going green

Going green has long been considered a luxury, something groups and individuals only do when they can afford it. And in our current economic climate, it would seem that almost no one can. But being environmentally friendly and fiscally responsible are not mutually exclusive imperatives, as the following examples show.

Mother Earth is getting a little bit of relief as more companies yield to pressure from environmentalists and activist shareholders to reduce their carbon footprints. But Gaia isn't the only one who's benefiting: Just ask some of the companies that have saved serious greenbacks by going green.

Turn out the (incandescent) lights, the party's over at IKEA. The home furnishings company announced this week that it will dump incandescent light bulbs from its product offerings, part of its effort to support sustainabilty and save customers money. The company will continue to sell fluorescent...

Where would you want to open a prototype "green" restaurant? McDonald's (MCD) has decided to do so on the south side of Chicago. The new restaurant starts with the typical standalone McDonald's unit we are used to seeing and uses "smarter design elements" to save the store 25 percent per year in...