[Editor’s note: See further coverage by Senior Writer Marc Gunther, GreenerComputing.com Executive Editor Preston Gralla, sustainability consultant Catherine Greener and by our news staff.]
Walmart has just unveiled its new Sustainability Index, a project that's been in the works for more than a year, but which is -- finally, after much anticipation and more than a little handwringing by industry, activists, and others -- part of the public discourse. The advance stories over the past few days have been amped up to the point of breathlessness, involving adjectives like "huge" (perhaps) and "audacious" (probably), with one story suggesting the Index will "shake the world" (um, no comment). Such hyperbole is understandable: any green commitment that Walmart makes is potentially a big deal. But now that reality has hit, it's time to take a more sober assessment of what's really going on here.
I've been watching the Index unfold over the past year. I've seen early iterations, talked to some of the many suppliers, nonprofits, academics, and consultants that Walmart has engaged in this effort, and viewed the final product.
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My assessment: Like so many things related to both Walmart and sustainability, there is both more and less going on here than meets the eye.
The story in brief: Walmart's Sustainability Index is geared toward creating a way to gather sustainability information about companies and, eventually, products sold in Walmart stores. The Index will result from a set of 15 questions Walmart is asking of its 60,000 or so suppliers. (You can download the questions here -- PDF.) It has asked for responses by October for its U.S. suppliers, later on for those elsewhere.
The 15 questions are grouped into four buckets: energy and climate, material efficiency, natural resources, and "people and community." That last category is particularly clever, as it allows the company to demonstrate that its concern lies beyond environmental issues to the broader arena of sustainability, which includes social issues, though the five questions included in that bucket barely scratch the surface of this topic. For example, they don't address most worker issues, like wages, health care, and the right to air grievances, among many other topics generally included in this arena.
Despite the much-ballyhooed launch, the Index isn't exactly new. The company began using a similar set of questions with suppliers about a year ago for its own private-branded products -- so-called house brands like Sam's Choice and Great Value; the company has around 30 such brands. It started with dairy products, followed by textiles, which includes both home furnishings and apparels. Toys and electronics follow. Many of the manufacturers of those house brands are also major consumer product brand manufacturers, so this won't be news to many of them.
Despite what the headlines have been saying the past few days, this isn't a product-rating scheme -- at least not yet, and likely not for several years. For now, Walmart will be using the results of the 15-question survey to assess companies. The questions, as you'll see, don't get down to the product level. In a second phase, the company plans to develop more sector-specific questions -- say, for agricultural products or jewelry or electronics. Eventually, the company hopes that the Index will address individual products. But that's not currently in the works.
International Wallmart
I do not know if all international wallmart sites operate in the same way as in U.S, thus I don't know if this works to any country.
Daniel Rios.
What the right hand giveth, the left taketh away.
Mr. Makower:
The tone of your article, as I'm sure you're aware, is overwhelmingly negative. It is a sign of what has been wrong with the environmental movement in the U.S. since its inception in the 1960's.
I'm reminded of a story I just heard about a woman and her unruly dog. No matter what she did, how hard she tried, the dog wouldn't obey, continued to bark and bite and was, in short, a holy terror.
With just two choices, she opted for the more humane and took the dog to obedience school. When the dog started to bark and bite, she was beside herself, constantly scolding the animal.
The trainer asked what she wanted to do with the dog. The lady replied, "I want her to stop biting and barking."
The trainer asked again, "What do you want to do with the dog?"
The lady responded with increased aggravation, "I want Ellie to stop terrorizing everyone!"
Again the trainer asked with emphasis, "Listen closely: What do you want to do with the dog?"
The woman was silent for awhile, soaking it in, then replied, "I want to be able to take Ellie to the lake or the park, to just have fun."
"Then every time you want to scold her, don't say a word and turn your back."
"That's never going to work with this dog..." she began, but desperate for an answer, she gave it a try.
When she joined the group with her dog, Ellie immediately started jumping up, tethered by the leash, and trying to nip at the other dogs. Rather than scold, she held the leash and turned her back. Almost immediately, Ellie pranced around her, sat down in front with a big puppy grin on her face, wondering what this new game was.
"Good dog," the lady exclaimed, petting the dog all over, while the puppy responded enthusiastically.
Needless to say, this behavior pattern was repeated over and over again, with the desired results.
I have been promoting sustainability at every opportunity since 1965, beginning as the scold, ending as one who praised those who responded well. I can assure you, once sustainability was accepted and proven profitable, those policies (and others) became ingrained in the corporate structure.
As one who believes passionately in this cause, I have found (as most adults have) that nothing happens immediately, no matter how necessary. Wal-Mart should be praised for taking these initial steps, no matter how they may be perceived, because the alternative is worse. In energy savings, they have started a trend that is rippling through the retail industry. That effort was not an overnight thing, but has received wide approbation from groups as "die hard" as the USGBC.
My mother used to use a phrase, "Faint praise never won fair maiden." Let's give Wal-Mart the praise they deserve for starting down what will undoubtedly be a long and difficult path.
Tom Coalson-LEED-AP; PMP
Speaker-Trainer-Consultant
Sustainable Distribution
My company submitted multiple bids to the Wal-Mart Distribution Centers in Palestine and New Braunfels, Texas to provide automation and renewable energy and solar water heat to their facilities improve their energy efficiency. We took the initiative to offer these products and services to Wal-Mart because their McKinney, Texas Superstore had installed solar. That I can tell, our offers never received much consideration. Adding insult to injury because we never were able to get Wal-Mart to do business with us they dropped us from their vendors list due to inactivity. It makes one wonder how serious Wal-Mart's commitment to sustainability can actually be.