At Walmart, we believe that being a profitable and efficient business goes hand-in-hand with being a good steward of the environment. Since October 2005, Walmart has been guided by three sustainability goals for the company: (1) to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; (2) to create zero waste; and (3) to sell products that sustain the environment. These aspirational goals challenge us to take a comprehensive approach to our business to affect change within, and beyond, the four walls of our company.

Today, our sustainability efforts have broadened and accelerated. As we broaden our efforts, we are working to reduce our environmental footprint globally and bring sustainable solutions to our more than 100,000 suppliers, 2 million associates and 200 million customers. We are working with our suppliers to make their products more sustainable, but we are also helping them become more sustainable businesses in their own right. Whether it is to improve our own operations or to provide our customers with environmentally friendly products at low prices, sustainability is integrated into everything we do.  It is a natural fit into our company’s commitment to helping people save money so they can live better. 

To keep us on track, and to ensure we’re advancing meaningful change, we’ve created several benchmarks and timelines to measure our progress. These initiatives are aligned under our three aspirational goals, and just some of them include:

• Doubling the efficiency of our truck fleet by 2015.
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions at existing stores, clubs and distribution centers by 20 percent by 2012.
• Reducing global plastic shopping bag waste by an average of 33 percent per store by 2013.
• Reducing packaging across our global supply chain by 5 percent by 2013.
• Making the most energy-intensive products on our shelves 25 percent more efficient by 2011.
• Expand the success of Walmart China’s Direct Farm Program by engaging as many as 1 million farmers by 2011.

Overall, sustainability at Walmart is about doing better for our customers, our associates, our suppliers and our planet—and doing it together.