-By Jenny McTaggart

Being green is definitely not easy—but that's not stopping the manufacturing community from seizing upon environmental sustainability as a major strategic initiative. The challenge is that "green" comes in many shades. In other words, there are a vast number of ways that companies can get involved—and at least for now, there's no uniform gauge by which to measure the extent and effectiveness of what a given company is doing to be more environmentally responsible.

In fact, some observers say corporate America right now is operating in a Green Wild West where clear rules are few and some folks are shooting from the hip. The potential for abuse in the name of "green" is quite palpable—and as a result some in the industry are eager to impose some order, in the forms of definitions, standards, and measurements.

Meanwhile a great many consumer packaged goods companies have been making commitments to sustainability, in some cases for a number of years, but for the most part it's still too early to tell what the true impact has been on either the environment or bottom lines. To read more, click here.