One thing I can assure you after 30+ years in the apparel industry - what Wal-Mart demands from it's vendors becomes the industry standard very quickly. I have former colleagues who have been involved in developing the new environmental labeling program with Wal-Mart and I can assure you - it's the real deal. Here is the bonus - you don't have to shop at Wal-Mart to benefit from it! Most major brands do private label programs for Wal-Mart - so whatever they are required to do for Wal-Mart gets implemented across all of their brands. And the factories that do their production also produce for a wide network of companies. Wal-Mart is the largest customer in all consumer product categories and this means that every factory in their pipeline is going to be working hard to improve their environmental impact. This is very good news.
"Wal-Mart Thursday will tell suppliers they must calculate and disclose the full environmental costs of making their products, then allow Wal-Mart to distill the information into a rating system that shoppers will see alongside prices for everything from T-shirts to televisions.
The world's largest retailer by revenue, once disparaged by environmental groups, said the new initiative represents a bold new step in its efforts to reduce energy consumption, cut waste and introduce sustainable products. It will take years to fully take form. Some of its earlier efforts have had wide-ranging impact -- from selling more than 100 million low-energy fluorescent bulbs to the creation of concentrated detergents that use less packaging and water." Read more...
