Jeffrey Hollender is often regarded as the co-founder of Seventh Generation, but his green-business prowess goes far beyond his former brand of eco-friendly products. Hollender returns to Green is Good to discuss his motivation behind starting the American Sustainable Business Council and the changing of the tides in the way some of America’s biggest companies do business.

“What we’re seeing today that is very encouraging is some very large, multinational companies embracing [an eco-minded] philosophy,” Hollender says. “There really is no excuse for other large companies not to be doing the same thing.”

Mike Bellamente is the Director of Climate Counts, a national nonprofit aimed at bringing consumers and corporations together. The organization rates companies on their commitment to cut greenhouse gases and reduce their carbon footprints.

Bellamente explains the origins of the nonprofit perfectly: “The average Joe on the street doesn’t know how to weed out the green marketing that goes on,” he explains. “Wouldn’t it be cool if we developed a report card that boils down all the things that companies are doing into one score?”

Brian Clark Howard is a wearer of several hats as an award-winning journalist, author, editor and producer. Growing up as an outdoorsy kid in the Midwest led Howard down a professional path that has always kept the environment close. Most notably, Howard has worked since 2011 as the editor and producer of nationalgeographic.com.

“A lot of people say we have a long way to go in terms of energy and the way we live our lives,” Howard explains. “But I think people are much more mindful now. In that sense, [eco-awareness] is much more mainstream now. People can’t hide from the environment.”

As Head of Consumer Affairs at GM, James Bell is tasked with analyzing the automotive industry and projecting future trends and forecasts. Bell has taken a particular interest in technologies like electric vehicles, clean diesel and alternative fuels.

“From General Motors in particular you are going to see much more diverse use of the technology you see in the [Chevy] Volt today – an electric car with range extension,†Bell predicts. “It takes away the very real fear of range anxiety. People are using them as electric vehicles — they are going to the gas station once every thousand miles.â€