Wal-Mart Proves Something Can Be Done

Gristmill: "There's a huge focus on supply chain: Wal-Mart's leaders have acknowledged that "90 percent of the impact Wal-Mart can have is on the supply chain." They have recognized that while Wal-Mart is responsible for roughly 20 million metric tons of CO2 a year, there are 200 million tons of annual greenhouse-gas emissions in their supply chain -- a level of transparency that no company I've covered to date has offered."

One of the things I like about Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," is its lack of hopelessness. At a dinner party recently I spoke about how I try to ride my bike, use renewable energy sources, reduce consumerism and generally reduce my carbon footprint. One of the other guests kept insisting it was pointless: "You're just a tiny drop in the bucket. You don't even count."

That's the kind of study in futility that will seal the planet's fate, and it's widely shared, unfortunately.

Not only does Gore show in his film how each individual can take steps (a flyer on "10 Things You Can Do" is distributed at the theater), he himself and his "feature length slide show" prove the impact of one person.

Take Wal-Mart. I've been skeptical and critical of its sustainability initiatives (at a time when it is evacuating stores for toxic fumes), but the chain does seem sincere in making changes. I care little whether its sincerity stems from reducing costs or global warming (and maybe they're the same thing!). Whatever it takes to git 'er done!

And I'm not cynical when it comes to assessing Gore's praise for Wal-Mart's epiphany. Unlike Jeff at Sustainablog, I don't give a whit whether Gore is running for President. He could be angling for King of the World and I'd support him if it meant progress against climate disruption. Because the point is he "gets it," and as the film amply documents, has dedicated much of his life to this issue. Just one guy, putting the lie to the drop-in-the-bucket canard.

-- Paul Andrews, GreenforGood

global warming ecological footprint carbon footprint GreenforGood sustainability green lifestyle Al Gore Wal-Mart