GreenBiz.com

The National Cleaners Association has developed a process for cleaners to determine how green their entire operations are.

The NCA’s Green Cleaners Council and its five-level rating system rolls out this month, covering everything from solvents to delivery vehicles to insulated pipes.

“It’s what you are doing in your store, whether you are recycling hangers, whether you’re using recyclable bags,” said Ann Hargrove, director of special projects for the NCA. “How do you handle everything from the front of the store to the back of the store?”

Green initiatives may be helping shipping and logistics companies achieve internal goals, but it isn't useful in attracting or retaining business, according to a recent survey.

The "2008 3PL Provider CEO Perspective" found third-party logistics providers serving the North American, European and the Asia-Pacific markets expect environmental issues to take on increasing importance during the next three years.

Some of the world's most influential groups in environmentalism and tourism have joined forces to set standards for eco-friendly and socially responsible business operations in the industries catering to travelers.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria were announced this week at the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

Lockheed Martin has been chosen to help commercialize a process that uses the difference in heat between shallow and deep water to provide energy.

The company was awarded a cooperative agreement contract by the U.S. Department of Energy valued at up to $1.2 million.

Lockheed Martin will work on new technologies related to ocean thermal energy conversion, a process that utilizes both warm shallow water and cold deep water from the ocean to generate power.

As gas prices continue to rise and more companies measure the carbon footprints of their employees, more businesses are encouraging and giving incentives to employees to get to work in ways other than alone in a car.

Seventy percent of employers surveyed by TransitCenter believe they need to take the lead in encouraging employees to reduce the impact of their commutes. Companies are also worried that they will need to increase salaries to make up for increasing commuting costs, and many companies link rising commuting costs to employee retention.

The top ten states in the 2008 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard are almost identical to those in the previous rankings, though some states are quickly moving up in the lower rankings, showing how much action they have taken on energy efficiency over the past few years.

Cleantech stands to make the Pacific Northwest a leader in a low-carbon economy and deliver thousands of local green collar jobs by 2025, according to a new study.

Research firm Clean Edge [Disclosure: GreenBiz Executive Editor Joel Makower is a Clean Edge co-founder] and nonprofit Climate Solutions pinpointed five cleantech sectors that present the most promising opportunities to drive the region's future economic engine in "Carbon-Free Prosperity 2025." Cleantech could generate as many as 63,000 new jobs in Washington and Oregon, while at the same time, renewable energy could comp

Event management and consulting firm Meeting Strategies Worldwide is offering two online tools to help planners select meeting sites based on the eco-friendliness of prospective locations and the estimated carbon emissions resulting from air travel.

The company launched Best Places to MeetGreen, the home of the MeetGreen Scorecard and Calculator, at the start of the month. Both are free to use, although cities must pay a fee to be listed among scorecard destinations with green attributes, which are verified by the company.

Over the course of the last couple years, IBM -- famously known as Big Blue -- has begun a significant shift toward the green end of the spectrum.

With the launch of its Big Green Innovations program in 2007, the company is making big plans to apply its technological and organizational skills to all sorts of environmental problems, including carbon management systems, smart grid technologies, and environmental modeling.

Water, it is often said, will be the oil of the 21st century. With climate change and global economic growth, water is being used at rates never before seen.

With water being the only resource we can't live without, it's no surprise that companies and governments alike are developing strategies to manage water more wisely. In recent months, groups ranging from GE to Coca-Cola to Dow, as well as the country's governors have announced plans to make the most of our most precious resource.