Advertising Age's Green Conference convened this week at NYU with the mission of moving beyond greenwashing and addressing today's sustainability issues in both pragmatic and profitable ways.  Among the highlights of the conference - besides the penguin and mountain lynx Animal Ambassadors in attendance - were impassioned presentations and lively panel discussions, and, admittedly, a bit of corporate chest puffing.

Mike Indursky of Burt's Bees shared the brand's compelling rise from vending candles made from beeswax created as a by-product of Burt's honey business (yes, there is an actual Burt behind the moniker) to becoming the leading manufacturer of natural personal care products, with sales topping $250 million in 2006 - all-the-while remaining true to the brand's natural and sustainable roots.  Truly inspirational - not to mention quite the character - and a lesson to brands feeling pushed to compromise their values in favor of bottom-line success.

A refreshing trend was towards transparency of practices, as Burt's Bees announced the development of a Natural Seal to combat the plague of naturalwashing in the industry - a collaborative effort with the Natural Products Association and other leading natural personal care companies, and a preview was given of Timberland's new EcoMetrics label, a nutrition-type label that lists the energy used to produce the shoe and its contribution to global warming, among other provocative factoids.  One can only hope that other industries and companies will be following suit!