Devils and Angels

Last week I learned that Walmart is not only the devil sitting on one of America's shoulders, but also the angel sitting on the other. I attended a lecture at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) entitled “The Role of the Private Sector in Sustainable Agriculture.” The guest lecturer was a SAIS graduate: Beth Kreck, Senior Director of Sustainability for Walmart.

For eight years I was a union organizer and Walmart epitomized the evil employer. It paid it's employees poorly. It charged them ridiculous amounts for health insurance. The average sales associate at Walmart, for example, earns $8.81 an hour.  Even if she works full time - which is thirty-four hours per week at Walmart - she'll bring home $15,576 a year.  To put this in perspective, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calculates the 2011 poverty threshold for a family of two to be $14,710 and $22,350 for a family of four.  

To be clear, the issue is not whether or not Walmart can afford to support it's workers. Walmart reported $3.8 billion net income just in the second quarter of this year and their CEO, Michael Duke, is looking at $18.7 million total compensation in 2011.  In 2010, Duke made more money in one hour than the average Walmart employee made all year.

Additionally, communities targeted for Walmart construction have often protested because the entry of a Walmart meant the exit of many small, local business owners who just couldn't compete.  And throughout this past year, Walmart has made headlines as it defended itself in the Supreme Court against allegations of gender discrimination.

These were the facts that I focused on when once upon a time I admonished my mother for shopping at Walmart. In our family Walmart was like Voldemort, an unseen antagonist whose evil presence was felt but whose name was never uttered. If Mom told me about a great deal and I asked where it came from, she'd respond cryptically: "Oh, you know where it came from..." 
 
I did not know that in 2005 Walmart made a conscious commitment to move in a sustainable direction. From it's website: 

At Walmart, we know that being an efficient and profitable business and being a good steward of the environment are goals that can work together. Our broad environmental goals at Walmart are simple and straightforward: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; to sell products that sustain people and the environment.

In her presentation at SAIS, Kreck gave examples of how such a business model proves good not only for the environment, the producers, and the customers, but also for the company.  She pointed to apple production in the American Pacific Northwest.  On average, 7% of apples are left on the ground to rot because they do not meet the aesthetic standards of most markets.  But with new technology, farmers are able to use cost-effective means to harvest all of the apples and separate the less attractive ones for use in products such as applesauce and juice where their appearance is unimportant.  Less waste means more profit for the farmer.  It also means a lower price for Walmart which then translates into a lower price for the customer.

Other examples include Walmarts effort to install solar panels on 75% of it's stores in California, a move that they estimate will provide 20-30% of their facilities' power needs in California plus annually prevent the production of 21,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.  In the same state, Walmart reports that it has eliminated more than 80% of the waste that would otherwise go to landfills.  They have accomplished this through a combination of recycling, donating to food banks, and transforming expired food and organic waste into compost and animal feed.

Globally, Walmart has made various impressive commitments.  By 2012, both Walmart and Sam's Club must source all of it's fresh and frozen fish and seafood from third-party verified sustainable sources.  By 2015, no product will be sold that includes unsustainable palm oil as an ingredient.  In the next 5 years, it will invest $1 billion in sustainable small and medium size farms, in fresh food chains that pair local stores with local products.

Do these new angelic halos cancel my historic criticisms of Walmart's devilish side? No. Do they excite me? Yes! And more than a fleeting excitement, they buoy a deeper hope that the private sector can contribute in meaningful ways to fashioning a more sustainable world.  I'm curious to hear how other retailers respond to these initiatives and to see what kind of impact these shifts have on the consciousness of the average Walmart shopper.