Just about every major corporation has a green message these days, but when the rubber hits the road, some are more successful than other in living up to their pledges. Condé Nast’s Portfolio magazine put a green microscope on some of the biggest U.S. companies, and published a list of those with the best and worst environmental records.

The Portfolio staff consulted dozens of government agencies, court records, and environmental watchdog groups, and spoke with representatives from the corporations themselves. The list is not meant to be comprehensive, and is admittedly somewhat subjective. The biggest names on the magazine’s “Toxic Ten” list include Apple Computer, Boeing, Cargill, Ford, Chevron, and Alcoa, and each company has a rebuttal printed alongside the list of environmental offenses.

Apple’s major offenses include using toxins such as polyvinyl chlorides and brominated flame retardants in its new iPhone, after it pledged to phase out such chemicals. The computer maker’s recycling program is a dog, too, because it offers takebacks only when you purchase a new Mac. The company has, however, offered to recycle iPhones and iPods with no such strings attached.

Boeing came under fire from Britain's Advertising Standards Authority for overstating the fuel efficiency of its 747-8 Intercontinental, and it was hit with $500,000 in water-pollution fines for its laboratory near Simi Valley, California, which exceeded limits on dumping dioxin, lead, and mercury, among other pollutants.
   
Ford Motor Co. had the second-worst fleetwide gas-mileage rating in both 2006 and 2007, according to the E.P.A., and in 2006, Ford withdrew its guarantee that it would manufacture a quarter of a million hybrid vehicles annually by 2010, opting instead to explore alternative energy sources.

Green Heroes

There was also some uplifting news in the report, as Portfolio highlighted some big corporations that are taking their environmental pledges to the bank. Bank of America, that is, which offers employees who buy hybrid cars a $3,000 cash-back incentive.

Starbucks got a green star for its "bean-to-cup" approach, which creates eco-accountability at every stage of its supply chain, with recycled-paper sleeves alone saving the equivalent of 78,000 trees in 2006.

Whole Foods was the first major U.S. corporation to purchase enough wind-energy credits to offset 100 percent of its electricity use. Somewhat surprisingly, Wal Mart made the list, too, for having one of the most ambitious environmental plans of any U.S. company: a proposal to power every store with 100 percent renewable energy.

Other companies on the green list include Dupont, GE, Innovest, Organic Valley, and Ceres. And last but not least, Austin, Texas got credit for its plans to make city operations carbon neutral by 2020.