Natural Health Magazine Selects Top Green Companies

Environmental Activist, Ed Begley, Jr. to Guest Edit First Annual Natural Health Green Choice Awards

NEW YORK, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- In its May 2009 issue, Natural Health magazine will honor the greenest companies of 2008. The Natural Health Green Choice Awards will identify large, multinational companies with tremendous reach and influence that are implementing substantial, systemic green initiatives and inspiring others to follow suit. Renowned actor and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr. will be a special guest editor for the issue. He and his wife Rachelle Carson will grace the issue's cover. Begley, Jr., will present the Natural Health Green Choice Awards to ten winners at a cocktail reception at Tavern on the Green on May 5, 2009.

Each candidate submitted data about its alternative energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water use, recycling, operational energy footprints and LEED certifications--criterion by which the winners will be chosen.

The 25 award finalists are conserving energy, saving water, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, shrinking carbon footprints, and reducing waste at unprecedented levels. They are also contributing to huge gains in alternative energy and encouraging their more than three million employees to embrace sustainability.

"We are thrilled to have Ed Begley, Jr., as our guest editor for the first annual Natural Health Green Choice Awards. Mr. Begley has been the embodiment of green living and green ideas for the past 38 years and as the owner of Begley's Best, a line of non-toxic household cleaners, he's the perfect person to help us choose the best green companies of 2008," says editor in chief, Mary Bolster.

Begley, Jr. works with organizations like the Environmental Media Association, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Thoreau Institute, the Earth Communications Office, Tree People and Friends of the Earth, and many others. He has won numerous awards for his environmental initiatives as well as for his work in film and television. He received six Emmy Award nominations for the television series St. Elsewhere and currently stars in "Living With Ed," a reality show about green living on HGTV.

The 25 finalists are:

    Aveda
    British Airways
    Canon
    Chipotle
    Clif Bar
    Coca Cola
    Discovery
    Flor
    Ford
    Gap
    Green Mountain Energy
    Hain Celestial Group
    Ikea
    Kohls
    Kraft
    L'Oreal
    Niman Ranch
    Organic Valley
    P&G
    Shaklee
    Starbucks
    UPS
    Verizon
    Wal-Mart
    Whole Foods

Since 1971, Natural Health has been the leader in the healthy lifestyle category providing a wide breadth of choices and options for a healthy lifestyle including fitness, health, wellness, beauty, travel, style and home. The brand includes naturalhealthmag.com, international edition, annual beauty awards and our signature Women's Wellness retreats. Natural Health, a Weider Publication published by American Media, Inc. has received the Gold Aveda Environmental Award for best publishing practices.