Green Giants: Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia; recycling computer parts at H-PThe current issue of Fortune is a treasure trove of stories of companies that got the green religion. Some did it from the standpoint of a moral imperative. Others did it for the other type of green — money. The cover issue is about the so-called "coolest company" on earth, Patagonia, maker of outdoor apparel and gear. Alas, it is not a public company.

However, other stories are more complex. Take, for example, the case of Dupont (NYSE:DD). After decades of resisting pressure about their ozone-depleting CFC's, the company learned that CFC-substitutes not only soothed environmentalists, but also increased profits. This caused the CEO to direct his team to find similar innovations. The result is a reduction in greenhouse gases on the order of 76 percent. Of course, as with many of the most astounding cases of reduction, it logically follows that they were heavy polluters to begin with. Other features in the article include Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and their project financing innovations, Swiss Re (OTC:SWCEY) and its weather-derivative innovations, and Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and its industry-leading e-waste initiatives.

Socially Responsible Investors often fall into three categories. Some object to owning companies involved in dirty businesses. For these, Dupont will never be acceptable. They do, after all, still make Teflon which has been shown to have ill health effects. Another category accept that, as long as the company leads its field, and makes genuine efforts (without greenwashing), it is worth owning. Waste Management (NYSE: WMI), for example, is clearly in a dirty business, but among waste companies, it has a pretty respectable agenda for accomplishing its economic reason for being without trashing the planet. The third category, and the one I find most exciting, is the customer who recognizes that there is money to be made in being more efficient.

Which one are you?

Mark Brandon is the owner of First Sustainable, a Registered Investment Advisory, catering to socially responsible investors. His column appears in Green Options on Mondays.

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