Wow from Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is expected to announce today that all of their suppliers worldwide must calculate and disclose the full environmental costs of making their products. Wal-Mart intends to use that pool of information to create environmental ratings for the products it sells. As shoppers we will then be able to see that ratings information posted right next to the price of the good.

It will likely be many years before this wide-reaching plan is implemented. However, I am wowed by this development. The reporting will help buyers make better decisions. Not only that, but it forces Wal-Mart’s suppliers to evaluate their impact on the environment. That will likely result in better choices made by Wal-Mart’s manufacturers in how they choose to make their goods. That Wal-Mart, the largest company in the world in terms of revenues, is making this bold step means that the rest of the business world will likely follow suit eventually. This is powerfully important news.

Jason