In addition to benefiting the environment, reducing environmentally harmful activities has clear and substantial business benefits. There is a direct monetary benefit to reducing energy consumption. Lower electricity bills translate into greater savings, for example. Becoming sustainable provides companies with competitive advantages, as well.  Investors, employees, and clients are beginning to hold companies more accountable for their carbon emissions and other environmentally harmful activities. Benefits to companies who become sustainable may include recruiting and retention advantages, investor opportunities, and customer acquisition advantages. Recent articles in the business press have been common, including a February 26, 2007 article in BusinessWeek was entitled Carbon Consciousness Hits Consumers, citing dozens of major corporations who have committed to environmental initiatives. In research work cited on the site http://www.global100.org, Orlitzky, Schmidt, and Rynes find that environmental responsibility pays off financially. Guenster, Derwall, Bauer, and Koedijk conclude, "...eco-efficiency relates to operating performance."

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