Post Classifieds

Big business' realization - saving the planet can save money

By Nick Mutschler

On April 15, 2011

Pin It

Business sustainability used to mean added costs. Companies are now realizing that they can retain existing customers while attracting eco-conscious customers makes going green a strong business plan.

Wal-Mart is going beyond many of its competitors when it comes to sustainability. Wal-Mart has been working with retailers to reduce packaging, saving them money as well as creating less waste. These reductions in packaging's weight cut costs 13 percent, saving more than $195,000 a year, according to Wal-Mart.com.

"The real strength we have is in our business model. We made a pledge that our customer should have not have to choose between a product that they can afford, a product that is good for the environment," said Leslie Dock, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Wal-Mart in a March 17 global sustainability milestone meeting.

While Wal-Mart may be leading the charge on sustainability, they still are far behind in their human rights policies. According to the Human Rights Campaign's 2010 index, Wal-Mart was rated at a mere 40 out of 100. Target on the other hand, was rated a perfect 100.

Food and beverage giant, PepsiCo, has also been brainstorming money saving techniques using sustainable practices. PepsiCo has developed a creative way to cut water consumption by extracting and recycling water from the potatoes they use.

The company expends almost 350,000 tons of potatoes for their potato chip products per year. Since 80 percent of a potato is water, PepsiCo hopes to condense this water and reuse the captured it to clean a variety of parts and wash the potatoes. The method could save the plant $1 million a year, said Martyn Sean, the company's European director of sustainability in a March 31 Bloomberg Report.

"We have to realize that these businesses are only considering sustainable practices because it's saving them money. At the end of the day, if being green wasn't good for business, they would stop in a second. Money still comes first," said 21-year-old Carnegie Mellon masters student, Andrew Tran.

Some smaller businesses are taking initiative on incorporating sustainable practices. JGM Properties, a property management company headquartered in Bloomington, MN, has transitioned into an almost completely paperless office, explained Jim Wagner, property manager of JGM.

"It doesn't save us thousands of dollars, but in this economy every little bit counts. Plus, our customers appreciate our efforts to go green. We are helping in our own way while still saving money," said Wagner.