Yahoo!
It may be a little easier to see how a company like General Electric
Through its ecomagination initiative, for instance, GE aims to develop more energy-efficient products like its compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, which use up to 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. Likewise, a company like Wal-Mart
This past May, Yahoo! launched a website called Yahoo! Green with the primary aim of "raising awareness" of environmental issues -- like the benefits of replacing old bulbs with new CFL ones. Its 18seconds.org website actually tracks the number of CFL bulbs sold nationally and locally. Try it out yourself -- it is pretty cool. I entered in the city where I live -- Columbus, Ohio -- and found out that as of Jan. 1, 2007, it was ranked 61st in the U.S in terms of CFL bulb purchases per capita. We Buckeyes have some work to do, obviously.
This is just one of many examples of Yahoo!'s efforts to promote green through its online networks. Additionally, Yahoo! Autos offers the "Green Center" that is available to prospective car buyers looking for fuel-efficient vehicles. Similarly, Yahoo! News has a subsection devoted solely to environmental news.
Yahoo! isn't alone in its effort to use the e-world to promote a green one. News Corp.'s
By spreading the "good" news through a network that generates ads, Yahoo! offers a perfect example of how a business does what it is designed to do (make money) while simultaneously doing what it ought to do (make a positive difference in the world).
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Fool contributor Jeremy MacNealy has no financial interest in any company mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.