Its great to see big box stores trying to do the right thing...its hard not to argue the potential in mainstreaming 'green.'  However, I'm afraid to say that they'll have to refrain from using the term 'sustainability' to mask their efforts.  Unfortunately becoming 'green' and 'carbon neutral' does NOT imply a whole-systems approach to running a business.  They fail in the areas of labor issues, fair trade, social welfare, globalisation, sprawl, etc.  

Wallmarts, Tescos, and the like, thrive in suburban settings, and we all know that suburban sprawl is an oxymoron for the word green, and especially for the word sustainability.  ..Becoming green may even give leeway for wallmarts to diversify their big box growth, and spread into city-centres, given the dense population of 'green urban professionals'.  So, will the world become one big homogenous Wallmart zoo?  

All in all, I'm supporting a big box extinction.  Its the only way for them to become 'sustainable'. If they become green, yes, it will slow down the rate of planetary destruction and make green consumption more convenient. But its just not the answer. We're better off teaching our kids about sustainability, rather than hypothesize how the greening of Wallmart will make us better off.  

I have the feeling we'll just be witnessing green-washing at its best. Given their mass-consumption ethic, they are bound to give the word green a bad name--

Alison

... how about a reply?

Whiskerfish

Whiskerfish, Alison and Ivanoats, sorry for the delay in replying.

I'm not claiming that supermarkets are suddenly paragons of virtue, but that there are good reasons to welcome their moves on climate change, which is after all the biggest environmental challenge we face. I won't repeat these.

On packaging - I couldn't agree with you more. And it is particulary annoying when it seems to be organic products fruit and vegetables that are the most over-packaged.

On green beans from Kenya, the issue is not quite so clear cut. Some people in the UK argue that developing countries gain from export horticulture, especially when prices for traditional commodity exports decline. And on the environmental impact assessment, I'm not sure that growing in heated greenhouses in Kent is any more sustainable. The best answer to this one is probably to eat as seasonably as you can. (I can't see any excuse for Israeli avocadoes in S Africa.).

Treatment of producers is also complicated. In the UK we have had decades of farming subsidy, which has led to over-production and over-capacity in some agricultural products - and thus drops in price and quality. But I do agree that there are likley to be problems when you have a handful of very big and powerful retailers. I do think that M&S, for example, are trying to work well with suppliers.

On Labour issues, I suspect that these big UK companies and brands are probably better than many others. I know M&S are using fairtrade cotton now in many mainstream lines. And both have codes of conduct and audits - precisely because they are well know brands.

For me, the big remaining question is to do with the sheer size and continuing growth of the major supermarkets, and what this means for sustainability. If the essence of the business model is to sell ever more stuff to ever more people in ever more places, we will need more than the one planet earth.

Now, I know it is only a start, but the promises of Tesco to restrict air freight to only 1% of all imports, and more importantly, to make big absolute cuts in C02 emissions, are something more businesses could do with following.

Peter  

glad to know you're listening, at least, even if some of your clients aren't.

Whiskerfish

Even if Tesco stop importing from overseas, they'll still truck the stuff up and down the motorway several times before it reaches the stores