Reducing the environmental impact of a major high-tech corporation is neither simple nor easy. Yet many companies have gone far beyond token public relations projects and begun to make substantial, and fundamental, changes in how they do business. In this short column, all I can offer is a sampler of green achievements, but it should give you a taste of what is being done, and what is possible.

Philips, for example, has adopted a series of ecodesign principles throughout the company that allowed it to reduce industrial waste by 60 percent since 1994 (including cutting the most dangerous substances by 87 percent). Philips' philosophy extends to the products themselves, with 74 best-selling "flagship" products-ranging from televisions and flat-screen monitors to medical equipment and lighting-that deliver high value along with low energy consumption, low environmental impact and recyclability.

Like Philips, STMicroelectronics has a tradition of environmental commitment. If you peruse the company's thick environmental-performance report, you'll see similar efforts to produce green products, including a multicompany initiative to develop lead-free packaging and assembly technologies with Infineon and Philips. ST's decade-long effort to reduce its environmental impact is paying off handsomely with large reductions in resource consumption, waste and toxic emissions.

It's not just European concerns committed to corporate citizenship. Many U.S. companies, including HP and IBM, have been involved with greening both their products and operations. In future columns, I hope to detail their efforts to lower power consumption and improve the recyclability of their products.

TI has also begun a product stewardship program that has developed calculators, and other handhelds use flash memory to give them extended service lives. This, plus a wafer-recycling program and a very successful water conservation project in its Dallas facilities, indicates that TI is en route to greening its business.

Many Japanese companies are also making strides toward sustainability, including Panasonic/Matsushita. There, company-wide ecopolicies have given birth to programs that are reducing standby and operating power in all appliances.

I'm out of space, but not out of good news. In coming months, I'll revisit these and other companies reinventing a more hopeful future. If you have any stories of individuals or companies that qualify as everyday heroes, please send them to lgoldberg@green-electronics.com.

Lee Goldberg reports on technology and the environment at www.green-electronics.com.