|
| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
A Hole-istic Approach
Wal-Mart, mining companies team up to trace path of jewelry supply chain |
|
16 Jul 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:31 AM on 16 Jul 2008 Retail giant Wal-Mart is joining with Conservation International as well as mining companies Rio Tinto and Newmont Mining to launch a pilot project that lets customers trace the path of their jewelry from mine to mega-store. Marketed as Wal-Mart's "Love, Earth" brand jewelry, the items stand out from others in that once they're purchased, customers can go to ... |
|
| Topics: business, green living, mining, news, shopping, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Just Beyond the Parking Lot
Wal-Mart gobbles up local produce |
|
02 Jul 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:55 AM on 02 Jul 2008 You thought you took home a haul at the farmers market last week, but you've got nothin' on Wal-Mart. The big-box retailer has become the nation's largest buyer of local produce, planning to purchase and sell $400 million worth of locally grown fruits and veggies this year. Wal-Mart says it works with "hundreds" of individual farmers, and has 50 percent more partnerships with local growers t ... |
|
| Topics: business, food, greening biz operations, greenish companies, local food, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Turn Down the AC, Turn Up the AC/DC
Wal-Mart truck fleet on track to meet fuel-efficiency goals |
|
13 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:06 PM on 13 Jun 2008 Wal-Mart has improved the fuel efficiency of its 7,000-truck fleet by 20 percent since Oct. 2005 and is on track to meet its goal of a 25 percent improvement by the end of 2008, a Wal-Mart executive said Friday. Having already downsized its diesel tanks and started rolling on more efficient tires, the company also hopes to introduce hybrids into its fleet and perhaps ... |
|
| Topics: business, fuel efficiency, greening biz operations, music, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Beauty of the Beast
Wal-Mart tightens safety standards for toxics in toys |
|
14 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:55 AM on 14 May 2008 Wal-Mart, the world's largest toy retailer, has told its suite of suppliers that they must meet new safety standards for toxics in toys by later this year. Some 25 million toys were recalled by toy makers last year in the United States, many due to high lead levels. Wal-Mart's new standards apply to a range of toxics, including antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercur ... |
|
| Topics: business, news, toxics, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
CEO charged with seeking profit
|
David Roberts |
21 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In the course of an off-the-shelf rant about Wal-Mart, Z.P. Heller says this: While Wal-Mart may be working to reduce their carbon footprint, it became clear that to Scott, reducing waste means making money, not fulfilling an environmental promise. The mind boggles. |
|
| Topics: Wal-Mart, business (all these topics) |
|
|
ECO:nomics: Wal-Mart
CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. offers a realistic assessment of his company's sustainability efforts |
David Roberts |
17 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'We are not green.' Those words were spoken by Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. during his panel at the conference. Hours later, they headlined a post on the WSJ energy blog. Hours after that, they served as the subject of a broadside from the company's sworn enemy, Wal-Mart Watch. Sigh. Here's the exact quote, as I transcribed it in my notes (100 percent accuracy not guaranteed): It has been positive from a PR standpoint, but one of the things we learn ... |
|
| Topics: business, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
ECO:nomics: Overload
|
David Roberts |
14 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Good lord. Today was overwhelming. There were about 10 sessions, every one thought-provoking. I interviewed Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy. I saw energy advisers from all three presidential campaigns offer substantive comparisons of the candidates' climate positions. I saw in-depth discussions of carbon trading, green automobiles, shareholder resolutions, and the structure of cap-and-trade systems. I talked to journalists, people working on water and carbon trading, t ... |
|
| Topics: business, energy, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Well, That Changes Everything!
CEO settles the debate over whether Wal-Mart is green |
|
13 Mar 2008 |
News |
| 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 From the Archives Drill Team. Alaska senators introduce legislation to open Arctic Refuge to drilling. The Fiber of Our Being. Legalizing hemp would help environ ... |
|
| Topics: business, greenish companies, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
The Company He Keeps
An interview with eco-certification expert Michael Conroy |
Katharine Wroth |
07 Mar 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Michael Conroy. Photo: Chris Conroy Photography As a shopper, you can't turn around without running into some type of green label, from Fair Trade to FSC-certified. But what do they all mean, and where the hell did they even come from? Economist Michael Conroy digs into the history behind these increasingly common labels in his book Branded!: How the 'Certification Revolution' Is Transfo ... |
|
| Topics: books, business, consumerism, green products, greening biz operations, interview, shopping, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Say cheeeeez
Kodak, Wal-Mart partner on photo kiosk recycling |
Katharine Wroth |
29 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Wal-Mart continues on the 'Seriously? They're still doing good stuff?' path with a new partnership with Kodak that will bring recycling to those handy in-store photo kiosks. The printer ribbon, spools, and cartridges recycled annually by the program will weigh about as much as six commercial planes. Which is, even by Wal-Mart standards, big. |
|
| Topics: business, green living, recycling, shopping, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Wal-Mart wants your cleantech ideas
|
David Roberts |
27 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Wal-Mart wants your help: We are trying something new at Wal-Martamidst the crazy fast, rapidly growing space of clean/green technologies we have found it pretty difficult to do two things: 1. Find the technologies that we should be implementing and 2. Be sure those that we know about are the best options with the most business potential and positive environmental impact. With this in mind, we've decided to partner with Cleantech, a very large networ ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, tech, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
But three of its stores have skylights. How bad could it be?
Don't let Wal-Mart's greenish diversions distract you |
Guest author |
05 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay by Alex Goldschmidt, online editor at Wal-Mart Watch.----- Photo: Lone Primate Wal-Mart has been trying its hardest to distract its environmental critics. In a carefully orchestrated act of diversion, the company shows off its skylights and light bulb sales. In doing so, Wal-Mart has managed to draw attention away from the other, deeper environmental problems lying at the heart of the company's business model. Wal-Mart's ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, greenish companies, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Scott Glee
Wal-Mart CEO outlines lofty green goals |
|
24 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:44 PM on 24 Jan 2008 Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott made a big ol' speech yesterday spelling out ambitious social, health, and environmental goals for the retail behemoth. Wal-Mart will work with other retailers to boost industry-wide green standards, said Scott, and, within five years, Wal-Mart suppliers will be required to meet stringent environmental standards -- and may even be paid more to do so. The company wants to double its sales o ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news, progress, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Great Scott
Wal-Mart CEO lays out ambitious social and environmental goals for his company |
David Roberts |
24 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Yesterday, Wal-Mart CEO gave a fairly amazing speech, assessing the company's progress on its social and environmental goals and laying out some extremely ambitious plans for the future. A taste: He then laid out sweeping plans for the company on several health and environmental issues, and he hinted that even more ambitious goals might be on the horizon. Mr. Scott said, for instance, that Wal-Mart is talking to leaders of the automobile industry about selling el ... |
|
| Topics: business, energy, greening biz operations, renewable energy, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Wherefore Art Thou, Romeoville?
Wal-Mart will open more-efficient stores |
|
16 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:38 PM on 16 Jan 2008 Wal-Mart -- ah, always Wal-Mart -- has plans to open four stores that "will operate at a level that's 25 percent more efficient than a traditional Wal-Mart supercenter," according to a representative. The chain, which has a goal of someday having all of its 2,400 U.S. stores reach that level of efficiency, is using tricks it learned from experimental stores in Texas and Colorado. ... |
|
| Topics: business, green building, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Clorox + Wal-Mart = deeelight
The latest green partnership |
Katharine Wroth |
14 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Dave posted earlier about the new green cleaning line from Clorox and his combined reaction of happy feelings and 'how will greens spin this into suckage.' But wait, it gets better: Wal-Mart is investing big time in the Clorox product line. Check this quote from a Wal-Mart press release: 'Wal-Mart's support of Green Works has significantly influenced the scale of our launch,' said Ed Huber, vice president of sales, Wal-Mart team at Clorox. 'Along with their size a ... |
|
| Topics: business, consumerism, green living, health, shopping, toxics, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Sweet, sweet monopsony
Wal-Mart pushes electronics suppliers to rate their products by eco-friendliness |
David Roberts |
12 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Wal-Mart is giving its electronics suppliers a scorecard on which they can rate their products on green qualities like durability and ease of recycling. That's tricky, of course, given the lack of a national standards for such things -- so it's pushing for that, too. Given Wal-Mart's size, I won't be surprised if it single-handedly forces the issue. But still, um, evil bad awful satan! |
|
| Topics: business, consumerism, green products, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
So MINI to Choose From
Hybrid Technologies converts gas-powered cars to electric |
|
18 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 4:09 PM on 18 Dec 2007 Obsessed with MINI Coopers but also like the idea of zero-emission electric vehicles? Have your car and drive it too: a company called Hybrid Technologies guts cars such as the MINI, smart fortwo, and PT Cruiser, and replaces their gas tanks with an electric motor and a stack of lithium batteries. Convinced? Starting in 2008, you'll be able to buy your electric MINI at Wal-Mart -- f ... |
|
| Topics: business, cars, electric vehicles, greenish companies, news, placemaking, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Sears of Joy
Sears and KMart will phase out PVC, Wal-Mart accused of eco-naughtiness |
|
13 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 1:36 PM on 13 Dec 2007 Big-box behemoths Sears and Kmart have agreed to phase out nasty plastic PVC from all products in their 3,800 stores. While admirable, the announcement merely makes those stores the lemmings of PVC abandonment; IKEA, Wal-Mart, and Target have all previously agreed to go PVC-free. In other big-box news, the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency has accused Wal-Mart of sour ... |
|
| Topics: business, green living, greening biz operations, greenish companies, logging, news, shopping, toxics, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Sustainability Hits a Wal
Wal-Mart releases its first |
|
16 Nov 2007 |
News |
| "sustainability report" Posted at 9:05 AM on 16 Nov 2007 Hugemongous retailer Wal-Mart released its first "sustainability report" yesterday after having delayed its release several times. In it, the company touts its recent efforts to green its operations, while also admitting it has a long way to go. "We make no claims of being a green company," said company CEO H. Lee Scott. No argument there. But Wal-Mart sai ... |
|
| Topics: business, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Bill Clinton vs. the World Bank
Clinton's push for sustainable development dismissed by World Bank prez |
Joseph Romm |
27 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The opening plenary was fascinating. Clinton explained how CGI commitments had already avoided 20,000,000 tons of greenhouse gases. Then he tried to get Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank, to realize that the 'Bank can show people options for sustainable development.' Zoellick, however, was full of little more than platitudes, saying we need to address 'questions of adaptation and mitigation,' and noting that there is a sensitivity in the developing world t ... |
|
| Topics: business, climate, energy, international politics, politics, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
We'll Drink Beer for the Cause
Wal-Mart will track some suppliers' energy efficiency |
|
24 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 5:36 PM on 24 Sep 2007 Unrelenting in its quest for eco-domination, Wal-Mart has announced a plan to keep tabs on some suppliers' energy efficiency. Through a partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project, Wal-Mart will request emissions data from about 30 companies that collectively supply DVDs, toothpaste, soap, milk, beer, vacuum cleaners, and soft drinks. (Sure they're all commonly used, but -- r ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Our Jaw: Still Dropped
Wal-Mart's eco-initiatives turning Arkansas into sustainability hotspot |
|
07 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 9:14 AM on 07 Sep 2007 Attention shoppers: we bring you news of the latest sustainability hotspot, none other than Fayetteville, Ark. Green start-ups are flocking to town, the University of Arkansas has established an Applied Sustainability Center, and the mayor rides an electric bike to work. Why? Because of a certain retail giant whose headquarters lies half an hour away. Say it with us no ... |
|
| Topics: Arkansas, business, green living, greenish companies, news, placemaking, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
Changing the world, one Wal-Mart 'associate' at a time
A new article examines enviro Adam Werbach's decision to work with Wal-Mart |
David Roberts |
29 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The cover story in the latest issue of Fast Company is a long chin-scratcher about enviro-wunderkind Adam Werbach's decision to go to work for Wal-Mart. Is he selling out? Is he part of a new wave of more pragmatic environmentalism? Will he change Wal-Mart or will it change him? The article references (though does not, ahem, cite the source) an essay from John Sellers and Barbara Dudley called 'The Death of Integrity,' which takes the "Werbach's a sellout" p ... |
|
| Topics: business, greenish companies, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
15 Green Corporate Leaders
|
|
30 Jul 2007 |
Main Dish |
| Corporations have been blamed for all manner of environmental evils -- and, in many cases, for good reason. But a growing number of powerful CEOs are seeing the green light. The corporate leaders highlighted here don't run wholly sustainable companies, by any means (many, like Wal-Mart and Pepsi, still have big problems to tackle), but they're making serious attempts to green their products and operations, and the effects of their efforts are rippling thr ... |
|
| Topics: business, greening biz operations, greenish companies, lists, Prius, Richard Branson, Wal-Mart (all these topics) |
|
|
|
©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.