Big biz misses green mark

Businesses took notice of environmental issues in 2007, but corporations still have a long way to go when it comes to sustainability, according to a new report.

The State of Green Business 2008 by editors at GreenBiz.com evaluated the efforts of companies to go green based on 20 indicators, including clean-technology investments and e-waste recovery. The idea was to get a gauge on whether businesses are adopting green practices. According to the site’s editors, only eight of the 20 indicators showed progress, about half of them remained relatively level and two actually declined.

Among the companies in the study, Wal-Mart was credited for having a significant impact on the sustainability movement by its decision to sell 100 million energy-saving compact fluorescent lights. Google also received high marks for investing in renewable energy. The full report is available at www.stateofgreenbusiness.com.