Wal Mart - The Green Giant?

For the better part of the last decade, Wal-Mart has been the favorite target for militant environmentalists and social-justice activists that portray them as the ultimate big-business bully.

However, lately, the retailing giant has made the headlines for its work in developing a sustainability index for its products. Now, the more cynical among us may simply dismiss this as corporate greenwashing, but by all indications, the company is serious about it, and plans to collect surveys from its suppliers by October 1, 2009. However, the company expects the process to take approximately 5 years until it culminates in consumer-visible sustainability index labels.
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Surprisingly, this effort has largely been applauded be environmental activists. Perhaps because they understand the potential impact that the world's largest retailer could have on the retail supply chain. However, after watching a movie on Wal-Mart's corporate website, it became clear that the company's intentions aren't solely idealistic and touchy-feely. The implied undercurrent is that in the process of implementing the sustainability index, that both itself and suppliers could realize cost savings in the longer term.

Wal-Mart has long been known for seeking and implementing aggressive cost-cutting in its supplier relationships and supply-chain logistics. But if greater value for consumers can be accomplished hand-in-hand with a reduced environmental impact, all the better.

Wal-Mart Sustainability Blog