10 Things Green Companies Won't Tell You

Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth brought environmental concerns to the masses in 2006. But many firms were already “going green,” working to create more eco-friendly systems and products. The motivator? The market, says Steve Schueth, president of First Affirmative Financial Network, a Colorado-based network of advisers. Fact is, green initiatives like energy efficiency can save companies a lot of money, says Schueth, and the good PR doesn’t hurt business either. What makes a company green, according to Jack Robinson, manager of the $186 million Winslow Green Growth fund (WGGFX) and a pioneer in environmental investing, is being involved in bona fide solutions to global warming or other environmental ills. However you define it, green business is growing: Five years ago 200 publicly traded companies worldwide met Robinson’s definition; today more than 1,000 do. But it’s not simply corporate altruism. “At the end of the day [companies] make a business decision that benefits their bottom line,” says Andrew Brengle, senior research analyst for KLD Research & Analytics, an investment research firm.