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A searchable website that allows the public to see which cosmetic products have been reported to contain toxic chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm is now online. Users can search the California Safe Cosmetics Program (CSCP) Product Database by product name, company name or chemical ingredient. As of November 2013, about 475 companies had submitted product information on roughly 30,000 products to the California Department of Public Health-run program.

The beef industry is seeking to spread the word about its sustainability efforts, especially to young, eco-conscious diners, experts say. "Our long-term sustainability is predicated on transparency and providing consumers with the information they need to make the decision to purchase beef," says Tom McDonald of JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding

At the kick-off of the Berlin Fashion Week, World Wide Fund For Nature Germany and Welthungerhilfe invited leading textile companies to Berlin. The goal was to provide information about the use of sustainable cotton fundamental for a responsible clothing industry and to discuss possibilities to increase transparency in the textile supply chain.

Laws, oversight and guidelines are necessary to ensure we provide solutions to pressing environmental issues. From fracking regulations to carbon-pollution rules to a toxic chemicals act, here are three business policy items the American Sustainable Business Council is working on in conjunction with many other organizations - and information on how you can join the cause.

The CDP Global Water Report 2013 was launched at the CDP Global WatA pair er Forum on Oct. 31. The report was produced for 530 institutional investors representing about $57 trillion in assets, and is based on information submitted to CDP by 180 Global 500 companies. It notes that "companies are more aware of the breadth and significance of water-related risk, such as business interruption due to inadequate infrastructure, supply chain disruption due to water scarcity and reputational damage."

Administration released the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment, the most authoritative and comprehensive source of scientific information to date about climate-change impacts across all U.S. regions and on critical sectors of the economy.

The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative today announced that it has published its new Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT 4.0). The leading multi-industry tool to facilitate transfer of information throughout the supply chain in support of conflict-free sourcing, CMRT 4.0 includes an updated Standard Smelter List and numerous translation improvements.

The Fashion Footprint app can scan clothing tags and provide ratings information on everything from factory safety to worker health. Fashion Footprint lets shoppers connect directly with the makers of clothes through an interactive, audio-visual experience, and learn how their purchase decisions affect the lives of people around the world.

AT&T and IBM - along with Mueller Water Products, a large maker of pipes, valves and fire hydrants - are working together to try to put more information in water managers' hands. The companies have put together a new service to hook up all those pipes to the internet.

It may not come as a complete surprise, but the U.S. Energy Information Administration has confirmed that California leads the country in electric vehicle adoption. However, all-electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles still represent a small percentage of new vehicle sales.

This new scenario modeling system helps planners in Latin America and the Caribbean make more informed infrastructure investments.

2014 was an exciting year for clean energy. And we're not just talking about Rocky Mountain Institute and Carbon War Room merging in strategic alliance. Sure, that was exciting news, but there were many other remarkable clean energy developments that are helping bring us closer to a clean, prosperous, and secure energy future. Based on an informal poll of the RMI staff we list our top 10:

The Building Energy Exchange, a nonprofit to advance energy efficient technologies and lighting strategies in industry, opened in New York City's downtown Manhattan. The nonprofit serves as a hub for information and activities for building owners seeking energy savings.

There are an estimated 455 eco-labels in use, creating a poorly regulated "wild west" that does little to inform consumers about the products they buy and often have no verifiable criteria, experts say. "There are too many labels out there. And too few of them are the real thing," says Valerie Davis, co-founder of EnviroMedia

Consumers want green products, and they're willing to boycott brands that fail to deliver them, writes Bridget James. "Consumers, enabled by information, are becoming the regulatory body of the market, and their new values are driving green growth globally," she asserts

BP's shareholders overwhelmingly supported a resolution on Thursday that would force the company to disclose some of its climate change-related risks. The shareholder vote was extraordinarily lopsided, with about 98% of shareholders approving the resolution, which had the backing of BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg. The embrace of the climate change resolution is being called a watershed event in the history of climate-related shareholder resolutions, which investors large and small have been pursuing since 1999 to try to encourage oil, coal and gas companies to inform shareholders of their climate change-related risks and shift their investments into renewable sources of energy.

Companies and consumers are increasingly gravitating toward "clean labels" that include simple, transparent and jargon-free information about products, often including their health and environmental impacts, writes Andrew Winston. "Neglecting the clean-label movement will cost you customers and workers; avoiding it as a purposeful strategy could destroy the company or a few careers," Winston warns

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has introduced a plan to bolster energy efficiency. The plan, intended to save families and businesses about $70 billion annually, seeks to roll back energy waste by one-third within a decade. "Deploying more clean energy isn't enough -- we also need to cut energy consumption, which will save families and businesses money and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change," say informational materials on the program. The Hill (2/2)  

Green roofs can save lots of money for building owners thanks to energy cost savings of up to 50%, longer life spans and financial incentives in various cities. However, a lack of awareness of green roofs' benefits may be limiting their market reach, experts say. "And I think there's been some negative information out there about the difficulty of maintaining, the cost of maintaining and the cost of installing them," said environmental adviser John-Patrick Curran. 

As a society, we are a long way from having an information technology industry that is anywhere near a closed-loop system, but Dell has been among the companies at the forefront of this movement.