By Sarah Brown

In September I received a call from a reporter at Newsweek regarding their extensive evaluation of the nation’s largest companies’ environmental performance. The reporter wanted to know our take on greenwashing – the ugly specter of companies capitalizing on “green” while not actually practicing it. Having labored the last 18 months to provide transparent data on local businesses’ environmental performance, I was thrilled to be included in the national conversation about sustainable commerce.

Here at the Green Alliance, one of the most important services we offer our partnering businesses -- and the customers that frequent them -- is our GA Toolkit. Consisting of an extensive 50-question Evaluation, resulting Report Card, and publish-ready Green Story, the Toolkit is a way of systematically and objectively evaluating businesses and their green credentials. It is also an important service to the community, providing transparent data on local companies’ products and practices – ultimately empowering the consumer to make better choices. We publish the results of our Sustainability Toolkit for all to see on our website www.greenalliance.biz.

With 63 green Business Partners joining our Alliance in just over a year, it is clear that commerce is paying attention to the new-found environmental values of the consumer. And what we have experienced right here on the Seacoast -- nothing short of an explosion of individual and commercial interest in sustainability -- is clearly rippling across the nation.

While we are proud to say there isn't another evaluation out there like the one we conduct in the Green Alliance, we were buoyed to learn of the large-scale environmental accounting undertaken by Newsweek, one the nation's largest publications. Indeed, all the noise and interest surrounding these rankings of the country’s largest commercial players raises the bar for us all. It reminds us that if we want to truly protect our planet we must start thinking beyond the car we drive and the energy we use at home, and extend those environmental values right into the goods and services we purchase on a daily basis.

In a project that took 18 months to complete, Newsweek Magazine published their first ever "Green Rankings" -- an extensive and incredibly detailed snapshot of where every corporation on the S&P 500 stands in terms of green initiatives, environmental impact, and overall "reputation" for all to see. The three categories were weighted as follows: 45% for environmental impact; 45% for green policies / initiatives; and 10% for reputation. You can find out the details of each companies environmental performance at .

With Newsweek’s report, we are thrilled that now, coupled with the Green Alliance data we generate on local businesses, Seacoast residents can peak behind the curtain of the largest manufacturers – and put their money down on the table after obtaining access to ALL the important information about a company. So doing business with someone is no longer just a question of performance, style and functionality, but also included in that assessment are the metrics of that business’ environmental performance. We the consumers must let each and every business know that we expect attention to ALL of these things – not perfection in all of these fields, but at least a healthy consideration.