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The Fast Company 50 - 2009
#33

Wal-Mart

Bentonville, AR

The recession has been particularly hard on retailers, except for the biggest one of all. Wal-Mart sales rose 6.5% in 2008, and its stock price jumped 19.5%. When former CEO Lee Scott -handed the reins to Mike Duke this February, he had much to be proud of, especially the way Wal-Mart has embraced sustainability.


"We're not green," the never-satisfied Scott declared last March. But under his leadership, Wal-Mart got greener every day.

A few examples of its green-ovation:

  1. A drive to reduce packaging led to a new gallon milk container that eliminates use of crates and greatly reduces transport costs, and inspired HP to produce a laptop sold in a messenger bag, eliminating unnecessary packaging.
  2. Stores in Fort Smith, Arkansas, seeking to be a model for the company, reduced material sent to landfills by 70% by recycling everything from motor-oil containers to black plastic plant pots.
  3. A prototype supercenter in Las Vegas uses 45% less energy than a typical one, thanks to white-reflective roofs, an efficient closed-loop cooling system, and extensive use of LEDs in refrigerated display cases -- lighting that is likely to last as long as the cases themselves.

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February 24, 2009 at 10:35pm by Tracy Winchell

Thanks to Kelly Kastel for sharing with her facebook friends that Fort Smith was mentioned in uber-innovation mag Fast Company.

August 22, 2009 at 2:21pm by Sergio Mokko

Environmentally sound packaging is becoming increasingly popular. A growing number of companies use them, giving up the plastic. In the environment plastic breaks for 300 years. There are over what to think. By Sergio

October 17, 2009 at 10:33am by Gabbos Gabbs

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