I believe, in fact, that being a good steward of the environment and in our communities, and being an efficient and profitable business, are not mutually exclusive. In fact they are one in the same. And I can show you why.That's part of the full text of H. Lee Scott's speech, Twenty-First Century Leadership, which is the source of all the recent articles about Wal-Mart's future environmental and labor plans. (The speech is full of specific targets and goals, and is well worth a read).
Basically, Wal-Mart is going to leverage its size to obtain environmental goals. It will use the same exact tactics it uses against its suppliers to lower prices, only this time very, very few people will bemoan them as an abuse of corporate power. Think I'm exaggerating?:
And about "sandwich balers" and waste:By being the leader, we will not only change OUR fleet, but eventually change truckseverywhere in the world.
This means working with our 60,000-plus suppliers and educating them. If it has to be thrown away, we don’t want it. We intend to reach the point in the near future where there will be no dumpsters at our stores, and no landfills with Wal-Mart throwaways.To do that, we have to address packaging.
Posted by Kevin on October, 26 2005 at 08:37 AM
