The Best and the Worst about Wal-Mart

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Wal-Mart Going Green in Texas

From CNN. Wal-Mart is opening a store that uses many advanced-technology devices to cut its use of electricity and water.

The world's largest retailer was scheduled to open a 206,000-square-foot building Wednesday that will include features such as a 120-foot tall wind turbine that will produce about 5 percent of the store's energy and a rainwater harvesting pond designed to provide 95 percent of the water needed for irrigation.

...Wal-Mart wants some of the features in the store's design to one day be viewed as standard, including waterless urinals in customer bathrooms, saving about one gallon of water per usage; recycled cooking oil from the store's deli and engine oil from the auto center that will be used to help heat the building; and climate control measures and alternative refrigeration units that are projected to save enough electricity to power 135 single family homes for one year.

The company said there were additional costs with the conservation efforts, but would not elaborate on the price tag.

"We want to see if this can save us some money and keep our costs down," said Gus Whitcomb, Wal-Mart's area director of corporate affairs.

To which our local newscaster commented, "It's still just about the profits with Wal-Mart."

Posted by TheEclecticEconoclast on July, 20 2005 at 09:54 PM