In October 2007, I wrote a cover story entitled “Green is Going Mainstream,” which discussed the growing awareness in the transportation and logistics sector about attaining efficiencies through sustainable practices.

That same year, Wal-Mart launched its Sustainability 360 initiative, designed to move the company’s emphasis on sustainability to its suppliers, communities, and customers.

A lot has happened in three years, namely awareness has become acceptance.

To its credit, Wal-Mart has remained committed to its green practices. And, because of its incredible influence, has been able to give a sizeable push to the concept of sustainable supply chains. Of course, other forward-thinking companies, both global manufacturers and shippers as well as the transportation and logistics companies that move their freight, have gone green in a big way too.

Last month, I attended Fortune’s Brainstorm: Green conference to hear Lee Scott, chairman of Wal-Mart’s executive committee, talk about the latest efforts the company was making in the area of sustainability. Halfway through his discussion, Scott casually mentioned that several stores had begun using the oil from its deep-fryers to fuel its trucks. Wal-Mart was hip to biodiesel? Yes. And that’s not all. A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company is also looking at ways to incorporate more recycled materials in the construction process of new stores. For example, Wal-Mart currently uses rubber in store baseboards that is made partly from old diapers, steel containing recycled components, and concrete composed of 20 percent fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal.

It’s a good thing that companies are accepting sustainability as fundamental to their business goals. The question now is: Is it too late?

Consider this excerpt from Clive Thompson’s “Betting on Change,” posted April 19 on The Climate Desk site:

“Politicians or pundits can distort or cherry-pick climate science any way they want to try and gain temporary influence with the public. But any serious industrialist who’s facing “climate exposure”-as it’s now called by money managers-cannot afford to engage in that sort of self-delusion. Spend a couple of hours wandering through the web sites of various industrial associations-aluminum manufacturers, real-estate agents, wineries, agribusinesses, take your pick-and you’ll find straightforward statements about the grim reality of climate change that wouldn’t seem out of place coming from Greenpeace. Last year, Wall Street analysts issued 214 reports assessing the potential risks and opportunities that will come out of a warming world. One by McKinsey & Co. argued that climate change will shake up industries with the same force that mobile phones reshaped communications.”

The fact is, green has become ‘front and center’ for supply chains, and companies and suppliers alike have made great strides to reduce their carbon footprint. But, while the rising cost of oil was largely responsible for driving the embrace of sustainability in the past few years, the future could easily include water shortages, cap-and-trade legislation, power grid failures, and a host of other perils that could truly and profoundly disrupt global supply chains.

So, while acceptance is good, being pro-active is even better.