Walmart Goes Green, You Save Money
photo credit: Clean Wal-Mart
A recent article outlining Walmart Corporation’s decision to “go green”by New York Time’s writers Stephanie Rosenbloom and Michael Barbaro should give you hope as a consumer. Why?
Walmart is such a massive company that it dictates the terms by which it purchases products. To put this in perspective, imagine you are the primary customer at a local bakery. You purchase 5-600 loaves of potato bread at this bakery each week and it’s safe to say that they would fail without your business. Understanding your position, wouldn’t you feel comfortable asking your local baker to make potato bread in round loaves instead of the typical oblong ones? Of course you would! Your neighborhood baker would be happily obliged to bake round loaves in order to keep your business. Walmart does the same thing with many of its producers. When Walmart asks GE to produce a different shape of florescent light bulb, GE spends the money to make the new light bulb because it cannot afford to lose Walmart as a customer.
Walmart’s choice to “go green” means that companies the world over have started scrambling to develop environmentally-friendly versions of their products so they don’t lose Walmart as a customer. After only two days of board meetings, Walmart has begun a dramatic evolution toward environmentally-friendly products with a force that legislators can only drool over. Walmart wants to sell you everything. They’ve decided to win your money by offering environmentally-friendly products that will save you money in the long run while costing you less in the short term. Just don’t give them all your money.
photo credit: Clean Wal-Mart
A recent article outlining Walmart Corporation’s decision to “go green”by New York Time’s writers Stephanie Rosenbloom and Michael Barbaro should give you hope as a consumer. Why?
Walmart is such a massive company that it dictates the terms by which it purchases products. To put this in perspective, imagine you are the primary customer at a local bakery. You purchase 5-600 loaves of potato bread at this bakery each week and it’s safe to say that they would fail without your business. Understanding your position, wouldn’t you feel comfortable asking your local baker to make potato bread in round loaves instead of the typical oblong ones? Of course you would! Your neighborhood baker would be happily obliged to bake round loaves in order to keep your business. Walmart does the same thing with many of its producers. When Walmart asks GE to produce a different shape of florescent light bulb, GE spends the money to make the new light bulb because it cannot afford to lose Walmart as a customer.
Walmart’s choice to “go green” means that companies the world over have started scrambling to develop environmentally-friendly versions of their products so they don’t lose Walmart as a customer. After only two days of board meetings, Walmart has begun a dramatic evolution toward environmentally-friendly products with a force that legislators can only drool over. Walmart wants to sell you everything. They’ve decided to win your money by offering environmentally-friendly products that will save you money in the long run while costing you less in the short term. Just don’t give them all your money.
