The paradox about sustainable business, say some, is that there are too many standards and not enough metrics. There's truth to that, though it's misleading. For all of the hundreds of eco-labels and certifications, there remain huge gaps -- product categories where there are few or no labels or certifications, from cars to clothing to cosmetics.

Many of the existing standards and certifications are limited in scope, focusing on, say, energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions, but not necessarily on any of several other impacts a given product may impose on the environment.

A number of organizations are stepping in to fill the gaps. Underwriters Laboratories is one example: Its UL Environment division began issuing a range of standards in 2010, such as one for cell phones that takes into account their entire lifecycle, from raw material extraction to customer use to disposal. (UL Environment is also partnering with GreenBiz to create a company-level sustainability standard, ULE 880, intended for manufacturing firms.) Green Seal expanded its scope with a new pilot standard that seeks to certify the sustainability of an entire company. The group's new GS-C1 certification is aimed at consumer goods manufacturers.

Some standards are coming from companies themselves. UPS launched a green standard for responsible packaging, which allows customers to ship their goods with a label attesting to that fact. Its Eco Responsible Packaging Program evaluates a customer's shipment packaging in three key areas -- damage prevention, rightsizing and packaging materials. The goal is to use the least packaging that offers the greatest protection. A group of apparel and footwear companies, including Levi's, Patagonia, and Timberland, banded together to launch the Eco Index, a set of guidelines, indicators and metrics for measuring the lifecycle impacts of their products. Meanwhile, Nike created a one-screen Environmental Apparel Design Tool, in which designers plug in what materials they're using, how much recycled or organic content they have, and other details. The tool gives the design an environmental score. Nike made the tool available for other companies to use. And Timberland announced that its Green Index, which rates the environmental footprint of about one in seven pairs of shoes it sells, will be applied to all of its footwear by the end of 2012.