GLRPPR Sector Resource: Walmart’s Greenwash: How the Company’s Much-publicized Sustainability Campaign Falls Short, While Its Relentless Growth Devastates the Environment
Title:
Walmart’s Greenwash: How the Company’s Much-publicized Sustainability Campaign Falls Short, While Its Relentless Growth Devastates the Environment
Abstract:
Examines all aspects of the major retailers environmental impact to see how sustainable Walmart really is. Key findings include:
-- At its current pace, Walmart will need roughly 300 years to reach its goal of 100 percent renewable energy. As of 2011, Walmart was deriving only 2 percent of its U. S. electricity from its wind and solar projects.
-- Walmart'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.
-- Walmart's price pressure on manufacturers is undermining the quality and durability of consumer goods, which has contributed to a sharp increase in the amount of stuff Americans buy and a doubling of the trash households generate.
-- Walmart 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 Walmart stores.
-- Walmart 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, Walmart is driving further consolidation and industrialization in our food supply, harming the environment and small-scale agriculture.
-- Walmart's campaign donations heavily favor candidates who consistently vote against the environment.
URL:
http://www.newrules.org/retail/news/new-report-walmarts-greenwash
Source:
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Resource Type:
Article/report
Date of Publication:
2012
Associated Sectors:
