Werbach and Wal-Mart

Posted by David Roberts at 5:10 PM on 17 Aug 2006

Read more about: Wal-Mart

Lest I let a single article about Wal-Mart pass by without notice: check out the San Francisco Bay Guardian's long look at Wal-Mart's greening and the company's hiring of Adam Werbach.

(And lest I let you forget that I wrote an op-ed on the subject: here's my op-ed on the subject -- and a bloggy follow-up.)

Listen to Werbach:

... Werbach went on to explain how respectfully his ideas have been received, and unlike in the municipal planning morass where good concepts often go to die, Wal-Mart gets things done. "I'll notice something in a store, and every store in America is changed by the end of the week," he said, buzzed by the sheer wonder and magnitude of it all. "I've yet to find a big idea that they haven't done," he said of all the standard improvements environmental organizations have been rapping about for years, such as powering with solar panels, harvesting rainwater for irrigation, and heating with biofuel.

You hear that? That's the wonderment of a leftie activist who's actually making things happen. While his ideological compatriots stand on the sidelines try to out-theorize each other on "the big picture," Werbach's in a position to make actual molecules in the actual world shift from place to place. You can hear the amazement in his voice.

For my part? I'll take one real, concrete change over 1,000 blogs worth of pud-pulling rants any day. I'm tired of waiting.

(via Dateline Earth)

For story: Werbach and Wal-Mart
4 Comments | Post a Comment

Fantastic SF article!

Goodwill is a line item on the balance sheet. Wal-Mart was hemorrhaging goodwill.

The green environment became important from the top down because it became important from the bottom up, the customer.

I salute the environmentalists for this stunning victory.

by sunflower at 6:40 PM on 17 Aug 2006

Werbach

Of course he should be saluted, and so should Walmart.

Progress is progress. And frankly, for all my problems with Walmart, I am delighted to hear the stories about the desire for real change, and kudos to them!

And to Adam Werbach for being able to do something that makes a difference.

The world will NOT be saved from Global Warming by those who refuse to do what they can.

patrick

by bookerly at 8:48 PM on 17 Aug 2006

Not time yet for Kumbaya

We need to keep in mind that Werbach is not personally responsible for Wal-Mart's change of heart. It's the non-stop criticism of Wal-Mart that has softened them up, so they can begin to act reasonably.

They still have quite a ways to go, as other Gristmill posters have rightly maintained:

bad labor relations
destruction of local businesses
a business model that depends on cheap fuel

.. we know the issues.

So, yes, let's celebrate the fact that Wal-Mart is making progress. But let's keep the pressure on.

Bart
Energy Bulletin

by Bart Anderson at 2:04 AM on 18 Aug 2006

Look at the whole article

David:

I understand where you're coming from on this and I know we both want what's best for the planet, but I think your entire Wal-Mart position is horribly misguided.

This is from the Guardian article:

The test pool the company has given him is a field of associates at eight stores, because the people who work there are a lot like the 92 percent of Americans (according to company calculations) who walk through the front doors steering shopping carts. Through workshops and retreats, Werbach is sitting down with associates and asking them what their goals are. Losing weight? Quitting smoking? Spending more time with their families? Those are real-world challenges that Werbach helps them see in a broader context and tackle with a tool set that considers the basic tenets of sustainability.

Sounds good, right? What you have to remember is that Wal-Mart has a turnover rate of at least 45% and as they just capped the salary of long-term associates last week, it is headed much higher. Why in the world would an employee change drastically change his or her lifestyle at the behest of what is essentially their temporary employer?

Werbach THINK he is making a difference, but why did they stuck him in a dead end project? Any fool could have told Wal-Mart to change its lightbulbs. What Wal-Mart really needed is his environmental credibility, and if you ask me he sold it pretty cheap.

by Jonathan Rees at 9:23 AM on 18 Aug 2006

ADVERTISING POLICY

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