Is Walmart Going Green?
When you shop, do you think about the environmental impact of the products that you buy? I do, but it can be really hard to know how much waste was created in the production of chair or if the fabric on my sofa was harvested from organically grown cotton unless I'm buying from a green retailer.
As a general rule, I don't usually think of Walmart when I'm looking for an eco-friendly retailer. That's why I was surprised and intrigued when I read in a New York Times article that Walmart is working to make it easier for us all to make sustainable choices when we shop.
Within the next five years, Walmart is planning to put an environmental grading system in place for many of its products. The system will rate the environmental and social impact of the product's manufacture based on 15 questions that suppliers will have to answer about the energy they consume, the greenhouse gasses they emit, the materials that they waste, the sustainability of their raw materials and their impact on the communities where their products are made. Walmart is also encouraging other major retailers like Target and Costco, to adopt a similar ratings system.
So what do you think? Would a ratings system like this be helpful when you're making your purchasing decisions? And would it make you more likely to shop at Walmart?
photo: walmartstores.com
As a general rule, I don't usually think of Walmart when I'm looking for an eco-friendly retailer. That's why I was surprised and intrigued when I read in a New York Times article that Walmart is working to make it easier for us all to make sustainable choices when we shop.
Within the next five years, Walmart is planning to put an environmental grading system in place for many of its products. The system will rate the environmental and social impact of the product's manufacture based on 15 questions that suppliers will have to answer about the energy they consume, the greenhouse gasses they emit, the materials that they waste, the sustainability of their raw materials and their impact on the communities where their products are made. Walmart is also encouraging other major retailers like Target and Costco, to adopt a similar ratings system.
So what do you think? Would a ratings system like this be helpful when you're making your purchasing decisions? And would it make you more likely to shop at Walmart?
photo: walmartstores.com
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I doubt that this is anything more than a marketing gimmick. Who is going to make sure tht the suppliers answer the questions truthfully? And who is going to see if the questions are or are not slanted to produce the 'right' answer? I don't shop at Wal-Mart anyway and unless this turns out to be a major and permanent step (I suspect it will quietly fade away like so many others) it sure isn't gong to make me more likely to do so. That having been said, I am glad that Wal-Mart is giving at least lip service to the green movement. Guess I'm hoping that they have figured out that we aren't going to be given a new planet to riun.
I have a hard time believing Walmart will be 'going green" when they continually waste vaulable resources in the communities they occupy. Here in mine, they had a store for a few years, closed it up, and moved to another location just 2 miles down the road. Completely remodeling 2 huge buildings is not my idea of 'going green', but a waste of resources.
I agree with both Molly's and Andrea's comments.
Molly particularly addresses my concerns about the accuracy and transparency of such a rating system, Walmart is not a name that inspires wholesome, trusty goodness in me.
Walmart is notorious for encouraging the proliferation of sweat shops around the world by its aggressive tactics on its suppliers (forcing products to obtained for less and less overhead which helps to proliferate human rights violations and exploitation of children to meet those demands), it unfair pay rates and resistance to unionizing, its driving out of mom and pop stores, only to abandon an area anyway when it no longer is profitable and creating veritable modern day ghost towns in its aftermath.
My money and how I spend it is my dollar votes in my approval of that organization.
If I could actually trust or respect Walmart I might give this system a thumbs up, as it stands now it comes across as an attempt to revamp their damaged image and I am not voting a penny towards that!!!
Walmart, funny right? Who would have thought. I have a one year old daughter and since she was born, our family has stopped using chemicals and we only use natural products, and oddly enough, the only place in my community where we can get them, is WALMART! It's very strange, but true. I can't get all my natural products there, specifically dishsoap. Good for Walmart I guess. I really never shopped there until I got laid off last year, now I love it.
This Wal-Mart bashing is rediculous. I doubt any of you people actually know what their business practices are; you just read the news or hear word of mouth how 'bad' they are and never bothered to actually do research. It is a GOOD thing that they are doing. While you can't possibly understand how successful organizations are run; at least come to terms with the fact that efforts by large organizations to go green are GOOD. Wake.up.