Recycling and composting helped San Francisco divert 77 percent of its garbage from landfills in 2008, which it hailed as a national record and the highest of any city in the U.S.

A little knowledge on lighting goes a long way. EDF Climate Corps fellow Sarah Will has helped REi identify almost 0,000 in potential energy savings, and lighting improvements account for a big chunk of the money. Now she can’t help eyeing commercial lighting wherever she goes and contemplating possible savings.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited, the world's second largest cruise operator, has cut fuel consumption by about 4 percent with better designed ships, smarter sailing practices and energy efficiency measures that include installing solar window film in every ship in the fleet.

Net Impact's latest guide profiling Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programs is more than twice as big as its first iteration in 2006, which bodes well for students navigating a growing field of schools offering sustainability curricula.

Food is precious and perishable, and agriculture is extremely complicated. Adding sustainability to the mix makes it more so. Farmers and representatives for food processors, crop science companies, coffee growing cooperative and some of the world's major brands gathered in San Francisco recently to confront this thorny topic.