Scan any business or newspaper and it’s clear that the “green wave” is breaking over the whole corporate beach. Consumer products companies like Nike and Clorox, automakers like Toyota, GM and Nissan, retailers like Wal-Mart, food and beverage companies like Nestle, Unilever and Coca Cola, even bankers like CitiGroup and Bank of America, and insurance firms like SwissRe are making massive commitments and investments in renewable energy, clean technologies, energy conservation and renewable and other cradle-to-cradle and conservation strategies.

In two weeks JP Morgan went from underwriting illegal clear cutting of forests in Indonesia to blocking those funds and promoting sustainable forestry practices in its investments. CitiGroup has announced 50 billion dollars to cut waste carbon and fund wind, solar, biofuels and other renewable technologies.

Home Depot has been replacing its wood products with certified sustainable forestry ones. Google is funding clean energy, Nestle and Coca Cola protecting water sources and reducing packaging and developing compostable bioplastic bottles.

There are many reasons for this. First of all, the public and consumers are demanding it. Globe Scan, a highly respected research firm, surveyed 25,000 people and found that 69% held companies “completely responsible” for not harming the environment. In addition, the people identified as “mainstream activists” - people most likely to act on their expectations of companies through their consumer behavior - jumped from 38% to 45% of the population by 2007. In other surveys, over 50% of people prefer to buy products from companies with good environmental reputations.

It also makes good business sense. Goldman Sachs did a study of energy, mining, steel, food, beverage and media companies, and found that the leaders in environmental and socially responsible practices outperformed the stock market by 25%, and their peers by 72%!

And oh yes, it helps to preserve the planet and its resources for future generations, too. Turns out folks in companies have kids and grandchildren too, and that they actually care about what happens to them.

In The Necessary Revolution, we list 7 benefits companies can achieve by truly “going green”.

1. There’s real money to be saved. GE saved $13 million a year just by upgrading to high efficiency lights in their plants, and another $70 million annually on energy conservation efforts across the company.
2. There’s real money to be made. Green building starts are now a $60 billion market. General Mills used to pay $100/ton to have their oat hulls hauled off. Now they sell them as biofuels and make more money than they used to spend on landfilling them. So much for hauling oats.
3. Provides customers with a competitive edge. Greenopolis Partner Anvil Knitwear provides Greenopolis Partner Nike with organic cotton garments for their line of organic cotton apparel.
4. Stand out from the competition. Enterprise Rent-A-Car has thousands of hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles and more than 10 times as many fuel conserving vehicles as their competitors. Green Activists, take notice.
5. Leaders shape the industry. European carmakers like BMW have taken the lead in things like fuel conservation, recapture, and remanufacturing of autos and parts. Sony has developed a system for taking back electronics at the end of their life. These companies have helped shape the regulations that others must now play catch-up to meet.
6. Other companies prefer to do business with the good guys. Costco, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and other companies are insisting that their suppliers meet greener standards, eliminate waste and conserve resources.
7. Improves brand and image. People think better of companies that are making a real effort to eliminate waste, conserve energy, and treat people well. Nike was hit hard for labor practices in the early 1990’s, now they are regarded as one the most environmentally and socially ethical companies in the world. They’ve cut their CO2 “footprint” by 75%, eliminated toxic solvents in footwear, and set the standard for treating workers well.

There’s no turning back on this path. The companies that change and adapt will be the new mammals inheriting the world, the rest, dinosaurs headed for extinction.