• Wal-Mart Sustainable Packaging Value Network. The company is leading the largest effort in the retail industry to encourage sustainable packaging not only at its own stores, but throughout its value chain.
• ASDA, Wal-Mart's British subsidiary and the 2nd largest grocer in that country, has pledged to reduce its packaging by 25 percent by the end of 2008.
• The company has pledged to sell 100 million compact fluorescent lights, a goal which, if achieved, would save American consumers $3 billion in energy costs, and prevent the emissions equivalent to a fleet of 700,000 vehicles.
• The company has recently become the 2nd largest private purchaser of renewable power, second only to Whole Foods Market.
• The company is testing several concept stores, designed to use zero net energy. Succeeding would not only reduce Wal-Mart's giant impact, but it would light the way for other big box retailers.
• Wal-Mart has long had a favorable reputation among SRI investors who make diversity their social criteria. The company is among the largest employers of black and hispanic managers in the country, far exceeding some of its more unionized critics.

I am sure I missed some other initiatives, since CEO Lee Scott has been on a whirlwind tour promoting them all. If Wal-Mart even partially succeeds in accomplishing what it has announced, the net impact will be greater than the comparatively tiny initiatives of Target, Costco, Kohl's, Sears, and KMart combined. If British Petroleum (NYSE:BP), an oil company for Pete's sake, can be sainted in SRI circles, why should Wal-Mart continue to get such a bad rap?

In addition to BP, large companies have shown before that they can change their stripes. Nike (NYSE:NKE) used to be known as a sweatshop pariah. Now, they lead the charge against sweatshop abuses. Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) faced e-waste picketers not more than four years ago. Now, they have the most comprehensive e-waste policy of any computer manufacturer. Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN) was once handed the most severe punitive judgement ever for discrimination. Now, they are getting awards.

What do you think? Is this Greenwashing, or has Wal-Mart gotten the religion?

A quick refresher: A “carbon offset” or “carbon credit” is an emission reduction from a project that results in less carbon dioxide or other global warming pollution in the atmosphere than would otherwise occur. Offsets are normally measured in tons, and are bought and sold through brokers and traders.

There is a lot of discussion surrounding carbon credits and a lot of different opinions. For example, some do not count wind power as a carbon offset for reasons such as wind is intermittent or because many wind projects would happen regardless of the carbon credits purhcased, so the projects are not additional renewable power. This latter concept is called "additionality." But some organizations do count wind power as an offset, such as a nonprofit foundation called the Gold Standard. This organization gives something like an official stamp of approval for carbon credits and is used by 42 nongovernmental organizations around the world and a number of governments.

There is also debate on whether tree planting and forestry projects are true carbon offsets. The David Suzuki Foundation of Canada specifically excludes tree planting from their definition of a carbon offset, arguing that trees are not permanent solutions to carbon dioxide pollution and do not address the fundamental problem of our over-reliance on fossil fuels. But the United Nation Development Programme does count forestry projects as a carbon offset.

You'll have to decide for yourself whether trees or wind power makes sense as carbon offsets. But once you have that figured out, take a look at some of the sites that I checked out for offsetting a year's worth of carbon emissions. I searched several sites that include a variety of projects – wind power and forestry included. Some sites that I found informational and easy to navigate include:

• An Inconvenient Truth’s “Calculate your impact” calculator that determines your annual CO2 emissions and then takes you to Native Energy, which allows you to choose the type of project you want to use to offset your carbon emissions.
• Carbon Counter makes it very easy to calculate your carbon emissions and then buy offsets.

Can’t offset a whole year? How about offsetting your cross country road trip instead or your flight overseas. Here are some handy sites I found:

• The Carbon Neutral Company is a UK site where you can calculate your emissions from driving (either a road trip or your yearly mileage) or a flight. It’s pretty easy to use, but the lengths of its flights are vague (i.e. “short haul” vs “long haul” flights).
• California-based Terra Pass has been in the news since it partnered with the online travel agency Expedia to offer carbon neutral flights. Terra Pass had a very easy-to-use website where you can buy a package that offsets your yearly road miles or a domestic flight. For example, it took me about 3 minutes to enter my recent flight to Salt Lake City and find out that I qualify for the “puddle jumper” offset package that costs $9.95.
• Climat Mundi is another UK site that's handy for calculating more accurately your flight or drive. For example, you choose from which city/country to which city/country you are traveling (including international flights), or how many miles you are driving or flying on a particular trip. I thought this site was really easy to use, but you do pay in Euros.

I hope at least one of these sites gets you on track to becoming carbon neutral, if you choose to do so. I’m exploring becoming carbon neutral myself and am learning a lot right along with you, dear readers, so comments or suggestions on offsets and your experiences with them are quite welcome.

Coming up soon: Are carbon credits the silver bullet? How can Green Options help?

Illustration: Ilana Kohn

Carbon Neutral Company
David Suzuki Foundation
The Gold Standard
United Nations Development Programme