Profits: more retailers are conscious of their impact on people and the planet

Is it Possible to Measure Sustainability Within the Retail Industry?

By Leon Kaye | 05.03.2010



At a fundamental level, there’s really nothing sustainable about the retail industry as we know it today.  In the United States and abroad, as the economic engine evolved from one of production to one of consumption, retailers and their suppliers have become the dominant companies.  Take a look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average:  the index showcases companies including Walmart, Home Depot, Kraft, Coca-Cola, and other firms like 3M, Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard, GE, and Walt Disney, which have some role in our consumer-driven economy.  The results?  A flood of cheap goods, the increased consumption of energy and resources, and, some would argue, lower wages.  Nevertheless, more retailers are conscious of their impact on people and the planet, and some are becoming sustainability leaders.  But is this concern genuine or simply crass marketing, or even “greenwashing?”


Five Winds International, a strategic environmental consulting firm, released the first in a series of studies evaluating a select group of large retail firms and sets some benchmarks.  Companies in this survey include big box chains Walmart and Target, UK-based Marks & Spencer and TESCO, and Whole Foods.  Five Winds measured several factors, including logistics, carbon efficiency, green buildings, and how the companies’ employees—and the communities in which they operate—were treated.  The results may surprise you, and of course will spark debate.


The way to view Five Winds’ study is that it is a compelling framework by which to benchmark a retail firm’s actions when compared to its words (i.e., the web pages devoted to sustainability and corporate social responsibility).  The big winner?  Marks & Spencer, chiefly because of its devotion to the greening of the company’s supply chain, energy efficiency, focus on greenhouse gas emissions, water conservation, and procurement policy.  Meanwhile, Sears Holdings was considered a laggard, surprising to me considering the efforts the company has made to source more environmentally-friendly paper and its crown as the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Retail Partner for 2010.  They survey may not be entirely fair:  many of Sears’ and K-Mart’s locations are in older buildings, and with all the turmoil the company has experienced over the past decade, revamping and greening its stores may not be high on the list right now, but is now turning a corner.


happy 2011, and make it greener... let's reflect on our 2010 sustainability goals by measuring the results.