Wal-Mart Quits Green Initiatives

Next April Fools Day I'm not reading any blogs or media publications.. I just fall for them too easily. I opened up the Daily Grist newsletter to see this headline..

Sale Ends Today! - Wal-Mart pulls the plug on green initiatives

AAAArgh!.. I thought how could they do such a thing now!?? So I read the blurb, and became even more angry...

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, who announced a high-profile series of green corporate initiatives last year, has now ... taken them back. Citing high costs, Scott yesterday announced that Wal-Mart is canceling most of its sustainability programs, shifting its truck fleet back to diesel (from biofuels), shuttering its experimental hyper-efficient stores, and pulling organic products from its shelves. The only remaining evidence of Wal-Mart's much-ballyhooed green makeover will be -- you guessed it -- light bulbs. "We're keeping the compact fluorescents. Those are pretty cheap," said Scott. "The rest of the stuff we tried was too expensive. In the end, our customers value low prices more than sustainability, and at Wal-Mart, we listen to our customers." Grist

That just made me even more angry. So a clicked on what I thought was a link to the full story at the New York Times and got this page.. doh!

Wal Mart Selling Non Organics as Organics

The giant retailing company Wal Mart has hit a set back in it's transformation into a soft, cuddly, caring, environmentally friendly company. It has been accused of labeling non-organic foods with organic labels.

The Washington Post said "The retailer recently began expanding its assortment of organic foods as part of an effort to attract wealthier, more urban customers. In a statement yesterday, Wal-Mart defended its program and questioned the intentions of the group, called the Cornucopia Institute."

Mark Kastel from the The Cornucopia Institute said "We first noticed that Wal-Mart was using in-store signage to misidentify conventional, nonorganic food as organic in their upscale-market test store in Plano, Texas".

The Cornucopia Institute is an organic farming watchdog that seeks to promote, defend, and govern the organics industry in the United States.