Toyota is busy burnishing its image as the green car company with a green auto show booth to go with all those hybrid vehicles. Take a spin around its booth at the New York International Auto Show and you'll see signs (made of bamboo) and plaques proclaiming the pains Toyota took to be environmentally friendly. Green than thou, critics may carp. But it's a thorough list: The fabric panels, overhead canopies, and column covers employ "post-industrial and post-consumer content using non-toxic inks," says a sign embedded in the carpeting (photo inset).

The carpeting? It was manufactured with low-chemical impact backing adhesives that substitute agricultural resources for petroleum products, the padding underneath is recycled, the plastic covering that protects the new carpet, while it is plastic, is 50% recycled and 100% recyclable. Rather than send the carpeting to the landfill after the show (we thought maybe it went home with the auto show riggers, one pickup truck load at a time), it's "repurposed ... to rental property owners and second-home owners ... [adding] 6 to 11 years to the life of the carpet." Aluminum used for displays and turntables is recyclable aluminum. Plywood surfaces come from Forest Stewardship Council areas and fiberboard is recycled content. The Toyota ID sign is just over half recycled content (52%) but when Toyota's done with the sign, it will be 100% recyclable.