Today, Wal-Mart introduced its plan for a "sustainability index." The project's scale is enormously ambitious: Wal-Mart intends to measure the environmental impact of the products offered by its 60,000 suppliers, and then label their stock with the assessments. Nutrition labeling but for the planet, pretty much.
There's little doubt that a sustainability index has inherent value. Right now, eco-minded consumers have little concrete data about how environmentally friendly the products they purchase are in reality. Plus, given the confusion over the little eco-labeling that actually exists, it would be helpful to have that sort of information standardized.
On its face, Wal-Mart's approach to the project seems to be responsible. The company says that it isn't going at the project alone, and they've actively expressed a desire to relinquish their reins once the index is more fully developed. Wal-Mart also states that it will consider the full extent of a product's environmental and social damage over the course of its life cycle, rather than focusing on a single measure.
But as Harold demonstrates in today's piece on the company's labor practices, Wal-Mart's not really a model of social conscience. The company's modus operandi is to "sweat the assets" -- ultimately, their goal is to bring down their bottom line, not prevent climate change. So, pardon my cynicism, but I'm finding it hard to see this as much more than a brilliant public relations move, as the project stands. As an entity that's focused on profit, there are huge questions about Wal-Mart's ability to be impartial. There's also major potential for greenwashing -- disingenuously spinning one's products as environmentally friendly to up sales -- something for which Wal-Mart's already been criticized.
The creation of a sustainability index is absolutely something that should be pursued -- but not by someone with such a huge conflict of interest. After all, would you trust McDonald's -- or even a grocery chain like Safeway -- to give you more accurate calorie counts than the FDA?
--Alexandra Gutierrez
