The Triple Bottom Line Blog

Some observers are still wondering whether Wal-Mart is really serious about going green. But lots of people and businesses in and around the megaretailer's hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, think so. In fact, they are betting their livelihoods on it, according to this story from today's Washington Post. Here's a key graf from the story, posted from nearby Fayetteville:

A wave of start-ups developing the technology to help suppliers prove their green credentials has swept into this sleepy college town, half an hour from the company's headquarters in Bentonville. [Eco-entrepreneur Daniel] Sanker is looking at ways to improve fuel efficiency in shipping. Others are developing agricultural-based alternatives to petroleum or studying how electronics can function at higher temperatures, thereby cutting energy use. The University of Arkansas has established the Applied Sustainability Center at the campus here using a $1.5 million grant from Wal-Mart.

The story goes on to say that space in a local research park that caters to green companies is already fully leased--and that the town has hired its first "sustainability director," whose salary is paid out of the energy savings his innovations produce.

Call me a latte-drinking New Yorker (actually I prefer a plain old java from Dunkin Donuts), but I was surprised a couple of weeks ago when the latest polls showed Hillary Clinton with big double-digit leads over every Republican rival in Arkansas, which is evidently the red state that Clinton has the best hope of carrying in next year's presidential race.

Maybe Clinton's years as the state's first lady aren't the only reason for the state's leftward drift. If the WaPo story is correct, Battleship Wal-Mart may be changing course surprisingly swiftly--and leading an entire flotilla of businesses in a new, more progressive direction. The long-term implications for the corporate and political culture of this corner of the American South will be interesting to watch.

Labels: Arkansas, Personal Musings, Wal-Mart