Plenty of computer and IT vendors have been jumping on the green bandwagon the last several years, with each claiming to be greener than the next. Sometimes, though, the information you get from them has as much to do with marketing as with hard-core facts. Apple, in a recent update of its Web site, is changing all that. As I explain in my blog, "Apple: We're Coming Clean on the True Cost of Green," Apple is now revealing in great detail exactly where its greenhouse emissions come from -- and provides a great deal of information about the environmental impacts of its products. Want to know what percent of Apple's greenhouse emissions comes from the use of its produces, versus manufacturing them? Apple tells you, along with how much emissions it is responsible for, and other important information as well.

Apple did that as a result of a request to a shareholder proposal filed by As You Sow Foundation -- and we've got the director of the foundation's Corporate Social Responsibility Program, Conrad MacKerron, weighing in with how effective he thinks Apple's disclosure is. Check out "Apple's Greenhouse Gas Reporting is a Welcome Step Forward" to see what he thinks.

If you're looking to use Green IT to save your company money, operate more efficiently, and do some good for the world, you'll want to get advice from one of the world's most foremost experts in Green IT -- Steven Sams, vice president of Site and Facilities Services in IBM Global Technology Services. Sams' organization spearheads IBM's green consulting services, and is one major reason that some people are starting to call IBM Big Green.

Sams will be participating in a free, exclusive webcast titled "The Greening of the CIO -- Raising the ROI of IT. Sams will discuss the full gamut of tools in the CIO's growing toolkit, from building high-efficiency data centers to managing energy use throughout a global operation to reducing travel needs to telepresence solutions. Sams and GreenBiz.com executive editor Joel Makower will discuss best practices inside today's leading companies, and hear the results of a new 2,500-CIO study conducted by IBM, including the implications for CIOs greening their companies. Sign up at: http://tinyurl.com/GreenBizIBMWebcast.

And finally, there's been plenty of hype about another green technology in recent months --- cloud computing. The conventional wisdom has it that cloud computing is very, very green. But is that true? This week, Matthew Wheeland takes a hard look at whether cloud computing really is green in "The Green Cloud: Hype or Reality?" Read it and decide for yourself.

This report outlines the U.S. EPA's list of best practices for companies that dispose of unwanted electronics; these guidelines can also be used as a procurement tool for companies seeking environmentally friendly electronics recyclers.

This book systematically identifies the right improvements you can make to your IT infrastructure, and shows how to implement them, maximize savings, and accurately calculate business value.

How can companies ensure that their messages comply with legal requirements, customer expectations, and effective marketing strategies? Join a conversation among a panel of experts moderated by GreenBiz.com executive editor Joel Makower, including Stephen Wenc, president of UL Environment, and Suzanne Shelton, president of the Shelton Group, and Brooks Beard, a partner at Morrison & Foerster, about the ins and outs of green marketing effectively and legally in today's marketplace.