Local Walmart stores share a commitment to sustainability
Walmart believes environmental sustainability is good business. Its goals are simple:
- Be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy
- Create zero waste
- Sell products that sustain people and the environment
Here is the story of one example:
In 2009, Walmart opened the High Efficiency (HE.6) store at the Florin Mall in Sacramento County. The goal was simple: to make this store 30 percent more energy efficient than the baseline Walmart store. Walmart partnered with Western Cooling Efficiency Center at the University of California, Davis, on a plan to achieve this goal.
The team used next-generation refrigeration system to improve efficiency; capitalized on evaporative cooling and radiant flooring technologies; and took advantage of white roofs, daylight harvesting systems and light-emitting diodes. These same technologies are being used at a High Efficiency (HE.6) Sam’s Club at 8250 Power Inn Road.
Another example? Walmart’s “Sustainability 360” program. A program that pursues energy efficiency through its supply chain, its associates and its stores. “Sustainability 360” lives in every corner of Walmart business–from associate job descriptions to its interaction with suppliers–and guides decisions based on improving the environment, supply chain and communities in which it operates.
In fact, one of Walmart’s suppliers is Sunoptics Prismatic Skylights Inc. from south Sacramento. It manufactures skylights for use in Walmart stores nationwide. Skylights, along with other “daylight harvesting” technologies, such as electronic continuous dimming ballasts and computer-controlled daylight sensors, are helping reduce up to 75 percent of the electric lighting used in Walmart’s stores during daylight hours. This is enough energy to power 73 single-family homes (11,020 kWh average annual use) for an entire year.
Walmart customers and suppliers are feeling the benefit. Walmart has reduced the weight of its global plastic shopping bag waste and sold more than 350 million energy-efficient light bulbs. Its stores in Citrus Heights and Folsom are testing new, lower-cost reusable bags so Walmart can fulfill its commitment to reduce its plastic bag waste by one-third by the end of 2013. Walmart is also working with suppliers to eliminate 20 million metric tons of GHG emissions from the global supply chain by 2015.
