I’m in the midst of writing an op-ed about Wal-Mart’s green transformation. One theme that comes up frequently in the commentary is this: Wal-Mart is "only" doing these things because they’ll improve the bottom line.
Um … yeah.
It’s a business. It’s supposed to make money. As a publicly held corporation, it’s required by law to make money. If it went around doing things that deliberately reduced its profits, it would be subject to a shareholder lawsuit.
The whole point of the green business trend is that green makes business sense. Reducing waste is good management. What kind of bizarre message does it send if a business sees the light on this issue only to be told that they get no credit because their motivations are financial?
Sometimes I’m just not sure what greens expect.
