Oct 30, 2007

How serious is Wal-Mart about going green?

Wal-Mart gets ready to reduce emissions, waste and operating costs
How serious is Wal-Mart about going green? Enough that their mission, according to GreenTech Media, is to "wean itself from fossil fuels and generate zero waste from its operations." A goal like that certainly gets our attention.

This change won't happen any time soon. GreenTech writes that, "In five years, Wal-Mart is aiming to make its existing stores 20 percent more energy-efficient and to reduce the energy consumption of new stores by 30 percent. It's also working to make its transportation fleet more efficient and to turn its trash into a revenue stream."

Wal-Mart is getting ready to launch a new website where green companies can offer their technologies to the retailing giant. If Wal-Mart thinks it can reduce its environmental footprint and its operating costs by using the technology, then it's off to the races. Wal-Mart's site will launch next week at www.cleantech.com/accelerato (it currently just says "Testing page").

Now, while this effort is noble, if Wal-Mart truly wants to green all of its operations, I'd say that will have to include the many factories that produce all those products Wal-Mart sells. Sure, it's a huge challenge, but there's no time like the present to get started.

Related: From Source: autobloggreen.com
Wal-Mart's Thermal King diesel-hybrid trucks are biodiesel-ready