No one can deny that McDonald's food service is fast, but up until now it hasn't been very energy efficient. The company's 32,000 stores spend $1.5 billion each year on cooking, lighting, heating and cooling.

A variety of industries have been racing to eliminate toxic substances from their products, and the t-shirt screen printing business is no exception. California entrepreneurs Peter Imai and David Whitaker have taken advantage of this trend by creating Ecoprintworks.com, a site that sells toxin-free t-shirts.

IBM's recent campaign goes well beyond mere image -- and beyond green -- to envision a "smarter" world in which problems as wide-ranging as health care costs, energy and resource shortages, climate change, and traffic congestion can be addressed by systems thinking, technological innovation, and computing power.

Of the 35,000 dry cleaners in the United States, only 35 use toxin-free carbon dioxide cleaning methods. A Seattle startup called Blue Sky Cleaners is aiming to grow that number.

In a year when the economy was all the business world could talk about, our readers dug in deep to stories about creating change, overhauling the ways business gets done, and yes, how going green can save big money.

Toshiba has big plans for its rapid charge SciB (Super Charge ion Battery) battery in the new year. Due to an anticipated surge in demand for automotive and industrial applications, the company is constructing a second SCiB production facility in the fall of 2009.

New Yorkers who only skim their electric bills probably don't notice that it contains a charge for something called SBC/RPS. And why would they? The Systems Benefits Charge only averages out to $1.08 per month for most New York City residents.

The drive to create communities that balance environmental, economic and social responsibilities through planned development is growing as shown by projects in Texas, Georgia and Tennessee.

In December 2008, GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower talked with IBM Corporation's Rich Lechner, Vice President of Energy & Environment, and John Kennedy, Vice President of Integrated Marketing Communications, about the company's "Smarter Planet" advertising campaign.

Research released by the National Restaurant Association shows that Americans are looking for healthier options and "greener" restaurants when they dine out, in addition to an increased interest in value and convenience.

The Harvard University Extension School is offering a popular course on strategies for environmental management via distance learning.

Improvement is a major ingredient in the process of attaining sustainability and has to be part of what every employee does every day — day in and day out, says Robert Pojasek, who offers advice on how to set those targets.

Environmental and agriculture groups, growers and some of the world's biggest food buyers -- Wal-Mart, Sysco and Sodexo among them -- have developed a new coalition to incorporate sustainability from the field to the table for specialty crops.

At the end of this endless year of 2008, it seems nearly impossible to look to 2009 and beyond, but for investors that really is the only prerogative says Cary Krosinsky.

The state of Ohio is launching an advanced energy masters degree program in a bid to train the next generation of highly-skilled, green collar workers. Meanwhile, Butte College in Northern California is adding green building courses after receiving a grant from the National Science Foundation.