2Sustain

Wal-Mart announced yesterday that it will begin measuring the sustainability of all the products it sells – a move that ClearCarbon says will “revolutionize” the consumer goods industry.

“Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Index will be extremely influential in driving corporate environmental initiatives, with the goal of producing carbon, energy and cost saving throughout the entire supply chain,” says ClearCarbon CEO/President Kyle Tanger. “Wal-Mart is to be commended for its efforts to help suppliers realize the same benefits it has by measuring and managing its emissions. We believe that effective carbon measurement not only provides insight into the sources and magnitudes of emissions, but also clearly serves as one of the best proxies for corporate efficiency. That’s just good business.”

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Earlier today, during a meeting with 1,500 of its suppliers, associates and sustainability leaders at its home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart announced plans to develop a comprehensive worldwide sustainable product index. This index –which has been described by one insider as “audacious beyond words” –will allow Wal-Mart to measure the sustainability of every product it sells.

“Customers want products that are more efficient, that last longer and perform better,” says Mike Duke, Wal-Mart’s president and CEO. “And increasingly they want information about the entire lifecycle of a product so they can feel good about buying it. They want to know that the materials in the product are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way.”

I couldn’t agree more. And, what’s so significant here is that this initiative will be the big push we’ve needed to move “green” from marketing to measuring. There’s no question that the marketplace is full of misleading claims (greenwashing). With this index, however, the emphasis will be where it belongs: on life-cycle thinking. It will bring clarity, while revealing the fundamental role of the supply chain in every company’s sustainability efforts.

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A few weeks ago, I posted about why it’s becoming increasingly important to look deeply into all components of your supply chain to ensure that your products are being manufactured as responsibly as possible. That particular post, “Are Your Suppliers Contributing to Deforestation of the Amazon…or Worse?”, discussed a Greenpeace report that mentions Adidas, Gucci, Nike, Timberland and Clarks as potential, and quite possibly unwitting, end users of the illegally-farmed leather.

Now, this week there’s another story emerging that underscores the difficulties all companies, but particularly manufacturers, face with regard to supplier traceability. Mongabay.com reports that A Brazilian federal prosecutor is leading an investigation into charges that illegal timber from the state of Pará is being laundered as “eco-certified” wood and exported to markets in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

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Another new study predicts that growth in sustainable packaging will far outpace other forms of packaging in coming years.

According to a press release, E.I. DuPont Nemours and Company estimates that the growth rate of sustainable packaging will achieve an incredible 25%-30% per year, compared with the overall packaging industry’s anticipated growth rate of 4%. In addition, their research shows that 44% of consumers say their green buying habits remain unchanged despite the current economy, while a third of consumers say they are actually more likely to buy green today than previously.

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With more than 500 locations across the United Kingdom, Jewson is the UK’s leading timber and building materials supplier. What’s more, the company knows a little something about the different facets of the word “sustainability,” too. First of all, Jewson has been in business for over 170 years –the first branch opened in Cambridgeshire in 1836. Secondly, the company has made a name for itself with an unwavering commitment to eco-friendly building solutions.  As part of the Saint-Gobain Building Distribution Group, Europe’s number one building materials distributor, Jewson plays an important role in helping customers source products and services for sustainable construction.

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