IndiaRetailBiz

Green is In! In what could turn out as a ‘game changing’ initiative, the world’s largest retailer Walmart has proposed to create “sustainable product index.”

The Index, perhaps a composite number that provides a single measure of environmental information, is expected to tell the consumer as to how a product she is buying affected the planet.

To begin with Walmart will collect information on environmental aspects of products sold in its stores in the US. Walmart will collect information on energy and climate considerations, including material efficiency, natural resources, and how the item in question affects the people and community from where it comes. The information is expected to be collected from 100,000-odd top-tier U.S. suppliers. The survey is likely to be completed by 1st October, this year.

Mike Duke, President and CEO, Walmart, announced details of this initiative at a meeting of Walmart’s 1,500 suppliers.

According to a press statement issued by the company, Walmart will neither own the index nor be responsible for its creation. The information collected by the company, however, will be passed on to a consortium of universities, who are expected to create the ‘product sustainability index.’

While, the index may take several years to reach the consumers, given the clout and influence of the retailer, will have far reaching influences on the way people purchase their products.

“Wal-Mart’s unilateral decision to put its purchasing and communication power behind going green …shows that a single company using its unique clout can accelerate public action to reduce greenhouse gases and reverse climate change,” says Rosabeth Moss Kanter in a recent article entitled “Wal-Mart’s Environmental Game Changer” in a Harvard Business Review article.