Presented by: Shaun Merritt

Introducing:

Wal-Mart’s Greenwash

Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Campaign

Wal-Mart’s sustainability campaign encompasses 3 specific goals:

1. To be supplied 100% by renewable energy

2. To create zero waste

3. To sell products that sustain people and the environment

Source: http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/environment-sustainability

But how do they follow through?....

“Wal-Mart’s sustainability campaign has done more to improve the company’s image than to help the environment.” –Stacy Mitchell Senior Researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Incriminating Evidence

Key Findings from ILSR show Wal-Mart’s Greenwash

Source: http://www.ilsr.org/new-report-walmarts-greenwash/

Wal-Mart’s SustainabilityAt its current pace, Wal-Mart will need roughly 300 years to reach its goal of 100 percent renewable energy. As of 2011, Wal-Mart was deriving only 2 percent of its U.S. electricity from its wind and solar projects

Wal-Mart’s greenhouse gas emissions are increasing rapidly. Its energy efficiency and renewable projects are too modest to match the scale of the company’s operations

Wal-Mart’s price pressure on manufacturers is undermining the quality and durability of goods, which has contributed to a sharp increase in the amount of stuff Americans buy and a doubling of the trash households generate

Wal-Mart’s SustainabilityWal-Mart has not addressed the habitat and climate impacts of its land development practices. The retailer continues to build sprawling stores on undeveloped land, often just a few miles from older, vacated Wal-Mart stores

Wal-Mart has made little progress toward its goal of developing a Sustainability Index to rate consumer products

With its share of U.S. grocery sales at 25 percent and growing, Wal-Mart is driving further consolidation and industrialization in our food supply, harming the environment and small-scale agriculture

Wal-Mart’s campaign donations heavily favor candidates who consistently vote against the environment

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2012/03/07/NY65919

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/03/08/walmart-accused-of-greenwashing/

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15707

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2011-01-06/news/walmart-greenwashing-workers-pay-the-price/

http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/11/20/walmart-pumps-millions-into-ocean-greenwashing/

http://www.policymic.com/articles/6781/coke-fritos-and-walmart-greenwashing-are-the-products-you-buy-really-green

Other Evidences

To summarize, Wal-Mart perpetuates an industrialized system of waste, does not meet its goal of 100% renewable energy and is more focused on its social reputation than on actually protecting the environment