Green Options

In what is being called the “the most ambitious private sector drive yet” to go green, Wal-Mart told hundreds of the chain’s top Chinese suppliers this week that the store intends to raise standards and “green” its supply chain.

You read correctly.  At this week’s “sustainability summit,” in Beijing,  Lee Scott, Wal-Mart’s CEO,  told top Chinese suppliers that the chain “intends to use its market power to get more than just low prices.” At the gathering: Procter & Gamble, FedEx, Kimberly-Clark, Coca-Cola and Rubbermaid.

The Financial Times called the summit “the most ambitious private sector drive yet to reduce waste and pollution in China’s export-focused manufacturing industries.”

“Our environmental footprint is primarily through our supply chain as a company,” says Matt Kistler, head of Wal-Mart’s global sustainability efforts. “So we have the ability to really build a world-class, better quality, better value supply chain.”

Ecoprenuerist exist in small companies and large as they spearhead efforts to make the world a greener place. The Environmental Defense Fund in their first Innovations Review, subtitled, “Making green the new business as usual” makes just that point.

Environmental sustainability is no longer the purview of boutique eco-brands. And it is no longer just about compliance with regulations or securing positive press coverage. It’s about driving cost savings through efficiencies, creating new markets and securing competitive advantage. Smart companies realize that what is good for the environment is also good for business.

At the launch, attended by California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the EDF called attention to the moves made by big companies toward saving the environment.