With a punk-rock do-it-yourself spirit and a zeal for changing the world, Nau is a clothing upstart that's rewriting all the rules. (Its name is Maori for "Welcome! Come in.") Within months of its March launch, it was already shaking up the industry, opening tiny "webfronts" stocked with clothes and computers at four U.S. retail locations. About half the size of traditional clothing stores, they're built with reclaimed hardwood and recycled aluminum and are much more energy-efficient to heat and power. To further encourage eco-sensitive behavior, Nau offers a 10% discount and free shipping to customers who shop in the retail stores and have their purchase shipped to them from a warehouse a few days later, which helps keep stores small.

From farm to distribution, Nau's clothes are green, too, created from materials such as corn, wool, organic cotton—even recycled polyester. The company is so dedicated to eco-friendliness that it developed 27 of its 30 fabrics with suppliers, with an eye toward sustainability. And after shoppers decide what they want, Nau donates 5% of their purchase to one of ten nonprofit organizatons.

Nau's love for the environment flows all the way from the boardroom—not surprising when you consider that founder Eric Reynolds describes himself as primarily "a mountaineer." Corporate policy always weighs financial opportunities against their impact on the earth—and that's no empty promise: Nau offsets carbon dioxide emissions and electricity use connected with product shipping and staff air travel by funding carbon-reduction projects and purchasing wind and solar power. "Do well by doing good," the company credo states. Nau does.

Burt's Bees got its start in 1984 when Roxanne Quimby, a down-on-her-luck Maine mother of twins, came across amateur beekeeper Burt Shavitz selling honey by the side of the road. Roxanne immediately fell for Burt's products. Within months, she'd cooked up a business plan and started churning out beeswax items with Burt. From the start, their stuff generated quite a buzz.

There was always something fortuitous about the duo's success, but their eco-friendliness was no accident. Over the next 23 years, as Burt's became a major force for preserving the environment, Roxanne poured millions into conserving Maine land and wildlife. The partners' planet-loving ethos remains.

Not only are Burt's Bees ingredients on average 99% natural (derived from beeswax and plant oils), but the company also forgoes artificial preservatives and hazardous chemicals and relies entirely on recycled and reusable packaging. Its 136,000-square-foot North Carolina factory (which replaced an old Maine schoolhouse) purchases carbon offsets—enough to account for 100% of electricity use in 2006—and aims to eliminate all waste by 2020. Management is currently working with industry leaders to standardize "natural" beauty product guidelines and is developing an official seal for items that use at least 95% natural ingredients and avoid chemical processing. As you might imagine, the buzz is good.

People who step into Herman Miller's 15,172-square-foot Atlanta Design Center are amazed by its natural beauty. Flooded with daylight, outfitted with sleek, energy-efficient appliances and run on sustainable power, it shines as an example of what can happen when creative ingenuity meets eco-consciousness. But then, this company helped write the rules of green design.

In 1995, Herman Miller helped found the Green Building Council, the organization that grants the coveted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification to businesses that build facilities according to sustainable principles. One of Herman Miller's own plants, the GreenHouse, even helped develop those guidelines. Today, ten of its company buildings are LEED-certified, out of 1,004 in the world.

As the company's eco-watchdogs, the 400-plus employees on Herman Miller's Environmental Quality Action team pore over every green detail. Their employer is already the largest user of renewable energy in its industry, but this team has bigger dreams: By 2020, it aims to eliminate hazardous waste, toxic emissions and landfill use at all sites. It's off to a good start, too: Six facilities already run on renewable wind power and landfill gas.

All Herman Miller products are traced from "cradle to cradle," evaluated at every step for safe content and recycla-bility. If toxins are found, the firm's Blue Marble team tries to remove them. No wonder the company is often called one of America's most admired.
 

Sometimes a good idea can go a long way. At S.C. Johnson, company scientists have devised what they call the Greenlist, a system that classifies more than 95% of raw materials used in its products based on the material's impact on the environment and human health. Each product must earn an acceptable rating before hitting the market, which makes this system a powerful tool for reducing harmful compounds while promoting healthy, effective alternatives.

The firm has already used Greenlist ratings to remove 1.8 million pounds of volatile organic compounds from Windex and now promotes a cleaner universe by offering the system royalty-free to other companies, including its competitors (as long as they sign an agreement to annually measure their environmental progress). But it's not the first time S.C. Johnson has taken such a huge step: From 2000 to 2005, it slashed greenhouse gases at its seven largest factories by 42%—thanks in part to the use of renewable landfill gas at its 2.2-million-square-foot Waxdale, WI, production facility.

A charter member of the EPA's Climate Leaders program, S.C. Johnson has eliminated chlorine in external packaging and uses shipping containers composed of 95% recycled corrugate. It keeps an eye out for the younger generation, too: The 10,000-square-foot addition to its child-care center at headquarters has received a LEED certification for its eco-friendliness.