NEW YORK, N.Y. — Grey New York wants the region's advertising industry to go green with the launch Tuesday of an initiative and website called Green-It-Forward.

The agency kicked off the initiative with a full-page ad in Advertising Week's Official Guide, which also was released Tuesday in Advertising Age magazine. It directs other agencies to visit the site to discuss their own green initiatives.

"Grey is building a resource for our industry to share 'green ideas' for positive change and to aggregate our successes," Grey New York President Steve Hardwick said in a statement. "Different agencies are doing different things internally to reduce their own carbon foot print and to help clients in their efforts, but this site is a place where we can share ideas and actions across our industry and create synergy. "

The company said the advertising industry is inherently equipped to communicate problems and solutions.

"Our industry is built on ideas. With the climate at stake, we have a chance to put our ideas and competitive spirit to work to save our planet," Hardwick said.

According to the website, the company has implemented a recycling program throughout the 29 floors of its office, uses Energy Star-rated equipment, used virtualization to consolidate equipment usage by a third and encourages employees to walk, carpool, bike or take mass transit to work.

Grey New York also is investing in teleconferencing equipment to reduce travel, using a majority of recyclable, biodegradable or compostable office products and encouraging local food vendors to buy locally grown foods.