Green Futures on the green Wal Mart ripple
Can Lee Scott turn green business into "business"?
Polly Ghazi, in Green Futures looks at the whole 'greening of Wal Mart' without the usual skepticism, some suspended disbelief, and a little of that cheery optimism that hopeless romantic idealists often seem to use as a lifepreserver...
I still wish that Vancouver BC accepted WalMart's uber green building plans (they rejected it because it was still a WalMart). Had they, you could be sure that everything below this line, all of the goals of WalMart would have been twice as ambitious and executed in 1/2 the time. Still, everything (especially the ripple) are great first-steps that will only lead to more! Ghazi writes that when Wal-Mart says 'we’re going green', the world takes notice. What’s more, she says, CEO Lee Scott didn't just dip his toe in the water with a blandly worded environmental policy: "His new shopping list of ambitious goals, if met, will send ripple effects around the globe."
Scott unveiled plans last October to invest $500 million in technologies to cut greenhouse gas output. Wal-Mart’s 5,000 stores are to cut their emissions by a fifth over seven years, and to raise fuel efficiency by 25% for it's truck fleet over three years. He also pledged to eliminate a quarter of the solid waste generated by stores, reduce product packaging, introduce organic lines ‘at everyday low prices’ and design a prototype new superstore with at least 25% more energy efficiency by 2009 (hey, why not? they already have the designs). Also, suppliers in China and the US will be pressured on their sustainability practices, with the award of Wal-Mart contracts favouring those who show progress.
So, um, is this greenwashing? Ghazi says no.
Tens of millions of Americans cannot afford to pay premium prices to buy green products - whereas if Wal-Mart stocks its shelves with recycled products and organic clothes at competitive prices, they will buy them. And Wal-Mart’s size carries real clout with suppliers. When the company introduced organic cotton yoga outfits in 290 stores last year they sold out in ten weeks. Almost overnight, Wal-Mart has become the world’s single largest purchaser of 100% organic cotton products. Not only does this mean that WalMart will be able to sell these goods, but it obviously means that there are people out there who want it really badly and are finally able to afford it.
And the ripple? Well, a month after Scott’s announcement, leading global investment bank Goldman Sachs adopted a comprehensive environmental policy to reduce its GHG emissions, including becoming a major developer of wind power. This company is challenging the competitors to respond. Costco and Target, who were gaining on Wal-Mart in sales and had a better public image, must now decide whether to go green or lose ground. And Lee Scott’s declaration that “the science [on climate change] is in and it is overwhelming” means more corporate pressure on Congress and the White House to take federal action to limit America’s GHG emissions. So, you know, i feel for the 'Mom & Pop' shops that lose business or have to close the doors because a WalMart came to town... at the same time, i have to ask: Were these companies that had to close sustainable? did they have solid and unanimous green goals? I don't like WalMart- i find it as sterile, antiseptic and pleasant as a walk through a hospital. But as far as I can tell, if they do go green, at the end of the day I would rather have one green uber-efficient mega store than 50-100 inefficient stores, that yes, owned by mom & pop, but buy crappy products made with no c2c concepts, in inefficient buildings. After all, many hardware and home center shops have lost to WalMart. Were these not the stores selling kerosene lamps, miracle grow, 40-22-10 NPK, weed killers, and non-FSC certified wood? So at the end of the day, I would rather one mega green store than two hundred little inefficient and non-green selling stores. Sure they have a long way to go, and there will have to be a lot of checks and balances, but the ripples are already forming... and I'm happy!
Polly Ghazi, in Green Futures looks at the whole 'greening of Wal Mart' without the usual skepticism, some suspended disbelief, and a little of that cheery optimism that hopeless romantic idealists often seem to use as a lifepreserver...
I still wish that Vancouver BC accepted WalMart's uber green building plans (they rejected it because it was still a WalMart). Had they, you could be sure that everything below this line, all of the goals of WalMart would have been twice as ambitious and executed in 1/2 the time. Still, everything (especially the ripple) are great first-steps that will only lead to more! Ghazi writes that when Wal-Mart says 'we’re going green', the world takes notice. What’s more, she says, CEO Lee Scott didn't just dip his toe in the water with a blandly worded environmental policy: "His new shopping list of ambitious goals, if met, will send ripple effects around the globe."
Scott unveiled plans last October to invest $500 million in technologies to cut greenhouse gas output. Wal-Mart’s 5,000 stores are to cut their emissions by a fifth over seven years, and to raise fuel efficiency by 25% for it's truck fleet over three years. He also pledged to eliminate a quarter of the solid waste generated by stores, reduce product packaging, introduce organic lines ‘at everyday low prices’ and design a prototype new superstore with at least 25% more energy efficiency by 2009 (hey, why not? they already have the designs). Also, suppliers in China and the US will be pressured on their sustainability practices, with the award of Wal-Mart contracts favouring those who show progress.
So, um, is this greenwashing? Ghazi says no.
Tens of millions of Americans cannot afford to pay premium prices to buy green products - whereas if Wal-Mart stocks its shelves with recycled products and organic clothes at competitive prices, they will buy them. And Wal-Mart’s size carries real clout with suppliers. When the company introduced organic cotton yoga outfits in 290 stores last year they sold out in ten weeks. Almost overnight, Wal-Mart has become the world’s single largest purchaser of 100% organic cotton products. Not only does this mean that WalMart will be able to sell these goods, but it obviously means that there are people out there who want it really badly and are finally able to afford it.
And the ripple? Well, a month after Scott’s announcement, leading global investment bank Goldman Sachs adopted a comprehensive environmental policy to reduce its GHG emissions, including becoming a major developer of wind power. This company is challenging the competitors to respond. Costco and Target, who were gaining on Wal-Mart in sales and had a better public image, must now decide whether to go green or lose ground. And Lee Scott’s declaration that “the science [on climate change] is in and it is overwhelming” means more corporate pressure on Congress and the White House to take federal action to limit America’s GHG emissions. So, you know, i feel for the 'Mom & Pop' shops that lose business or have to close the doors because a WalMart came to town... at the same time, i have to ask: Were these companies that had to close sustainable? did they have solid and unanimous green goals? I don't like WalMart- i find it as sterile, antiseptic and pleasant as a walk through a hospital. But as far as I can tell, if they do go green, at the end of the day I would rather have one green uber-efficient mega store than 50-100 inefficient stores, that yes, owned by mom & pop, but buy crappy products made with no c2c concepts, in inefficient buildings. After all, many hardware and home center shops have lost to WalMart. Were these not the stores selling kerosene lamps, miracle grow, 40-22-10 NPK, weed killers, and non-FSC certified wood? So at the end of the day, I would rather one mega green store than two hundred little inefficient and non-green selling stores. Sure they have a long way to go, and there will have to be a lot of checks and balances, but the ripples are already forming... and I'm happy!