On August 29th, Environmental Defense announced that it has ramped up its work with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) by completing and staffing an office across the street from the Wal-Mart Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas to advise the company on environmental initiatives.
"Decisions at Wal-Mart move quickly, with huge global environmental repercussions," said David Yarnold, Executive Vice President at Environmental Defense. "A local presence helps us provide timely, effective input to Wal-Mart and ensure that measurable progress is being made as quickly as possible."
The new Environmental Defense office in Bentonville will be co-led by Dr. Andrew Hutson and Michelle Mauthe Harvey , who are advising Wal-Mart on issues ranging from climate change and alternative fuels to sustainable seafood and packaging. Hutson will focus primarily on Wal-Mart's environmental impacts related to climate change, as well as impacts in China. Harvey will work on sustainable seafood and environmental health issues, among others.
Environmental Defense began working with the company almost two years ago, prior to CEO Lee Scott's announcement in October 2005 outlining Wal-Mart's far-reaching goals on environmental sustainability. Since then, Wal-Mart has raised fuel-efficiency in its truck fleet, cut energy use in stores and reduced packaging on hundreds of its products, all while cutting its costs. The company is also helping its customers save money and capture environmental benefits by promoting the use of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs), an initiative supported by Environmental Defense.
"With 175 million customers a week and a global supply chain of over 60,000, Wal-Mart has unique potential for change," Gwen Ruta, Director of Corporate Partnerships at Environmental Defense . "Given this market reach, the ability to achieve powerful environmental progress may be as great in the halls of the Wal-Mart Home Office in Bentonville as it is in the halls of Congress."
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