Category Archives: Walmart

Where is Walmart on the 'Hype Cycle'?

By MM Harvey | Bio | Published: March 30, 2012

Michelle Mauthe Harvey co-leads Environmental Defense Fund's on-site partnership with Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas, advancing sustainable business practices throughout its operations and supply chain. Is Walmart more hype than reality? Having worked with Walmart since 2005, my colleagues and I at Environmental Defense Fund are often asking that question, stepping back from our day-to-day work [...]

Also posted in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management | 2 Comments

Putting Mother Jones Walmart Article in Perspective

By Elizabeth Sturcken | Bio | Published: March 26, 2012

In an article posted online this week, Mother Jones magazine makes a sweeping critique of Walmart’s efforts to reduce the environmental impacts created by its Chinese supply chain. Having been closely involved with Walmart on these and other sustainability initiatives since 2005, we’d like to offer EDF’s perspective on the story, and on what’s at [...]

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, News Commentary, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management | Leave a comment

Walmart finds money in a shoebox

By Elizabeth Sturcken | Bio | Published: January 30, 2012

Walmart’s The Green Room recently published a blog about shoeboxes. For a behemoth retailer like Walmart, one would think that worrying about shoeboxes isn’t high on its list of priorities. But this attention to detail is the kind of thing that makes environmental progress possible and Walmart effective. Scale In 2005, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) [...]

Also posted in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Paper & Packaging, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management | Leave a comment

How the Sustainability Consortium Creates 'Hot Spots' for Innovation

By EDF Staff | Published: December 19, 2011

By Will Pekel, Intern, Corporate Partnerships Program What if there was one source for comprehensive and credible information about the environmental and social sustainability of everyday products? Could such a resource accelerate the environmental and social change we need across the retail industry, from suppliers to retailers to consumers? In 2009, Walmart provided the initial [...]

Also posted in Innovation, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management | Leave a comment

Powering Up: Walmart plans to install more solar panels and moves closer to its goal

By Jenny Ahlen | Published: September 29, 2011

Walmart recently announced plans to install solar panels on all remaining eligible Walmart store locations in California, bringing the grand total to more than 130 stores by the end of 2013. Each installation will provide approximately 20 to 30 percent of that location’s needed electricity and will produce 600,000 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable electricity [...]

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management | 1 Comment

What Do Showerheads, Eggs and Clothing Labels Have in Common? Walmart.

By Andy Wunder | Published: June 22, 2011

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When working with the world’s largest retailer, you come to expect the unexpected. But what’s truly exciting is to help drive the unexpected. Last year, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) worked with Walmart on a goal to reduce 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its supply chain and product lifecycles over the [...]

Also posted in Behavior, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, News Commentary, Partnerships, Safe Products, Supply Chain Management | 3 Comments

On the road to solid sustainability reporting, Walmart gets one step closer

By Andy Wunder | Published: May 5, 2011

Last week as environmentalists across the country were getting excited for the 41st annual Earth Day, EDF’s Walmart team was eagerly anticipating another annual event – the release of Walmart’s 2011 Global Responsibility report. This is Walmart’s fourth sustainability report, and our third year blogging about it, and we are pleased to see that this [...]

Also posted in Behavior, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, News Commentary, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management | 3 Comments

Unpacking the Complexities of Packaging at Walmart's Sustainable Expo

By Jenny Ahlen | Published: April 28, 2011

Week three on the job at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and I had the opportunity to attend Walmart & Sam’s Club 6th Annual Sustainable Packaging Exposition in Rogers, Arkansas. The expo is part of Walmart’s efforts to reduce five percent of packaging in its supply chain by 2013 (based on a 2008 baseline). It acts [...]

Also posted in Events & Activities, Innovation, Paper & Packaging, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management | 3 Comments

Spreading Sustainability: From the Fortune 500 to the next 5,000

By Gwen Ruta | Bio | Published: April 27, 2011

Recently in Harvard Business Review, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer wrote about “The Big Idea” – that companies must take the lead by “creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges.” Driven by win-win success stories, by a vacuum in policy leadership, and by the [...]

Also posted in Behavior, EDF Climate Corps, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Innovation Exchange, News Commentary, Partnerships, Private Equity, Supply Chain Management, Treasure Hunts | Leave a comment

EDFbiz Brief: Highlights of our recent work

By Gwen Ruta | Bio | Published: April 26, 2011

Understandably, hectic schedules and information overflow makes it easy for news to sometimes slip through the cracks. This is why we want to recap some of the exciting things we’ve been working on over the last few months at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). EDF CLIMATE CORPS As we gear up for the summer, we’ve closed [...]