Going Green? freewrite before bed

Looking at one blogger, two corporations, a city, and a nonprofit organizations, while tackling the management issue from a structural point of view, I am surrounded by printed on both sides articles and stories, piles of books and initiatives sprawl across my living room--what is the difference between marketing and policy?  That's not the question?  How can we as a society taken the smallest steps towards environmental sustainability while inspiring to take leaps and bounds?  So many activists are jumping to criticize the techniques and misgivings of corporate "green-washing" but do not give value to the progress and the social influence these very companies have and are making.  If Wal-Mart can reach the people in middle America with a marketing idea of being green or sustainable and then back it up with it's own company's policy to provide transparency and accountability, then let Wal-Mart speak to the people.