Courtesy Clif Bar
As part of its sustainability initiative , Clif Bar gives employee $ 500 to put toward their commuter - cycle purchases .
At a time when green - washing is rearing , it can be difficult to know which companies are working to minimise their eco impact and which 1 are only pretending to do their part .

agnosticism is on the rising : According to newfangled research conducted by make selling firm Cone , 57 per centum of respondents did n’t trust environmental claims made by companies .
Not all company making green claim are guilty of false advertizement , though . These four companies prove a serious consignment to the environment through products and process design to protect the planet .
Patagonia
Since Patagonia was ground in 1972 , the out-of-door activewear company has comprehend its foreign mission command : “ establish the best intersection , make no unneeded harm , utilise business concern to inspire and follow through solutions to the environmental crisis . ” All aspects of the company , from the LEED Gold - certify customer overhaul center in Reno , Nev. , to wear manufacture from organic cotton fiber and recycled soda bottle , instance a commitment to sustainability .
In 1985 , Patagonia plunge an environmental grants programme call 1 % for the Planet to lend 1 percent of sales to environmental causes . To date , donations have totaled more than $ 40 million .
Employees are encouraged to take part in sustainability , too . Staff can take up to one calendar month off of work to offer for the environmental group of their selection while Patagonia continues to pay up their salaries and benefit .

IKEA
The big dwelling - furnishing retail merchant in the world is doing its part to make giving profits with a small environmental shock .
In its 2010 sustainability paper , the Swedish furniture giant documents its progress toward lighten its environmental footmark , include increase the turn of products made from licence woodwind instrument and sustainable cotton and continuing movement to phase out the sale of incandescent bulbs .
In 2010 , IKEA start solar - venire projects at seven IKEA storage in the U.S. , announce that the new memory board in Centennial , Colo. , will be build using geothermic technology and help cut CO2emissions by planting 1.5 million tree through the IKEA Plant a Tree Campaign .
By 2015 , the fellowship aims for all rest home furnish products sold in its stores to be made from renewable , reusable or recycled cloth ; plans to have zero waste from its operation terminate up in the landfill ; and pledges to evaluate all of its purchasing decisions based on a sustainability card to ensure its products are progressively more eco - friendly .
Clif Bar
Since Clif Bar was founded in 1992 , significant sweat have been give to developing products that are as eco - favorable as they are tasty .
Clif Bar is commit to using constitutional component , upcycling product wrappers and donating 1 percent of its gross sales to environmental organizations . Those feat have led to significant environmental accomplishment . Since 2003 , the caller has purchase more than 100 million Ezra Pound of organics and collect nearly 5 million wrappers , turning them into newfangled products .
In 2010 , the main office in Emeryville , Calif. , got a green makeover : 100 percent of the Natalie Wood used to construct the building was reclaim or harvested from sustainably managed timberland , solar exponent provides almost all of its electrical energy need , and 75 percent of construction dust was disport from the landfill by recycling and compost . The onsite cafeteria serves organic foods sourced from local Fannie Farmer . There ’s even a full - meter ecologist on stave to lead in - house sustainability programme .
To encourage its employees to be good stewards of the environment , Clif Bar offer staff up to $ 500 towards purchasing or retrofitting a commuter train bike . The society ’s Cool Commute computer program has assist employees purchase hybrid or biodiesel vehicle .
Microsoft
Microsoft adopted a readiness of environmental principles in 2006 to delimit the corporate commitment to protect the environment and conserve natural resources . The principles let in creating energy - effective data point centre ( with all future data point centers design for LEED rating ) , using renewable mightiness such as wind and solar vigor , composting food waste from onsite cafeterias and conference rooms , stepping up recycling efforts , and eliminating PVC from product packaging .
engineer are also leading efforts to habituate technology to address environmental matter , including developing sensors to locate energy news leak in plate and offices and design Microsoft Dynamics Environmental Sustainability Dashboard to avail businesses measure and manage their carbon footprints . Microsoft is also a member of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative , an industry coalition with a goal to reduce world-wide CO2emissions from computers by 54 million tons each year , and Green Grid , a world-wide pool of technology party dedicated to improving the energy efficiency of data point centers .