The depletion of the natural resources across the county and worldwide has been a mounting problem ever since the Industrial Revolution. Only in the last 40 years with the creating of the Environmental Protection Agency in the early 1970s did the problem of resource depletion, among other environmental concerns such as air and water quality, come to national and even global attention. Several initiatives, standards and policies were set to alleviate the taxing strains on the environment. Some have met with success while others have not. Still, there are always new ways in which these initiatives and standards can be improved upon. One of the emerging ways to deal with environmental problems is to initiate practices that are often referred to as being "green" or environmentally friendly. Such practices include creating new ways of production as to not impact or harm the environment or the natural resources.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current trends and motivational factors that are influencing the building and automotive industries to move towards more "green" practices. This paper will also explore the influences that public policies, initiated by the governmental and non-governmental organizations has on the automotive and building industries in terms of promoting sustainable and "green" practices.