Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something
~Author Unknown
There are days when I question whether or not our family’s efforts to live sustainably and responsibly really make a difference. Our planet’s environmental challenges are daunting. We do as much as we can to minimize our carbon footprint…but is it enough?
Every person should have access to healthy, sustainable products, and Walmart believes that the customer should not have to pay more for those products. As a leader in sustainability, the company is continuing to move forward towards attaining it’s three sustainability goals:
- To be supplied 100% by renewable energy
- To create zero waste
- To sell products that sustain people and the environment
Last week, Walmart held it’s Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting to highlight where the company has made progress with regards to the goals they have set. I’m going to highlight a few areas that stood out, but I highly encourage you to watch the video (which is just over an hour) for a more detailed look at how Walmart is furthering its sustainability initiatives.
At the beginning of the meeting, Walmart acknowledged that the journey towards sustainability should be a joint effort with other entities and that measurable targets should be established. While climate change has been a major environmental issue of the last 5 years, resource scarcity is an even bigger issue. The task of feeding 9 billion people without destroying the environment is daunting.
Issues of food supply and cost are prominent all over the world, but in the US, we don’t always feel the impact. One of the areas Walmart is focusing on is sustainable sourcing of beef/livestock. At present, 17% of the Amazon in Brazil has been deforested and sourcing/production of beef accounts for more than 60 percent of that deforestation. Walmart Brazil set up a monitoring system to ensure transparency surrounding the sourcing of beef so that suppliers have the ability to trace beef back to the farm and are alerted to deforestation risk. The goal is that 50 percent of the beef supply chain in Brazil will be monitored by the end of 2012, 75 percent by the end of 2013, and 100 percent by the end of 2014.
One of the resounding themes throughout the meeting was the importance of transparency. Walmart’s Sustainability Index focuses on transparency to understand and share what goes into the supply chain so that progress can be made. Walmart works with a sustainability consortium comprised of 100 companies that are suppliers, NGO partners, and universities to gather information to increase transparency, thereby improving the sustainability profiles of the products sold. This in turn builds trust with Walmart’s customers.
Walmart is making measurable progress in the area of sustainability. As a consumer, it’s important for us to not only understand what is in the products and foods that we are using and consuming, but to be mindful of where those items are sourced. If you’re interested in learning more about Walmart’s sustainability initiatives, just visit The Green Room.
I participate in the Walmart Moms program and am compensated for my time and honest opinions.
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