Dear Debra,

Before I comment on Walmart, please know how grateful I am for all you've done to evolve the greening of our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

About Walmart and your post, here's some of my thoughts:

... they are developing a "sustainability index" to measure the environmental impacts of the products that they sell."

THIS IS A GOOD START. I JUST FINISHED READING Daniel Goleman's new book, Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. He describes that consumers need to become informed about the impacts of the stuff they buy and use. This isn't always easy because an impact may be out of sight (during the manufacturing, transporting, disposal for example). He also describes a new way to rate impacts ... it's what industrial ecologists do (collect heaps of data and figure out the net impact of a product or activity).

The new categories being used to rate a product's impact are:

GEOSPHERIC AKA ENVIRONMENTAL - impacts on water, soil, air... (which is what Walmart is doing in some way though I wonder if it will be as detailed as an industrial ecologist's rating.

BIOSPHERIC (impacts on life including humans ... how is for example our health impacted by say an air freshener.

SOCIOSPHERIC - includes child labor, benefits to employees etc.

If you go to the goodguide.com you can see what Goleman is describing in beta phase. Look up some product you like and see what the Good Guide says about it.

I imagine Walmart will be drawing from the work that the folks at the Good Guide are collating.

RE: Wal Mart's quote
“We have to make consumption itself smarter and sustainable.”
I agree with you. We all need to REDUCE!

So I say good for them, but I would guess that they found a good thing in the Good Guide.

Don't get mad, but if you think for one minute that Walmart is doing anything to help this Earth your not doing your homework. I don't care what they come up with,they are still GIANT Corporation. Their main goal is to make money."Profit before people", should be their motto. If this is so great why did they not do it ten years ago! People who shop at Walmart should really take a look at where their money is going.You can make cleaning products yourself or buy them from a company that is family owned. Too little to late Walmart.You can make a difference where you buy your products and from whom! Please think about it. Thanks Jen

I agree, Jen. It's still all about the big P, profit. Sustainability is a word that gets kicked around a lot. You notice that WalMart isn't dealing with a product's impact on human health. This is a BIG issue. They sell a bunch of nasties, as do my local Publix shopping center. I asked a manager why mothballs were still on the shelf when they are toxic as all get out. He just kind of shrugged and said mothballs are a popular item. So much for considering health of our bodies and health of the environment.

There's a lot of stuff they should not be made and sold, we at Debra's site are more knowledgeable about these toxins. With this knowledge comes a responsibilitly.

So I don't loudly berate Walmart because so many people are impressed. When I do a local green cleaning workshop, participants make cleaners to take home and try. They get to "prove it" to themselves that simple water and white distilled vinegar do clean, as does baking soda. It's a big big job, and we all have to take up a little piece of the work to make the change.

I read in Goleman's book that WalMart saves 25 million annually by putting small generators in their truckers' cabs. That's a neat little sum. No more running a big truck to heat or cool a cab. Sounds good, huh? My thoughts when I read this, adn concern were: how much can you sleep with a generator running in your cab? What does it do to health of a trucker's body/REM state/senstive ears. So WalMart is polluting less air by not running their diesel trucks while the drivers sleep. Now there's the issue of the driver's quality of life while sleeping.

Picture a star. On the bottom Right point: PRICE. On the bottom left point: QUALITY OF PRODUCT. These 2 are the main considerations when we shop. On the mid left point: ECOSPHERIC IMPACTS (soil, water, air). On the mid right point: SOCIOSPHERIC impacts (how workers are treated, employee benefits, child labor etc.) On the top center : BIOSPHERIC IMPACTS (on the health of all forms of life on Earth including human).

That's a new way to look at each purchase we make, be it product or service. Maybe you are more concerned with human health, another person might be more concerned with the environment. Really we have to develop and use ecological intelligence which includes impacts at ALL phases: manufacturing phase,transportation phase, use phase, disposal phase. Mostly we just think of PRICE and USE. We are in PK when it comes to behaving as responsible consumers, patting ourselves on the back for recycling, for buying something out of Gaiam magazine. These are good baby steps, but we each of us has a long way to travel. Stops and starts are not an option anymore. The Earth's telling us we need to change. Now. I have simplified a lot. In other words, I've REDUCED as much or more as I've RECYCLED. Mostly because the more I research the more concerned I've become that nearly any purchase has unintended consequences as some phase.