How green are Wal-Mart (WMT) shoppers? We’re about to find out. The world’s largest retailer is launching a Live Better Index to track customers’ purchases of five eco-friendly products: compact fluorescent light bulbs, organic milk, concentrated/reduced-packaging liquid laundry detergents, extended-life paper products and organic baby food. The idea is that the index will gauge Wal-Mart’s 180 million customers’ attitudes toward buying green by using those five products as proxies. "Wal-Mart recognizes that environmentally friendly products don’t do much for the environment when sitting on a shelf,” said Wal-Mart sustainability exec Andy Ruben in a statement. “Our role is continuing to drive accessibility and affordability for sustainable product to consumers who may have not thought about buying ‘green’ in the past.” The Live Better Index site tracks purchases by state. Connecticut Wal-Mart shoppers, for instance, buy the most energy-efficient light bulbs while Californians spend the most on organic baby food. Overall, New Hampshire has the greenest Wal-Mart shoppers while Mississippi has the least. About 13 percent of the retailer’s customers nationwide have bought CFLs, and 1 percent are paying a premium for organic milk. Love Wal-Mart or hate it, there’s no denying the company’s market power or its ability to use the enormous amount of data it collects to drive environmental change.
The Greening of Wal-Mart Shoppers
April 18, 2007 by Todd Woody
Green Wombat 
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nope! it all has to do with the Waltons making more money……thats all!
solar energy……First Solar is just one way!
energy-efficient light bulbs….what about the mercury?
endangered species…..well, it cost America taxpayer $9 billion a year to cleanup the fish problem from ships bringing in containers from other Countries……..$9 billion hidden cost for that cheap so-call crap!
enviro capitalism…..well, they took the “hyphen” out of the name and put in a big single “star”….that should tell you something about capitalism!
It is a good step in the right direction. It do not think it serves us well to scold Wal-Mart for their effort, even if we think they can do better.
Envircapitalism is probably the only way it’ll work on a large scale, like it or not. The vast majority of us don’t live on a self sufficient farm in Vermont.
Well said madmilker. All I can add is…Buy local if at all possible. Support a local co-op or farmer’s market. Take the money away from Wal-Mart and give it back to people in your area.
A natural question: Won’t that cost more?
America accounts for 5% of the world’s population yet consumes 30% of its goods. Eat less, use less. Yes it may cost a little more but could we get by with consuming less? Probably.
Wal-mart is designed to get you to consume more. It is pureley a money game. If you have to shop at Wal-Mart, by all means buy organic or “green” products. If it makes them money, they’ll sell more of it. But if you want to make a real difference in people’s lives – support the locals.
Yeah, I see all kinds of Wal*mart shoppers whom are green. They drive the green friendly Suburban, Tahoo, Expeditions, Excursions. Can’t get much more green friendly than that. Thank you for caring for our environment, what would we have done without you?!