Meat, Rand.  Meat.

On the packaging front:  I hope that WM is aware of tech and other company packaging challenges, especially this one by HP that was recently blogged about on a UK site:

I agree with the meat comment.  Whether the meat is worse or not since WM move to get rid of butchers, there is a perception (at least in my family circles) that it is worse. 

Also, WM could probably improve its deli sandwiches in sustainability and taste by using smaller bread, more meat, and less of the weird dressing that gets soaked up into the spongy bread.  I do like the deli meats and cheeses myself, especially the sun dried tomato turkey and angus beef (prima della line?).

Diapers / Paper Towels / Toilet Paper.... Walmart doesn't even give consumers the opportunity to choose wisely in these areas.  If brands like Seventh Generation etc. won't sell to you, I'm sure Walmart could get Kimberly Clark, Georgia Pacific, or P&G to develop something for their stores.

How about CD cases?  Wal-mart must sell about about a billion of these babies every year.  The PS ones break all the time and are thrown away and the paper ones don't provide much protection and wear out after a week or two.  I have heard about a PP case that is 16% lighter, has a much better carbon footprint than PS, is extremely durable and fits existing supply chain equipment, so very little investment is necessary.

     Recently I was sent an e-mail about how all kinds of animals and especially chickens are being abused because of sheer greed.  The upshot of the video was to persuade people to stop purchasing meat altogether until this abuse can be brought to an end.

Even the eggs that we eat are from abused hens (according to the video) that are forced to remain in small cages of five all their lives.  The video was too graffic for anyone who has any sensitivity at all to even watch.

Now I know for a fact that not all animals are mistreated in this manner but my thinking is that if Wal-Mart will make sure that they are not getting any of their products from these sources and advertise the fact that a lot of people who are now going "vegetarian" will eat the meat that Wal-Mart provides.

it's the packaging!  take the examples of the new milk boxes instead of plastic jugs (um, wasn't walmart a pioneer in this?) and expand this to all the other goods sold at walmart.  those impenetrable hard plastic shells that are used for everything from razors to electronics components.  we don't need it!  we don't want it!  i used to work at sc johnson.  believe me, when walmart speaks, people listen and comply!

to Rand Waddoups

i want to give my comments about a small appliance product i bought at walmart for which there are no replacement parts, to replace which i am supposed to buy yet another hotplate ... and this is from a company that is saying they are green and going for sustainability. this is not green, this is wasteful, this is wrong ... it is trashing the planet .... and no one in walmart was able to even offer an alternative to buying another one .. i was told straight to me face, to throw it out .. throw it where ... just where i am supposed to throw it ... there is place to throw it .. there is not dump .. it is a planet ... and it is sick and tired of dealing walmart items which are designed to be throwaways ...

I am not sure where to send this comment. Thought you might know what to do with it. I love the fact WalMart and other companies are now selling reuseable bags for groceries insead of plastic bags. The problem is the cashiers do not seem to know what to do with them. If you present the cloth bags to them the line backs up. I end up with plastic bags.

The huge savings in not using these plastic bags at the store and teaching cashiers how to deal with cloth bags would be worth the time and money training them.  There is no place to pack the bags yourself. 

Hope you can do something with this. Seems such a waste to buy cloth, then still have to deal with plastic bags.

I just stumbled over to this blog while researching sustainability of products through proper sourcing and distribution...so excuse my tardiness. Walmart's attempts to exist in many countries should be applauded. I am an American Living in E. Germany and miss the stores that were here. I would like to see more sustainability of Walmart Stores and other US Corporations in Germany & Europe in general. I run a company that deals with introducing US Brands to Europe particularly E. Germany and sustaining their presence in the market. I applaud Walmart for dedicating Blog space for a subject area that is often overlooked. Sustainability of product often comes by being able to diversify your customer base in order to increase the demand and supply for a product...or in other words...if more people buy something it's more likely to stay in the product assortment...and when you add that Walmart can source and distribute the product more efficiently...voila...Sustainability!

Are you selling TeraCycle products?  They are made from garbage, keep material out of landfills, and TerraCycle is located in Trenton, New Jersey, a place that really needs the jobs it creates, a capital city that is fairly impoverished.  Anyone reading this is encouraged to check out their Web site.  (I hve no affiliation with the business other than living 100+ miles away in northeastern N.J. (Trenton is west central) and being an ecologist/environmentalist since the frist Earth Day, 22 April 1970, when I was in high school.  Great to see a company such as TerraCycle fulfilling some of our dreams!