2 posts tagged “environmental activism”
Apparently, Walmart is all about sustainability now. I've always been partial to the "town center" urban planning model (where you have a collection of mixed use, independently-owned businesses and public spaces surrounded by residential areas), but I can see the merits of the Big Box in some cases. My small city, for example, is the county seat; half the population of the county lives here. The surrounding towns are mostly bedroom communities; some have been since they were founded, while others evolved (or perhaps, devolved) as family farming languished. Although only 100,000 people actually live here, we have 3 Wal-Marts, each located on one of the main roads out of town. I have to wonder if it isn't easier to ship a wide range of products to a central location instead of trying to distribute them to many tinier locations in dozens of small towns... especially since many of these people are traveling to that central location anyway. Also, since the Wal-Marts here are all on the edges of town, people coming in travel a few miles less than if they had to come to the business district and visit several stores.
I'm not sure how much of Wal-Mart's green hype I believe, but I can't help liking it a little. It'll reach millions of people.... Hell, until I looked through their apparel catalog, I didn't know Coca-Cola made shirts out of recycled pop bottles. (I also like their promotion of transitional cotton.) More importanly, it puts earth-friendly products within easy physical and financial reach of people who normally could/would not participate in environmental causes. A working parent buying groceries, school supplies, and prescriptions isn't necessarily going to have the time or energy to seek out green products at a different store.
If the evil megastore is serious about going green, then more power to 'em. I just hope they don't stop here. Why not use solar power in the stores? (The roof seems large enough.) Use environmentally-responsible building materials. Phase out plastic bags. On the other hand. if they're just posturing... well, I can't say "Burn in hell," cus that wouldn't be carbon neutral.
Edit (4/15): I shoulda known the Coke shirts were too good to be true.
