How Green is Walmart?

Walmart>* Falling Prices Failing Planet In 2005, Walmart made waves when they committed to converting their operations to 100% renewable energy. In 2009, they announced the launch of a new sustainability index that would rate all products they sell. Sadly, they've fallen short on both promises. Was it all just hype? The Size of the Problem Total Area of US Walmarts (million sq. ft.) Walmart Revenue 698 $312 $419 641 billion 530 billion 2005 2010 As a point of comparison, the GDP of the entire country of Argentina was $457 billion in 2010. 2005 2011 Manhattan * Expanding Markets **: In 2005, Walmart had 1587 retail locations outside the US. In only 6 years, this ballooned to 4557 stores outside the US. *= 10 Walmart stores outside the US ****** 2011 ****** *** 2005 **** Grocery Sales 25% of grocery sales in the US occur at Walmart. The first Walmart store selling groceries opened in 1988, meaning that the company has taken control of one quarter of the country's food supply in only 23 years. Not Getting Any Greener Renewable Energy In 2005, Walmart By 2011, renewable power At this rate it will take them announced they would represented less than power their operations with 100% 2% yrs renewable energy. of their power consumption. to reach 100% renewables. If Walmart spent their entire 2011 profit of $16.4 ilon This would be enough electricity to meet the average power load of the entire city of Los Angeles. on solar energy, they could install 4.1 GW, effectively doubling the total solar capacity of the USA. Greenhouse Gas Emmissions (million metric tons CO2) 19 21 2005 2009 If Walmart were a country, they would rank 79 aut of 140 for COz emissions, after Yemen, and before Tunisia. * Failed Sustainability Labeling CERAinabline Walmart made world headlines in 2009 when they announced an ambitious initiative to develop a sustainability index system for all their products. The system was To help set up the index, they funded the Sustainability Consortium, which revealed after two years they were merely conducting life cycle analyses for general product types. Analysis has been completed for 10 general product categories to date. A typical Walmart Supercenter caries about 140,000 products and thousands of product categories. promised for 2014. Throwing Away More Disposable Pricing It is no secret that Walmart constantly pushes for lower prices. They've spawned an entirely new type of business model built on thin margins for producers, cheaper and lower quality production overseas, and a consumer culture where buying a new product is cheaper and easier than getting the old one repaired. As a nation, we now purchase, and throw away more than ever. National Commodity Trends 59 average number of garments purchased annually per US citizen 83 lbs. average weight of clothing thrown out annually per US citizen 28 21Ds. 1995 2011 1980 2011 $4$ total number of drop in average price of apparel in the US 188 million 279 million toasters purchased in the US annually 39 *population growth (16%) 1995 2011 1994 2011 average number of years between TV purchases in the US total number of 1.4 3.6 2.5 towels purchased in the US annually billion billion 1994 2011 *population growth (17%) 1990 2011 Sources: World Resources Institute, International Energy Agency, Walmart Global Responsibility Report, BP World Energy Review, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkeley Lab, Global Finance Magazine, US Census Bureau, Institute for Local Self Reliance, LAist. ethical TM ocean rating rating ratin