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101 Companies Committed To Reducing Their Carbon Footprint

Blake Morgan

Today’s companies know they aren’t just working for the present, they’re investing in the future. As climate change and other environmental issues take center stage and impact all areas of our lives, responsible companies are taking initiative to reduce their carbon footprints. Even small actions can have a big environmental impact.

These 101 companies are committed to reducing their carbon footprints and setting examples for others in their industries. These companies use innovative solutions and aggressive goals to see real results.


  1. Land O’Lakes. The large co-op provides resources to agriculture startups and gives them resources to follow eco-friendly farming practices.
  2. John Deere. The farming equipment company aims to recycle 85% of materials and reduce carbon emissions on 90% of new products to create sustainable inventory.
  3. Cargill. The company maps emissions to lower carbon output through the entire supply chain and has a goal to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2025.
  4. Monsanto. The company was among the first to create carbon-neutral crop production practices that it uses on millions of acres of farmland.
  5. Nutrien. The agricultural company encourages innovative practices from its farmers to create healthy soil and environmental sustainability.
  6. Archer Daniels Midland. The innovative company is among the first to create sustainability-focused labs and provides resources to smaller farmers around the world.
  7. Indigo Agriculture. The startup has a goal to capture 1 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide from farmland by encouraging sustainable soil practices.
  8. Coca-Cola. The soda company is fiercely dedicated to sustainable agriculture and is working towards sustainably sourcing all key ingredients by 2020 and reducing its carbon footprint by 25% by 2025.
  9. Good Eggs. The grocery delivery service limits its carbon footprint by only sourcing local, sustainably grown food and requiring a completely transparent supply chain.
  10. Stonyfield Organic. The company plans to cut its carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 by focusing on energy and waste conservation, sustainable packaging and logistics.


  1. BMW. The BMW Group is regularly named the world’s most sustainable car manufacturer for its efforts to create fuel-saving and alternative cars with clean production processes.
  2. Valeo. Ranked as the 5th most sustainable French company in any industry, Valeo has invested millions in sustainability and creates innovative solutions to lower its cars’ carbon emissions.
  3. Honda. Honda is ranked as one of the most fuel-efficient auto manufacturers in the U.S. because of its innovative practices to cut carbon emissions and develop a hydrogen fuel-powered vehicle.
  4. Ford. In 2010, Ford set a public goal to cut its carbon emissions by 30% in 15 years, but with aggressive initiatives it reached that goal in half the time.
  5. Tesla. Known for its electric cars, everything Tesla does is sustainable, from the cars it creates to the manufacturing processes to build them.
  6. Toyota. Toyota created the Prius as the first mass-market hybrid car and continues to push the envelope with innovative designs to lower carbon emissions.
  7. Subaru. Subaru and its parent company Fuji Heavy earned a perfect score in water productivity for eliminating excess water use during manufacturing.
  8. Volkswagen. VW recently introduced sustainability ratings for all of its suppliers so it can better pinpoint environmental concerns and create a carbon-neutral manufacturing process.
  9. Hyundai. Hyundai and Kia have made huge strides in recent years to create high-efficiency models of their sports models, which lowers fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
  10. Fiat-Chrysler. In the past few years, the company has cut carbon emissions by a third and dropped the waste generated per vehicle by nearly 60%.


  1. United Airlines. The airline invested more than $16 billion to replace all of its airplanes with more fuel-efficient models and looks to continually lower its carbon emissions.
  2. Celebrity Cruises. The entire LED light system of its Solstice ship is powered by on-board solar panels, plus it has a filtration system that almost completely cleans wastewater.
  3. Hyatt. Hyatt is working to reduce water use per guest per night by 25% by 2020, as well as increasing recycling and building sustainable new hotels.
  4. ANA Holdings. Named the world’s most sustainable airline, ANA is the first global airline to issue Green Bonds to offset carbon emission and raise money for eco-friendly programs.
  5. Kimpton. Among its many sustainability efforts, Kimpton uses all-natural cleaning products and recycles soap and hygiene products.
  6. American Airlines. The airline has made large efforts to move towards renewable energy; all of the electricity purchased at its DFW headquarters now comes from renewable sources.
  7. Greyhound. The entire fleet of busses use clean-burning fuel and avoids idling to cut carbon emissions.
  8. Hilton Hotels. The company has an aggressive program to cut its footprint in half by 2030 and increase its sourcing from local suppliers.
  9. Lyft. Every ride taken on Lyft is carbon neutral because the company makes donations to offset carbon emissions, including offsetting a million metric tons in its first year.
  10. Alaska Airlines. Alaska was the first airline to remove plastic straws from its flights and airport lounges.


  1. Disney. At all of its parks, Disney uses zero net direct greenhouse gas emissions and has a zero-waste policy so that nothing ends up in landfills.
  2. Starbucks. The coffee giant aims to be free of plastic straws by 2020 by redesigning its cold drink cups with a strawless lid that is being rolled out in the U.S. and Canada.
  3. McDonald’s. Switching to energy-efficient appliances at its restaurants cut energy waste by 25%; it also plans to source all of its packaging from recycled materials by 2025.
  4. Dunkin’. The coffee brand will switch all of its coffee from foam cups to paper cups by 2020, which will eliminate 1 billion foams cups from landfills each year.
  5. Taco Bell. The restaurant sources its ingredients sustainably and is a leader in meatless options made from eco-friendly ingredients.
  6. Subway. The sandwich chain gets many ingredients from sustainable family farms to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions from transporting food.
  7. Shake Shack. All locations are powered with renewable energy from wind farms, and the restaurant recycles packaging and cooking oil and composts food waste.
  8. Panera Bread. The restaurant made headlines for its innovative sustainability when it updated its menu to include ethically raised food in compostable packaging.
  9. Chipotle. A strong supporter of sustainable farming, Chipotle uses eco-friendly ingredients and installs solar panels on many of its restaurants.
  10. Dominos. The pizza chain uses 100% recyclable boxes and lowers its carbon footprint by experimenting with robotic pizza delivery.


  1. Helsinki, Finland. The vast majority of Helsinki’s hotel rooms are certified environmentally friendly, and it creates a clean city by encourage residents to bike and walk.
  2. Rejkavik, Iceland. The city plans to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 by encouraging residents to walk or use public transportation on its new hydrogen-powered busses.
  3. Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver produces the lowest greenhouse emissions of any major city in North America and has initiatives for continued environmental improvements.
  4. San Francisco, California. The city is working towards diverting all of its waste away from landfills in the next few years and has banned harmful items like plastic bags and water bottles.
  5. Berlin, Germany. The innovative city has a huge network of electric bike charging stations, rental kiosks and bike paths to encourage residents to leave their cars behind.
  6. Portland, Oregon. Portland’s use of renewable energy is far above the national average, with one-third of all power coming from sustainable sources.
  7. Cape Town, South Africa. The city invests heavily in renewable energy and wind power, as well as public transportation and safer bike paths and accessibility.
  8. Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm is investing in smart and eco-friendly improvements in an effort to remove the use of fossil fuels by 2040. 
  9. Copenhagen, Denmark. The city regularly receives environmental awards for its overwhelming use of public transportation and is on pace to become the first carbon-neutral city in the world by 2025.
  10. Curitiba, Brazil. The city recycles 70% of its waste and offers residents incentives like for recycling and reusing household items.


  1. Levi Strauss & Co. Levi’s is fighting the fashion industry’s notorious waste with a line of jeans made of recycled water bottles as well as partnerships with other eco-friendly clothing brands.
  2. Walmart. Walmart stores use 100% renewable energy sources, and the company even cut ties with suppliers that had manufacturing or distribution practices that added to carbon emissions.
  3. Brooks. The running shoe company created a completely biodegradable shoe that is both durable and eco-friendly.
  4. Target. Every Target store makes efforts to conserve light energy, and the company prioritizes eco-friendly products made with sustainable materials.
  5. Nike. Nike has strengthened its connections with environmentally friendly suppliers around the world and has a line of sustainable products made of recycled materials.
  6. Patagonia. The outdoor company is committed to having at least 75% of its materials sourced from sustainable places, and it donates 1% of profits to groups cutting carbon emissions and helping the environment.
  7. IKEA. All of Ikea’s cotton and half of its wood is sourced from sustainable farmers, and it is working to become a net energy exporter by 2020.
  8. Panasonic. The electronics company moved its headquarters to a LEED-certified building to cut down on employee commuting pollution.
  9. Home Depot. The store invests in eco-friendly products, including lumber from sustainable tree farms, and updated energy usage at its stores to promote conservation.
  10. REI. The outdoor co-op has high sustainability standards for its products and works to ensure eco-friendly practices throughout the entire supply chain.


  1. Siemens. Siemens has big plans to cut its carbon emissions in half and become completely carbon neutral by 2030 by using renewable energy at its factories.
  2. S.C. Johnson. The household product manufacturer replaced nearly all of its coal power with natural gas and cut millions of pounds of waste from manufacturing its products.
  3. Pratt & Whitney. By using new manufacturing methods, Pratt & Whitney cut back 90% of the ingots it uses to make jet engine blades, leading to a huge drop in wasted materials and much lower factory emissions.
  4. HP Inc. The company revamped its products to make every item completely recyclable and runs e-waste recycling plants around the world.
  5. Unilever. The Sustainable Living Plan aims to double the company’s business and half its environmental impact in 10 years.
  6. DowDuPont. The company continually pushes new sustainability goals, such as lowering its greenhouse gas emissions by 7% and reducing non-renewable energy use by 10% by 2020.
  7. Samsung. The electronics company is replacing plastic packaging with sustainable materials like recycled items and bio plastics and updating product designs to cut waste.
  8. Philips. The company drastically increased its energy efficiency in manufacturing and creates innovative and award-winning green products.
  9. Umicore. Named a top 10 company in the world for sustainability, Umicore recycles materials to recover more than 20 types of metals that can be reused.
  10. Dixie Chemical Company. The company uses on-site recycling and water reclamation processes to cut waste and water and air pollution.


  1. Google. The company relies on renewable energy and purchases enough renewable energy to match the electricity it consumes.
  2. Dell. Dell uses big data analytics to track energy consumption in its facilities and make cuts as necessary, including changing its packaging to wheat straw that requires 40% less energy to produce.
  3. eBay. A robust return policy and used item marketplace encourages customers to exchange or reuse items instead of throwing them away.
  4. IBM. Sustainability is at the core of IBM’s mission, and it leads the way with smart buildings and water resource management to reduce demand and support sustainable energy.
  5. Adobe. Adobe has earned awards for its efforts to move to net zero energy and to create LEED-certified offices and reduce water consumption by more than 60%.
  6. Amazon. Amazon’s vast facilities use energy-efficient lights and solar panels, plus 10 renewable energy farms that power most of the data centers.
  7. Facebook. The company is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas footprint by 75% and use only renewable energy by 2020.
  8. Apple. The company runs completely on renewable energy and has lowered the energy output of its products by 70% in the last decade.
  9. Intel. The tech company is also focused on water preservation and aims to reduce its per-unit water consumption by 2020.
  10. Microsoft. The company has a goal to reduce its carbon footprint by 75% by 2030 and has an internal carbon fee that it charges departments for carbon emissions to encourage them to be more eco-friendly.


  1. Turner Construction Company. Committed to being a green builder, Turner is cutting on-site construction greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption in half by 2030.
  2. Wilmott Dixon. The company offsets its carbon emissions by investing in global programs to reduce carbon by the same amount that it produces.
  3. ThyssenKrupp. The steel company is switching from coal to hydrogen power to purify iron ore, which will drastically cut carbon emissions.
  4. Central Concrete. The California cement company is transitioning to low-carbon cement mixes and turning carbon emissions from other companies into an important ingredient in its own materials.
  5. McCarthy. McCarthy is dedicated to sustainability in all its operations and builds net zero energy buildings that create as much renewable energy on site as they use.
  6. Clark Construction Group. As one of the top green construction companies in the U.S., the Clark Group has delivered more than 68 million square feet of LEED-certified projects.
  7. LafargeHolcim. By tweaking the chemical makeup of its concrete and cement, the company lowered its carbon output by 40%.
  8. Hensel Phelps. By expanding its fleet with hybrid vehicles, the company is able to reduce on-site carbon emissions at its LEED-certified construction sites.  
  9. Holder Construction. The company uses recycled materials and energy-efficient systems in its projects, as well as designs made with the environment in mind.
  10. Swinerton. Instead of relying on paper, the company uses an app to streamline processes as it expands its renewable energy projects.

Pure Innovation

  1. OmniEarth. The company is transforming the agricultural and lawncare industries with the ultimate renewable resource: worms for better soil and crops without pesticides.
  2. Bank of America. Over five years, the bank cut its paper usage by 32% and recycles 30,000 tons of paper every year with an innovative recycling program.
  3. Voya Financial. By limiting employee travel and reducing paper and water waste, the company has drastically cut its carbon footprint.
  4. Sprint. Sprint has one of the most environmentally friendly campuses in the country at its Kansas headquarters, which include solar powers, a water recapture system and even a PETA-approved dog program to control the bird population.
  5. Lush Cosmetics. Among its many eco-friendly practices, Lush offers free products to customers who bring in empty containers to recycle and designs its products to limit packaging and waste.
  6. Citibank. The company is investing $100 billion in a 10-year commitment to sustainable growth and plans to be completely powered by renewable energy by 2020.
  7. UnitedHealthcare Group. The company performed a waste audit to see areas for improvement and is moving towards completely paperless internal communication, which could save 130,000 trees.
  8. Nestlé. Among its many eco-friendly initiatives, Nestlé recycles coffee grounds to supplement fuel in 22 of its factories around the world.
  9. Seventh Generation. The company changed its industry by showing that cleaning products can be effective and eco-friendly by removing harmful chemicals and using recycled packaging.
  10. Cisco. The company relies on renewable energy and designs its products so they can easily be returned instead of getting thrown away.

And lastly Tesla, in a category of its own. Led by unstoppable innovator Elon Musk, who won't sleep until we create a future planet our children can inhabit. With Tesla and SolarCity, businesses like Musk's give us hope for the future.

These 101 companies are leading the way to a carbon-neutral future by proactively finding ways to reduce their footprints and help the environment.

 Blake Morgan is a keynote speaker, customer experience futurist and the author of two books including her new "The Customer Of The Future." Stay in touch with her weekly on her newsletter.

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