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CEO settles the debate over whether Wal-Mart is green

Posted at 5:04 PM on 13 Mar 2008

Is Wal-Mart an eco-angel or an eco-devil? CEO Lee Scott himself settles the debate, declaring at a Wall Street Journal conference: "We are not green."

source: The Wall Street Journal

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Comments: (4 comments)

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Well, that's nothin' new...

...despite their efforts, they're just makin' it up as they go along. Sure they want a zero carbon footprint and zero waste...but they don't have any set plan or list of objectives (or timeline) as to how to do it. They just perform any action that happens to come along and fit the bill.

So, yeah, they will be zero carbon and zero waste eventually...but by the time they are, so will the rest of planet.

Not like they're jumpin' the gun much here.

by Tasermons Partner at 8:51 PM on 13 Mar 2008

but, they are trying...

Wal-mart has been developing strategies to fulfill their sustainable initiatives. They have been working w/ ACT NOW Productions and Adam Werbach to train every single Wal-mart store employee on sustainable development by 2009, that includes approximately 1 million people, plus the rural communities that most of the stores are in. I know that they have reached out to the Natural Step, one of the very few organizations with a comprehensive framework for assessing and planning for sustainable development, as well as, a track record of working with businesses and communities. My point is, we are expecting one of the largest corporations on the planet to become sustainable overnight, when they have to unlearn their business as usual mindset, while at the same time learn all there is to know about sustainable business practice. Lee Scott can't win, he goes public with a far-reaching sustainable vision for his company and gets booed and then admits that he is not their yet and is told, I told you so. We are all victims of the quick fix, short term mindset. This is a collective effort, and we should recognize that Wal-Mart is trying. Full Disclosure: I do not work or shop at wal-mart and I am fully aware of their contribution(s) to an unsustainable society) I am just trying to offer a perspective of how can we serve them rather than to always make them the villain.

by smuzzy at 11:14 AM on 14 Mar 2008
[ Parent ]

Wal-Mart Not Sustainable By Definition

Any business that depends on goods being shipped long distances or getting people to drive to its stores cannot be "green," regardless of what else it does. This does not mean that Wal-Mart should not be encouraged to do whatever it can to do less environmental and ecological harm, but neither should it ever be confused for a green business, to the extent that such a thing exists.

BTW, Adam Werbach is now a business man masquerading as an environmentalist. He's never been that strong of an environmentalist and now he's just a phony.

by Wolverine at 1:02 PM on 14 Mar 2008

Wal-Mart is an ugly brown

"Any business that depends on goods being shipped long distances or getting people to drive to its stores cannot be "green," regardless of what else it does."

And any business that actively works to undermine local economies, the only base for building sustainable communities, is anti-green.

by cyberfarer at 12:32 PM on 16 Jun 2008

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