By Marianne Wilson

(September 21, 2009) Nike, Starbucks Corp., Kohl’s Corp. and Staples rank among the greenest companies in America, according to the first-ever Newsweek Green Rankings 2009. The report rates America's 500 largest publicly traded companies (as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees), according to their sustainability efforts.

As determined by the study, the Top 10 greenest companies in America are:

1. Hewlett-Packard Co.
2. Dell 
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel Corp.
5. IBM
6. State Street Corp.
7. Nike
8. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
9. Applied Materials
10. Starbucks Corp.

Newsweek also broke out the list by industry sector, determining the Top 10 greenest companies in their respective industries. In the retail segment, Kohl’s Corp., No. 18 on the overall list, came out on top. The report noted that Kohl’s has the largest solar-power program of any retailer globally.

Other retailers in the top 100 included Staples (#20), McDonald’s (22); Gap (38); Macy’s (50); Wal-Mart (59); Best Buy (61); Whole Foods Market (67); Target (72); and Tiffany (98).

The 500 companies on the list were ranked on the basis of three metrics: environmental impact; green policies and reputation. Each company's score was based on a weighted average of the three metrics: 45% for the impact score, 45% for the policies score, and 10% for the reputation score. The overall winner, Hewlett Packard, had an overall environmental score, or “Green Score,” of 100.00. Other green scores were: Nike (93.28), Starbucks (91.63); Kohl’s (86.78) and Staples (86.37).

The Newsweek survey was conducted in collaboration with three leading players in environmental research: KLD, Trucost and Corporate Register.

To see the complete survey visit greenrankings.newsweek.com/top500.