WalMart has dropped to the third largest company in the world in terms of revenue.  Only Shell and Exxon have greater turnover.  It is interesting that whilst there is a strong anti-WalMart sentiment there is a far greater amount of people benefit from WalMart’s business otherwise it would not be so successful.

However, it appears that all of us are starting to benefit from WalMart as it should be recognised as a true leader in sustainable design.  I know that WalMart is making a significant difference in the energy consumption of its new and existing stores.  However it is using its considerable commercial muscle to make its supply chain improve their sustainability. You can read their sustainability policies here…

WalMart recently announces that it plans to cut 20 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain by 2015.  That will be more than some countries will achieve.  WalMart are getting their supplier to examine the carbon lifecycle of their products from raw materials all the way through to recycling packaging.  They will not make suppliers participate in this initiative but they have made it clear that they only wanted to do business with suppliers that shared its goals.

As usual there are critics of anything that WalMart does, but WalMart continues to improve the energy efficiency of their stores, has improved the efficiency of its transportation and it has created a global index to measure the environmental impact of its products amongst other initiatives.

Whilst you cannot please all of the people all of the time, through its sustainability initiatives, WalMart is clearly demonstrating leadership in significantly reducing carbon emissions that we all benefit – whether we like WalMart or not.