Wal-mart Announces a New Green Initiative

Posted on August 17, 2009 in Consumer Goods, The Environment

The Arkansas-based retail chain Wal-mart is not known for its environmental philosophies or earth-friendly products. In fact, Wal-mart is frequently lambasted by environmental groups and has been fined for numerous violations of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and for unsafe storage of petroleum products. However, the company is seeking to clean up its image with a new program to help consumers shop green.

All of Wal-mart’s products will be subjected to a sustainability index. This rating system will quantify the item’s environmental footprint, taking into account the entire life cycle from raw materials, through manufacturing, to disposal. Not only will the index inform Wal-mart’s purchasing decisions, the indexes will be posted in stores so that customers can make greener choices as well.

Given the company’s track record of environmental malfeasance, the new initiative was greeted with some skepticism. Wal-mart has vowed to work in conjunction with environmental groups to ensure the accuracy of the index, but critics say that creating the index is going to be a difficult process.

Many of Wal-marts products are made overseas, and data will be gathered by sending out a 15 item questionnaire to all of Wal-mart’s suppliers. If the responses are not accurate, then the index will not be accurate either.

Wal-mart has already established a Sustainability Index Consortium composed of nonprofits, universities, and businesses to address the challenges ahead. If Wal-mart is successful in creating a creditable and transparent indexing system, it could set the standard for retailers in the future.