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Article, ILSR Press Room filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | 3 Comments | Updated on Apr 17, 2012

Top 10 Ways Walmart Fails on Sustainability

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/top-10-ways-walmart-fails-sustainability/

Since 2005, Walmart has been making splashy announcements and issuing slick reports to highlight its environmental and social responsibility efforts. In this new brief, Food & Water Watch and ILSR contend that the world’s largest retailer fails to live up to its promises and continues to ignore the fundamental problems with its business model that harm the environment, undermine healthy food choices, and exacerbate poverty. Continue reading

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Featured Article, ILSR Press Room, Resource filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | 9 Comments | Updated on Mar 7, 2012

New Report: Walmart’s Greenwash

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/new-report-walmarts-greenwash/

In this new report, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance documents how Walmart’s heavily promoted sustainability initiatives are falling short. “Walmart’s sustainability campaign has done more to improve the company’s image than to help the environment,” said Stacy Mitchell, the report’s author and a senior researcher at ILSR. Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Feb 2, 2012

Four Ways Enviros Can Keep Walmart in the Hot Seat

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/four-ways-enviros-can-keep-walmart-in-the-hot-seat/

The world’s biggest retailer has gotten an undeserved free pass from many environmentalists. It’s time to take a tougher line and set a higher standard. In the conclusion to her series on Walmart’s greenwashing, Stacy Mitchell outlines four ways we can hold Walmart accountable. Continue reading

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Featured Article, ILSR Press Room filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Jan 26, 2012

Independent Businesses Report Strong Holiday Sales

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/independent-businesses-report-strong-holiday-sales/

An annual survey has found that independent businesses had strong sales growth over the holidays and appear to be benefitting from growing public interest in supporting locally owned retail stores, banks, restaurants, and other enterprises. Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | 1 Comment | Updated on Dec 30, 2011

Eaters, Beware: Walmart is Taking Over our Food System

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/eaters-beware-walmart-is-taking-over-our-food-system/

Walmart’s expansion is making our food system more concentrated and industrialized than ever before. Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Dec 23, 2011

Walmart spends big to help anti-environment candidates

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmart-spends-big-to-help-anti-environment-candidates/

Over the last decade, Walmart has emerged as one of the country’s largest funders of political campaigns. Its dollars skew heavily in favor of candidates who routinely vote against the environment. Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | 2 Comments | Updated on Nov 29, 2011

Can you say ‘Sprawl’? Walmart’s Biggest Climate Impact Goes Ignored

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/can-you-say-sprawl-walmarts-biggest-climate-impact-goes-ignored/

Even as Walmart has been hyping its supposed environmental epiphany, it has continued to unroll vast, low-rise supercenters at breakneck speed. Since 2005, Walmart has added more than 1,100 new supercenters, almost all built on land that hadn’t been developed previously. Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 22, 2011

Walmart’s promised green product rankings fall off the radar

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmarts-promised-green-product-rankings-fall-off-the-radar/

In 2009, Walmart unveiled grand plans to create a Sustainability Index that would, within five years, result in green labels for all the products it sells. Two and a half years later, the project has fallen far short and seems unlikely to ever deliver a green rating system. Nor is there much evidence that greener products are edging out more damaging ones on Walmart’s shelves. Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 18, 2011

Think Walmart uses 100% clean energy? Try 2%

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/think-walmart-uses-100-clean-energy-try-2/

In 2005, Walmart announced that it was setting a goal of being “supplied by 100 percent renewable energy” — and has since received a steady stream of positive press for its commitment. But six years later, the giant retailer still derives less than 2 percent of its electricity from its solar projects and wind-power purchases. At its current pace of converting to renewables, it would take Walmart about 300 years to get to 100 percent clean power. Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 11, 2011

Is your stuff falling apart? Thank Walmart

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/is-your-stuff-falling-apart-thank-walmart/

Chairs don’t hold together like they used to. Neither do toys, toasters, vacuum cleaners, or Levi’s. Walmart, with its relentless demands that manufacturers cut costs, has been a major force in making our products shoddier — and that has us heading back to the store more often to buy still more stuff. Continue reading