Wal-Mart To Add Green Label to Products
Wal-Mart is about to change the way we go shopping.
As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart has earned quite a reputation for their rock-bottom price tags (and the questionable strategies they use to attain those prices.) But in the future, those price tags may also be accompanied by another label…a green label that gives consumers information about the product’s carbon footprint…the energy and water used to create it, and the pollution left in its wake.
Wal-Mart is apparently on a mission to determine the social and environmental impact of every item it puts on its shelves. And it has recruited scholars, suppliers, and environmental groups to help it create an electronic indexing system to do that. Their goal is to create a universal rating system over the next 5 years that scores products based on how environmentally and socially sustainable they are. And down the road they hope that other retailers will adopt their green labeling system as well.
“We have to change how we make and sell products. We have to make consumption itself smarter and sustainable,” Michael T. Duke, Wal-Mart’s president and chief executive, told about 1,500 of the company’s suppliers and employees on Thursday at a “sustainability meeting.”
I know, I know, it seems a little scary that Wal-Mart may control the future of green labeling. The potential for greenwashing is astronomical. But so is the potential that something incredibly good could come out of this. Let’s face it, nobody else is doing it…and as the mega-giant of world consumption, Wal-Mart is about the only company that could pull this off.
via the New York Times
Photo by zev tiefenbach
I don’t know a lot about Walmart’s questionable strategies but they would certainly not be alone. Some things they don’t seem to do that are popular with other retailers: They do not force ‘loyalty’ cards on consumers. I don’t see price gouging, misleading advertising, or other sly tactics like switch and bait selling and deceptive store displays. They seem to have a better retailing ethic.
If anybody can do this I think Walmart can.
I hope they do a good job with this. I am worried though because for the last two years at least at my Wal-Mart they “go green” for Earth Month but slowly all the green products start to disappear after April.
Even if Wal-Mart does diligently follow-through with the green label, will customers respond accordingly (i.e., purchase only or predominantly those products that are best for the environment) or will they buy whatever they/their kids want no matter the relative cost? History is not our friend here as, for example, adults know the risk of smoking smoke anyway - despite the dire and individualized warning on each and every pack from the Surgeon General. My fingers are crossed…
well at least they realize that they need to attempt to do something. its great to hear they are concerned!!! thanks for the article- hopefully we will get updates as this scheme progresses!
Well, I’m not the biggest fan of Wal-mart. I’ve said a few things about them that make me deserve a trip to confession. I think they and other big box stores are making some strides in “greening” up. If they do one little thing as change the lightbulbs in their stores, it does really have a huge impact since they are enormous. So, I guess, good for them on the labeling!
The impact of this sustainability index will have a global impact as one in five of China’s factories are thought to be in the supply chain of the goods Walmart sells. This could be the start of a true green revolution where finally big manufacturers and consumers take responsibility for their environmental impacts.
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