Environmental Effects of Wal-Mart on Our Local, National, and Global

Community

By: Akashdeep Singh Jandu

Wal-Mart’s Record

“Wal-Mart has a long history of breaking environmental laws that its high-priced green-washing campaign can't hide. Its record of environmental abuse was described by one top law enforcement official as "widespread, systematic, repeated" and has incurred millions in fines from state and federal agencies.”

Wal-Mart’s constant expansion and conversion of discount stores to Supercenters leaves vacant buildings behind–in 2004 an estimated 13 million square feet. Wal-Mart admitted the com pany prefers to let the buildings sit empty. “There are times when it’s in our interest to get the property moving faster, but we’re certainly not going to give a competitor an advantage,” Wal-Mart spokesman, Bob McAdam said.

“Wal-Mart also has temporarily halted its recycling program at the Lawrence store. Wal-Mart green team coordinator said, ‘There’s just not any money in recycling.’”

Wal-Mart Watch

Going to review how Wal-Mart is effecting the environment at global, national, and local levels

What should be done

Wal-Mart Internationally

Its effect on the International Environment

2004 Fiscal Report - walmartstores.com

International Wal-Mart

As of January 31, 2004, the Company had 1478 Wal-Mart stores, 1471 Supercenters, 538 SAM’s CLUBS and 64 Neighborhood Markets in the US.

Internationally, the Company operated units in Argentina (11), Brazil (25), Canada (235), China (34), Germany (92), South Korea (15), Mexico (623), Puertro Rico (53), and the UK (267).

www.wakeupwalmart.com

Wal-Mart’s Exports in China Sky-Rocket

China:– Wal-Mart reports that it purchased $18 billion of

goods from China in 2004. – Wal-Mart is responsible for about 1/10th of the

U.S. trade deficit with China. – If Wal-Mart were an individual economy, it would

rank as China’s eight-biggest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia and Canada.

EPA

Transportation of Exported Goods Lead to Increase in Air Pollution

Wal-Mart imports approximately 20% of their goods from foreign countries.

Most are shipped on ocean liners. Big ocean vessels are the dirtiest source of transportation, leaving trails

of smog across the world's most heavily plied shipping routes The EPA has begun regulating emissions from American ships, though

its rules don't cover foreign-flagged vessels. One large ocean vessel spews more pollutants than 2,000 diesel trucks. Oil tankers, container and cargo carriers, and cruise ships, all labeled

Category 3 by the EPA, run on bunker oil, which is the dirtiest and least expensive form of fuel.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that ships account for 14 percent of all global nitrogen emissions and 6 percent of sulfur emissions from all fossil fuels. Both pollutants are linked to global warming.

Exports – contribute to air pollution

Wal-Mart’s Control of Consumerism Affects the Global Environment

The production, processing, and consumption, of commodities requires the extraction and use of natural resources (wood, ore, fossil fuels, and water)

It requires the creation of factories and factory complexes whose operation creates toxic byproducts, while the use of commodities themselves (e.g. automobiles) creates pollutants and waste.

More people shopping = more cars = more pollution

Wal-Marts contributes to Global Warming

On average each Wal-Mart store services about 6000 customers a day which contributes to congested parking lots. (www.walmartstores.com)

Each customer’s car contributes to global warming, and the green houses gas counts in a Wal-Mart parking lot are equivalent to a mild traffic jam.

www.wakeupwalmart.com

Battle in Mexico

A citizens group has filed legal appeals and staged demonstrations in an attempt to stop Wal-Mart from building a megastore near the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacan, about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City.

The massive store would be visible from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, the largest Pre-Columbian stone pyramid in the Western Hemisphere.

Today, only the core religious complex is fully protected. Wal-Mart is building on farmland in a "buffer" zone adjacent to the protected area, less than a mile from the Pyramid of the Sun.

Wal-Mart's private archeologist insists that only a few isolated artifacts have been found on the construction site.

The company says an unearthed altar will be displayed under Plexiglas in the store's parking lot.

Teotihuacan

www.MSNBC.com

Vancouver beats Wal-Mart!!!!

In June, the Vancouver City Council voted 8-3 to deny approval for a 130,000-square-foot Wal-Mart superstore along Marine Drive in the southeastern part of the city.

More than 8,000 people signed petitions against the project and dozens spoke out at public hearings.

Wal-Mart responded to the election by proposing a store with ecologically-friendly features, including a windmill, a system for using rainwater in the toilets, natural lighting, and underground wells for heating and cooling.

But the council concluded that the store would induce more driving, ultimately causing more environmental harm than could be mitigated by its innovative design.

www.wakeupwalmart.com

Other Countries Battling Wal-Mart on Zoning Issues

England, Ireland, Sweden, Australia, US Various issues are arising:

– Noise Pollution & Air Pollution due to increase number of cars

– Degradation of sacred/historical grounds

Wal-Mart responds to criticism

Wal-Mart Chief Executive Lee Scott has said that Wal-Mart will now aim to become a 'good steward for the environment' with a target ultimately of using only renewable energy sources and producing zero waste. (A News item from Business Respect, Issue Number 87, dated 25 Oct 2005)

Scott’s focus is on Wal-Mart’s of the United States, but pays no attention to international Wal-Marts

This is because the EPA, and other environmental agency have little or no affect on global issues.

Concerning the environment, internationally Wal-Mart is being overlooked.

Takin’ it up da’ pooper; lee scot givin’ it to da’ environment

Clean Water Act

Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 1977 amended, known as Clean Water Act Regulating discharges of pollutants into waters EPA authority

– Set water quality standards– Unlawful to dump without permit– Treatment plants

www.epa.gov

Violation

2001 Wal-mart & contractors settle with U.S 17 sites, storm runoff

– $1 million civil penalty– $4.5 million environmental management plan

2004 Wal-Mart settle with US, EPA, DOJ, etc… 24 sites, storm runoff

– $3.1 million in civil penalty– “reduce storm water runoff at its sites by instituting better

control measures, thereby setting an industry standard for developers and contractors.”

EPA. 2001. & 2004

Violation

2005 Wal-Mart settle with Connecticut– 22 stores with stormwater and water management – $1.15 million

CAGO. 2005

Belmont, SC ~ Catawba

“If the current application for a conditional use permit is approved as proposed, the construction and operation of the Wal-Mart Super Center will materially endanger public health and the environment by causing an increase in the levels of heavy metals, fecal coliform bacteria, herbicides, pesticides, nutrients, sediment, oil and grease contaminating the waters of the Catawba River.”

Lisenby, D. “Deterimental Impacts to Water Quality if Wal-Mart Conditional Use Premit is Granted”

Lisenby, D. “Deterimental Impacts to Water Quality if Wal-Mart Conditional Use Premit is Granted”

Belmont, SC ~ Catawba

Manufacturer’s Warning Label on Insecticide label: “This pesticide is toxic to fish. Do not apply directly to water. Runoff from treated areas may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in neighboring areas. Do not contaminate water when disposing of equipment washwaters. If spilled, either collect for use or dispose of properly.”

Manufacturer’s Warning Label on Fungicide: “This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm,” & “This pesticide is toxic to catfish. Do not apply directly to water, to areas where surface water is present….”

Lisenby, D. “Deterimental Impacts to Water Quality if Wal-Mart Conditional Use Premit is Granted

What Then Shall We DO, Dan?

Lerner (1998) offers possibilities – price goods to reflect environmental impact

Negative externalities

– Green planning Wal-Mart Eco-Friendly Design

– Green tax

Lerner 1998

What's the Cost?

Being eco-friendly can be profitable– Niche market– Marketing– Public relations

Howard 2005

What’s Wal-Mart up to?

Smart products– Inform customers

Land Conservation– Protected 135,000 acres

Sustainable energy– Reduce: greenhouse 20% next 8 years

Waste– Goal: generate “no net waste”– Profit driven

Experimental Future

Experimental Store– McKinney, Texas– “uses revolutionary materials, technology, and

processes to reduce the amounts of energy and natural resources required to operate the store.”

– Climate control, internal building experiments, internal lighting, bioswale & pervious pavement, recycling, solar energy, water conservation, wind turbine & heat island effect

Experimental Truck

One of largest private truck fleets– 100 hybrid trucks, 100 more by 2007– Profitible

Net savings of at least $494 million a year by 2002

Wal-Mart Says:

Wal-Mart promotes “green products” (Ortega 215)

– Green products are “products that [are] supposed somehow to be environmentally ‘improved’” (Ortega 216)

– The main environmental change and improvement is selling items that are 100% recycled

3 out of 5 local Wal-Mart store managers we spoke with stated that their store carried green products

We Found:

The 3 local store managers that claim to carry these green products could not name specific items with this label

Also, store managers needed a definition of what a green product is before they could answer our questions

Their website does not contain any information regarding these products

Bounty paper towels are considered a green product– “…A roll of Bounty paper towels, 67 square feet of

chlorine-bleached, unrecycled paper packaged in plastic” is considered a green product simply because “the core tube is made of 100% recycled paper” (Ortega 216)

Wal-Mart Says

Safety precautions are taken at local Wal-Marts by:– Following Hazardous-Material disposal and

shipping instructions– Using in-house internet as a resource for clean-up

instructions– Posting information about proper care of

chemicals in every department

We Found:

The in-house internet is not connected to a specific chemical care program– Employees are responsible for searching for

information when an emergency could be occurring– Also, with such a high employee turnover rate the

training required is not necessarily happening during initial training

According to a Wal-Mart employee in Van Wert, the posted information about proper care of chemicals is only known to the maintenance department

Wal-Mart Says:

They use recycled products in all five of the local Wal-Mart stores

They ship out many products to be recycled:– Tires - Motor Oil - Plastic Bags– Cooking oil - Car Batteries

Recycled pavement is used in many local store parking lots

We Found:

According to store managers, the only two 100% recycled products used in local stores are plastic shopping bags and computer paper– This shows that out of the five products shipped

out only one of these items returns to be used in our local stores

In our local area only 2 of the 5 stores have recycled pavement in the parking lot

Wal-Mart Says:

3 out of 5 local Wal-Marts use skylights to conserve energy during the daylight hours– The amount of energy used by the lighting system

in a Lima Wal-Mart is controlled by the amount of sunlight coming through the skylights

– These skylights “save on electricity [by using] electronic daylight sensors on the roof to dim or brighten fluorescent lights depending on how bright it is outside” (Ortega, 217)

We Found:

Old stores are not receiving this lighting system and continue to waste energy– The 17 year old store in Lima is a part of this

problem and there are no plans for future improvements

The local stores are not saving solar energy that could be used during nighttime hours

Wal-Mart Says:

In 1993, after three years of planning, an environmentally-friendly store was built in Lawrence, Kansas

The CEO, David Glass, claimed that the opening of this first green store was “the beginning of a great new era” implying that Wal-Mart is becoming more eco-sensitive (Ortega 217)

The 1st green store included features such as:– Selectively harvested arching wooden beams which

supported the store’s roof– Skylights to save on electricity– Recycled asphalt in the parking lot– A solar-powered sign out front– A holding pond to collect waste water and run-off from

the parking lot to be used to irrigate the shrubbery (Ortega 217)

We Found:

Out of approximately 130 new stores opened per year only 1 is designed as a green store (Store Wars and Ortega, 217)

According to the store manager in Wapakoneta, there are only 3 green stores open nationally

New stores in our area are only receiving one of these many features per store

Our Solutions:

Improve employee education Buy from suppliers that provide a wider

variety of green products Make eco-friendly renovations to older store

buildings Build a green store locally

If Wal-Mart is better to our local environment, they will be

demonstrating an important part of living a simpler life

What Can We Do?

Schut—Simpler Living– In today’s capitalist society– Re-evaluate our consumerist tendencies– The joy of living a simpler life, free of “things”– There is suffering endured by others due to our

obsession with purchasing unnecessary goods

Our duty as responsible citizens

Take care of our environment

Be well-informed

Take responsibility for our actions

Our Responsibility as Christians

Given this Earth Not here to rape the land for our own benefit Instead, to take care of the planet and all that

is on it Though perhaps not directly responsible for

what is happening, it is still up to us

IT IS OUR FUTURE!

AFLCIO. 2005. “Bill would address health care cost-shifting by corporations.” Retrieved December 5, 2005 from http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/ns06222005.cfm.EPA. 2004. “Press Release: U.S. Announces Major Clean Water Act Settlement with Retail Giant Wal-Mart.” Found December 5, 2005 at http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b1ab9f485b098972852562e7004dc686/5702a09ae47131c085256e920060d460?OpenDocument.EPA. 2001. “Press Release: US Reaches Water-Polution Settlement with Wal-Mart.” Found December 5, 2005 at http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b1ab9f485b098972852562e7004dc686/dfc27e3cc459534d85256a64005f9dd2?OpenDocument#.EPA. 2005. “Clean Water Act.” Found December 2, 2005 at http://epa.gov/region5/water/cwa.htm.Howard, T. 2005, August 12. “Being Eco-Friendly Can Pay Economically.” USA Today. Retrieved November 9, 2005, from EBSCOhost database.Lerner, S. 1998. “The New Environmentalists.” Futurist, 32(4), 35. Retrieved November 9, 2005, from EBSCOhost database.State of Connecticut Attorney General’s Office. 2005. “Press Release: Attorney General, DEP Commissioner Announce $1.15 Million Environmental Settlement With Wal-Mart.” Found December 5, 2005 at http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=1949&Q=300448.Wal-Mart. 2005. http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWM StoresWeb/.