PNC coined and trademarked all its branches "green branches." To give it credit, the company does take major steps toward being environmentally friendly, with 15 of its 40 banks earning U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. In total, the firm has more LEED-certified buildings (42) than any other company, regardless of industry.

The moving company, Movers Not Shakers, received a trademark for its "GothamBoxes," reusable plastic crates for moving that replace cardboard boxes. Apparently one crates holds the equivalent of 100 cardboard boxes. I'm not sure how they actually work, because this sounds very similar to Pods and the company's Web site doesn't have a photo. But boxes certainly make carrying items between locations easier. It could take many more trips to carry handfuls of belongings at a time rather than boxes.

I doubt the efficiency of GothamBoxes, which gets me thinking about the potential for "greenwashing" that could so easily come with green trademarks, Green trademarks are wonderful advertising techniques for companies, and while they may indeed mark the seal of an environmentally-minded company, they are definitely worth investigating yourself.