Search
Wal-Mart's Sustainability Initiative

If it seems to you as if Wal-Mart is announcing a new sustainability initiative every week, you're not that far off the mark. Since 2005, the retail giant has incorporated sustainable and energy-efficient practices into its business, including efforts such as high-efficiency retail outlets, employee-driven recycling programs, and an increase in the number of organic, Earth-friendly products on its shelves. In September, Wal-Mart announced that it would be introducing its own Great Value brand of compact fluorescent lightbulbs, or CFLs. (The line is available in 3,000 of the company's superstores.)

Before that, Wal-Mart had been working with General Electric to sell 100 million CFLs by the end of 2007-a goal it reached at the beginning of October.

In-store educational displays that accompany the CFLs discuss the energy savings realized over the life of each bulb (around $35), the longevity of a CFL compared with that of a conventional incandescent (up to 12 times greater), and other facts to help shoppers understand what they're buying. To encourage sales of the eco-friendly product, the stores give CFLs prominent, eye-level display (and 40 percent more shelf space than incandescent bulbs get) and stock CFLs in multiple locations throughout each store.

Not yet available online, the Great Value bulbs are Energy Star-rated, and will be sold in four-packs in all wattages and in six-packs of 13W bulbs.

Related Resources

Related Articles
Related Eco Categories

Topics
Tip of the Day

Glossary
Site Resources

 

Quiz of the Day
    Q: Letting your car's engine idle while you're not moving uses less gas than restarting, but only if you idle for a short period of time. When does idling become the worse option?

Green Tip of the Day
   Cut Your Water Usage when Shaving

Instead of running the bathroom faucet until the water becomes hot enough to shave,...

 >>Continue

Word of the Day
   Insulated concrete form (ICF)

Have you ever thought of living in a concrete house? It may be more welcoming than it sounds. These forms are hollow blocks, planks, or panels made of plastic foam that are joined and then poured with concrete, to create the exterior walls of a structure. The foam serves as insulation once the walls are in place-providing better energy-efficiency and sound insulation than traditional wood-frame construction. Building an ICF house is generally more labor-efficient as well, since a separate insulating step is not required. As with many building decisions, you'll want to weigh the energy-efficiency of ICF against the environmental impact of cement and plastic and decide what's most important to you. Look for new ICF products, composed of recycled plastics and cement composites, which are starting to come on the market.

Go to Definition

How to Guides
   How to Talk to an Insulation Contractor

Is your house too hot? Too cold? To make it just right, insulation is a cost-effective, easy way...

 >>Read More
Copyright © BlueEgg.com. All rights reserved.
No part of the content or the data or information included herein may be reproduced, replicated or redistributed without the prior written permission of BlueEgg.com.
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Use Agreement and Privacy Policy.