Walmart again

I tried to avoid blogging about all this, but more information keeps coming out everyday about Walmart. It's time to tackle the goods and do some more thinking about this.

Walmart is going to start using corn-polymer plastics in their produce packaging.

Walmart is committing to a greater degree of environmental and social consciousness. They're trying to be more accountable (NYtimes link -- free signup required).

Walmart makes one great point in the NYTimes article:

Mr. Scott said that as the largest buyer of manufactured goods in the world, Wal-Mart has the power to encourage its more than 60,000 suppliers to adopt environmentally conscious business practices. "Our most direct impact will be on our suppliers," he said. "If we request that our suppliers use packaging that has less waste or materials that can be recycled, everybody who buys from that manufacturer will end up using that package."

But here's the clincher, also from the NYTimes article:

Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club and a board member of Wal-Mart Watch, a group critical of Wal-Mart, said that, from an environmental standpoint, Wal-Mart's stated goals would bring tangible improvements.

But, he said, they had not addressed the land-use impact of locating new stores in rural areas, covering fields or wetlands and prompting customers to consume extra gasoline to reach them. Even so, "these are positive steps," Mr. Pope said. "If they do these things, it's not greenscamming. If they did what they say they will, it would be major shift."

I'm glad that Walmart is aspiring to these new goals. Their emphasis on sustainability and better environmental practices by their suppliers has the ability to influence almost all the products that go through the US market, since they are a major buyer in the United States. Even worldwide, they will have an influence, since they probably buy products that also ship to other countries.

This still isn't enough to get me shopping at Walmart; my foremost convinction remains the belief that saving the environment will take more than producing items out of recycled goods or with less packaging. While these steps will help, only reduction of consumption and serious reause on the part of the consumer will truly reduce our ecological footprint in a meaningful way. Still, this is a good start, and I'm glad that many environmental organizations are (tentatively and carefully) applauding Walmart for this new commitment.