Appliances

The public relations war waged by groups like Wal-Mart Watch and Wake Up Wal-Mart on the country's largest employer—and for a long time, biggest corporate villain—appears to be entering détente. Nearly half of the staffers at the two organizations have been let go, and Wal-Mart has in turn, scaled back its public relations efforts—which were ramped up several years ago to engender good will in the face of heavy criticism.

Many things that end up on the curb each week aren't thrown out because they're broken or even obsolete — they're just not useful to their owner anymore and they take up too much space. Five years ago, a man by the name of Deron Beal set out to make us think twice about the value of the stuff we no longer use, through a network of community message boards called Freecycle.

Many of the top electronics companies have instituted recycling programs in recent years, aiming to cut down on consumer waste and the release of dangerous chemicals into landfills. But what if you can't find that little envelope that came with your cell phone or printer cartridge, or if the nearest drop off center is a hundred miles from your house?

No company wants to be known for employing children in sweatshops or coating their products in lead paint, but intricate supply chains filled with contractors and subcontractors have helped to insulate global corporations from the responsibility of ensuring that their products are safe and ethical.

The consumer and business electronics giant Canon unveiled a 2008 plan for making its packaging and products more friendly to environment and buyers. Using the tag line “Generation Green”, Canon created three categories of marketing and product manufacturing practices intended to help consumers identify Canon as a green conscious company with a range of green goods and policies.