Although participants were conflicted, a vote on the initiative was unanimous: Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and biggest buyer of manufactured goods, would go green.īy virtue of its herculean size, Wal-Mart eventually dragged much of corporate America along with it, leading mighty suppliers like General Electric and Procter & Gamble to transform their own business practices. So he presented his colleagues with a radical option - the "choice" that gave the meeting its name - encouraging them to adopt a sustainability program to remake the entire company, from the materials used to build stores to the light bulbs stocked on its shelves. Scott, hungry for ways to protect and transform his company, began to see environmental sustainability as a way to achieve two goals: improve Wal-Mart's bottom line and its reputation. It was also straining to keep its legendary growth on track. Lee Scott Jr., the retail giant's chief executive, only partly in jest.Īt the time, Wal-Mart was the target of a well-orchestrated assault focusing on its labor practices and environmental record. "Tell me why I should care about an endangered mouse in Arizona?" asked H.
It was billed the Choice Meeting: a secret two-day conference in Arkansas in 2005 pairing Wal-Mart Stores, a symbol of scorched-earth global capitalism, with some of America's most influential environmentalists.