key to Steelcase Inc.'s business sustainability practices and its design strategy lies in its approach, says Angela Nahikian, the company's director of Global Environmental Sustainability. That approach may come as a surprise to some people who have tracked this industry leader and its nearly 100-year history of innovation. Nahikian talks to GreenBiz Radio about her company and the concept of "radical evolution."

Rand Waddoups, Wal-Mart's senior director of Business Strategy and Sustainability, provides an insider's update on Wal-Mart's efforts toward sustainability, its progress and its next big challenges.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- 3M, the company behind the ubiquitous Post-It notes, secures new sustainable forestry certification through U.S.-based Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

CHICAGO, Ill. -- A coalition of electric utility companies today released a set of voluntary environmental standards aimed at developing and spreading best practices for utilities' suppliers.

The noose continues to tighten around toxic chemicals in products and corporate supply chains. Notwithstanding the protestations of some trade associations about their products' safety, it's becoming increasingly clear that if your company has a high profile chemical in your product or your supply chain, the likelihood of your suffering toxic lockout from the marketplace and having your supply chain disrupted is increasing rapidly, writes Richard Liroff.

So what are we to make of the fact that Lay's potato chips now promote themselves as a locally grown food, asks Marc Gunther. Do we thank Michael Pollan for this?

SALEM, Ore. -- Ever wonder what it takes to make a single-serve tray of heat-and-eat chili? The folks at Truitt Brothers Inc. did, and the Oregon-based food processor now lays claim to being the first firm to have a lifecycle assessment conducted by the Institute for Environmental Research and Education to determine the environmental impacts that result from a food product.

You almost surely don't know, and you may not care, the environmental impact of what you're wearing, but brands and retailers are digging deep into their supply chains to better understand the environmental and social footprints of the things they make and sell.

There’s encouraging news from Aveda, the hair care and beauty company that has just achieved what’s known as a cradle-to-cradle endorsement.

If you have walked the aisles of your favorite retailer recently, you may have noticed that the number of environmental claims and eco-labels continues to increase. From self-declared, manufacturer-invented eco-labels to third-party labels, there is no lack of variety. In the eco-label industry, there is a constant battle over which type of label is best.

An agricultural innovation called "adaptive nutrient management" might be better described as social networking for farmers, write Marc Gunther. The Iowa Soybean Association has learned that when you get farmers networking -- in their case, face to face, usually after the growing season is over -- they learn to use fertilizer a lot more efficiently.

It's a myth that reducing pesticide use has to mean higher costs and fewer choices. Leading companies have been systematically reducing pesticide use, thereby cutting costs while also lowering hazards to farm families and workers, local communities and the environment. Smart companies that want their supply chains to be more sustainable can profit from learning what industry leaders already know about living with fewer pesticides.

This week, two divisions of the biotech company announced green goals: the million-dollar funding of a sustainable farming center and the arrival of over 1,400 sheep to maintain landscaping at a Bay Area Bayer campus.