• Top Green Stories of 2010
  • • The Green Economy Gains Currency
  • • Radical Transparency Goes Mainstream
  • • Green Marketing Gets Even Murkier
  • • Green Innovation Becomes a Great Idea
  • • Greener Fleets Hit the Streets
  • • Energy Efficiency Gains Horsepower
  • • IT Aims to Save the World
  • • Toxics Become a Strategic Issue
  • • Food Companies Put Their Supply Chains on the Menu
  • • Packaging Companies Rethink the Box
  • • Green Business and Cleantech Find Common Purpose
• The GreenBiz Index
  • • Introduction
  • • Summary Chart
  • • Carbon Intensity
  • • Carbon Transparency
  • • Cleantech Investments
  • • Clean-Energy Patents
  • • Corporate Reporting
  • • Employee Commuting
  • • Employee Telecommuting
  • • Energy Efficiency
  • •Environmental Financial Impacts
  • • E-Waste
  • • Financial Impacts
  • • Green IT
  • • Green Office Space
  • • Green Power Use
  • • Greenhouse Gas Commitments
  • • Packaging Intensity
  • • Paper Use and Recycling
  • • Toxic Emissions
  • • Toxics in Manufacturing
  • • Water Intensity
  • • Credits / About Greener World Media

To download a copy of the 2010 report, please click here.