Wal-Mart Commits to Going Green

Sept. 14, 2007 — -- Wal-Mart has long been synonymous with rock-bottom prices. Today, the retail giant says it also wants to be synonymous with the green movement.

In 2006, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott announced plans for a bold sustainability initiative. Among other things, the initiative calls for Wal-Mart to cut energy use in its 7,000 stores around the world by 30 percent and to cut greenhouse-gas emissions at existing stores by 20 percent in seven years.

Wal-Mart has also pledged to reduce solid waste produced by its U.S. stores by 25 percent in the next three years and to make its trucking fleet more efficient.

The goals are lofty. And, say environmentalists, they should be, given Wal-Mart's spotty environmental track record.

For years, Wal-Mart has been a target of environmentalists, who argue that the company's rapid expansion in the last quarter century has destroyed countless trees and contributed mightily to the nation's considerable sprawl problems.

Wal-Mart, argue environmentalists, who have teamed with unions in recent years to block the company's recent bids to expand further into California markets, has hardly been the poster child for the green movement.

Consider these facts: Wal-Mart, with about 4,000 stores in the United States alone, is the nation's top electricity consumer. And, with about 300 trucks coming and going to each of its 118 U.S. distribution centers every day, it has the nation's second-largest fleet of private trucks.

Wal-Mart admits that it has its work cut out for it to convince naysayers that it means business about going green.

"We are at the beginning of what we see as a very long journey," said Andy Ruben, who is heading up the implementation of Wal-Mart's sustainability initiative.

Ruben says Wal-Marts throughout the nation are slowly but surely being outfitted to be more efficient. Among the changes taking place: Skylights are being installed to offset the need for artificial lighting; stores are also starting to use cash register receipts that print on both sides of the paper, thus reducing the need for so much paper; and green toilets are being installed in stores.