Many businesses are seeking out green IT initiatives as a way to cut their emissions and save money on energy. For a number of companies, implementing a cloud computing solution has enabled them to achieve these two goals. According to CSC's Cloud Usage Index, 64 percent of organizations cut their energy and reduced waste from their move to cloud computing.

The survey asked 3,600 IT decision makers about their move to the cloud across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and GreenBiz said it is not surprising that so many companies are using the cloud to reduce their emissions.

According to the survey, 93 percent of businesses said at least one area of their IT department improved since implementing the cloud, and 52 percent said they've seen an increase in data center efficiency.

The Carbon Disclosure Project from this summer also showed a potential savings in emissions and waste, with the estimated ability to save $12.3 billion a year by 2020. The study gave an example of Boeing's move to cloud computing, which took processes that would usually take months and shortened their time to mere minutes, a move that saved time, energy and money.