Wal-Mart Goes Green
Everyone loves to hate Wal-Mart, but the world’s largest retailer has been in the news for their environmental efforts.
Wal-Mart has recently set a goal of reducing their greenhouse emissions by 30% over the next four years and solid waste by 25% in the next three years and an eventual goal of using only renewable power. Here are some of the ways they plan to accomplish this:
- Currently taking proposals for the installation of solar systems for up to 340 stores in five states.
- Pledging to increase the fuel efficiency of its vehicles by 25%.
- Planning to reduce excess packaging by five percent by 2013. (this would be equal to removing 213,000 truck from the road, and saving approximately 324,000 tons of coal per year.)
- Experimenting with a ‘green’ roof on one of its Chicago stores featuring hardy native plants.
Some other steps Wal-Mart has already taken and plan on taking in the near future to be more environmentally friendly include:
- Currently recycling one billion plastic hangers every year.
- World’s largest buyer of organic cotton.
- Largest seller of organic milk, with plans on stocking more organic food.
- Planning to double their sales of compact fluorescent light bulbs – selling at least one to each of its 100 million customers.
- Requiring electronic suppliers to fill out scorecards grading their own environmental impact that will be available to customers.
- Switching to corn-based plastic packaging for some of their grocery items.
- Considering selling ethanol in its new gas stations.
Some might say Wal-Mart is doing all this just to get their name in the news or to clean up their image, but does it matter? I for one will be keeping an eye on my local Wal-Mart.
For Wal-Mart’s report on their plans to go green, click on walmartfacts.com.
