Walmart’s “Green” Card

Now, the low carbon emission leader!

Walmart, the world’s largest corporation, is about to set a new standard for sustainable manufacturing, that could change the world. It’s hard to grasp just how big Walmart is. By some estimates the total value of all goods and services sold by Walmart accounts for one third of our entire global output! Yes, one in three retail dollars spent around the planet is associated with Walmart or companies that do business through Walmart. So when this behemoth wakes up and realizes that green is better, the impact on the world, is huge!

So, What Is Walmart’s Grand Plan?

Walmart is funding an initiative to develop a sustainability index that will be used to measure the eco-friendliness of all products in all 7,000 plus Walmart stores. This index will include the impact of production methods and materials, packaging, shipping, and disposal. In other words, the entire life cycle of each product will be evaluated for how much of a carbon footprint that product has. Eventually, Walmart hopes that each and every item will have a small summary of this information, similar to a nutritional label, that will allow consumers to be aware of the real cost to the environment of buying this product. Sort of a ‘green card’ that gives you more information to decide if this product measures up to your values.

This is really phenomenal because in the past, Walmart’s quest for the best price, inspired millions of businesses to engage in practices that had devastating consequences on our environment and contributed to labor abuse and reliance on the cheapest and dirtiest methods of manufacturing. In fact, almost no major corporations currently design with environmental impact in mind because the consumer is the one who pays for disposal of all that plastic packaging that is so convenient, but so damn indestructible and polluting.

With this initiative, a company that say, makes furniture from unsustainable harvesting of timber, processes the wood in coal fueled factories, adds toxic chemicals that pollute our eco system and finally ship the goods 6,000 miles to Walmart, may no longer be able to do business with Walmart. A local company with a much higher sustainability index that can come close to the same price, may get the contract instead. And if such polluters still get their product on shelf, their eco-label will inform the consumer, similar to notices on tobacco, that this product is “hazardous to environmental health”. Ultimately, this comparison will inspire manufacturers to “out green” their competitors to win coveted placement in Walmart.

How to Develop the New Sustainability Index and Scorecard?

Walmart doesn’t plan to develop the new sustainability index on it’s own. Rather they’re assembling a group of universities that will collaborate with suppliers, retailers, NGO’s and governments to develop the database. They are also working with experts like BluSkye Consulting, the Environmental Defense Fund and sustainability metrics experts. The first version of this “supplier scorecard” is rolling out now to all 60,000 suppliers and it asks 15 questions in four categories with implicit goals.

• Energy and Climate – using less fuel and saving greenhouse gas emissions

• Material Efficiency – consuming less, processing less, reusing and recycling, and ultimately moving to zero waste

• Natural Resources – higher quality production with fewer inputs (like water), which could be certified according to standards

• People and Community –open communication and increased transparency about sourcing, and its impact in the local society.

By improving sustainability standards in these four categories it will ultimately enable manufacturers to operate at lower cost and negative impact to society while still delivering great value for both shareholders and stakeholders. In my next article, I will reveal why Walmart’s Green Initiatives actually makes good business sense. Stay tuned! You can download additional information on the sustainability challenge at: http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/9277.aspx