Buying greener products is just one small step toward solving the planet's environmental ills; but how do you convince companies to promote the idea of buying less?

In the face of increasing scarcity and rising costs, companies are beginning to realize that water, like energy and carbon, should be a key pillar of a corporate sustainability strategy.

Recognizing the mountains of avoidable waste and the vast opportunities for improvements, corporate cafeterias, restaurants, and catering services across the nation are targeting dining operations for their next big green initiatives.

Media hype aside, sustainability as a corporate strategy is still suspect in some arenas. When change-resistant companies begin hearing green ideas, they start seeing red flags. Until we can sell sustainability in a conservative culture, we will miss a chance for real change. So where do we begin?

Promoting your green efforts can be a precarious high-wire act, but following these guidelines can take the guesswork out of your communications strategy. (Hint: it doesn't involve Kermit the Frog...)

From helping employees visualize the impact of their waste to turning it into a revenue stream, innovative companies and consultants offer their suggestions for the best cheap and easy-to-implement green initiatives

Whether it's offering your customers a greener (and cheaper) shipping option or re-routing and re-loading your shipping fleet, there are a handful of high-impact and relatively low-strain ways to make your deliveries as planet- and customer-friendly as possible.

In this exclusive excerpt from his new book, Joel Makower offers a look at just a few of the innovative companies and thinkers that are emerging in the new green economy, changing the way industry creates everything from clothing to housing to solar energy.

The greenest office may be no office at all since facilities represent a huge expense and large source of greenhouse gas emissions as employers heat and cool rarely-used conference rooms and illuminate empty cubicles. Allowing employees to telecommute from home at least part of the week could cut costs significantly.

A new breed of innovative start-up companies are finding ways to convert CO2 into high value materials, simultaneously reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the environment and giving manufacturers a greener alternative to fossil-fuel-heavy production methods.

Billing clients and consumers electronically saves time, money, and the environment. So why are you still sending paper bills?

As the issue of green collar jobs begins to take hold, so too does the issue of social equity. It's bolstered by a number of nonprofit advocacy groups and labor unions. Interestingly, green buildings are right in the middle of it all.