Red gets a little greener

Target advanced to the number 61 spot on the 2010 version of Newsweek’s Green Rankings, which grades the “greenness” of the 500 largest publicly held companies in the United States. Last year, Target was listed at number 72 on the magazine’s green list. Other retailers who made the list and ranked ahead of Target included, Office Depot (18), Staples (23), Kohl’s (40) and Walmart (51). Ranking behind Target were JCPenney (63), Gap (71), Best Buy (86) and Whole Foods (93).

To produce the 2010 Green Rankings, Newsweek worked with MSCI ESG Research, Trucost, CorporateRegister.com and ASAP Media. The goal was to assess companies’ actual environmental footprint and management of that footprint, including policies and strategies, along with its reputation among environmental experts. The areas of environment impact, green policies and reputation were examined and graded to arrive at an overall green score used to determine a company’s position on the list.