On July 16, 2009, Wal-Mart announced that it will develop a
sustainable product rating system that can be used to evaluate
the sustainability of the products they sell in their stores. As
a reminder, Wal-Mart sells a lot of products to a lot of people.
According to its website, Wal-Mart “serves customers and members
more than 200 million times per week at more than 7,900 retail
units under 62 different banners in 15 countries.” Wal-Mart’s
sustainability initiatives are diverse and plentiful (a curious
dichotomy given the stigma created by their propensity for union
busing and low wage employment). The goal of the rating system
is to convey information to the consumer about the materials
used to make the product (are they safe?), the quality of the
products (is it well-made?), and the manner in which the
products were produced (was it made responsibly?). The
sustainable product rating system will be developed in three
phases. Ultimately, data will be used to inform the creation of
a rating system for consumers