Wal-mart to create sustainability index
July 15th, 2009 by Elizabeth UlionImagine if every product on a store shelf was labeled with the social and environmental impact of its creation. Dream come true, right?
A social and environmental impact label on every product? Am I dreaming?
Well, this is exactly what Wal-Mart is attempting to do according to The New York Times. Yes, you did read that correctly, Wal-Mart.
Tomorrow the mega-business is expected to announce a program that will create an index of the social and environmental impact of every item that passes through those automatic doors.
“The index is to be introduced in three steps over the next five years. The first will involve Wal-Mart’s gathering information from its suppliers about the sustainable practices of their companies.
Step two would involve scholars at the University of Arkansas and the Arizona State University who would create a database and build a system of metrics used to evaluate the life cycle of products. Step three is translating the information in the database into a tool that consumers can use to evaluate the sustainability of products.”
Of course coming from a huge business I have to be skeptical of this. But with the university partnerships it seems like this might be legit and if it is, could do a great service. When Wal-mart asks for green, companies will ask what shade or find their products with a much smaller market. Let’s just hope that the review process produces a strict index of a dark forest hue.
Elizabeth Ulion is a graduate student at Northwestern University. She wants to thank Lise Comartin, hydrogeologist extraordinaire, for the tip on this story !Keep ‘em comin!
Photo Courtesy of laniuop1/Flickr
