Wal-Mart is going green to save green

Wal-Mart is going green to save green, according to The Los Angeles Times.

It’s been my longstanding belief that there has to be a financial incentive for reducing your carbon footprint. Aside from a small sliver of the population, most people need a direct and demonstrable impact to their wallet to make going green sustainable and appealing to the masses.

Well, as much as people love to hate Wal-Mart, the mega-retailer is making it happen and showing how it can be a smart business move. Wal-Mart has reduced energy consumption in some of its stores by 80%, saving the company millions of dollars, according to The Los Angeles Times.

In one example, the company is providing half of the electricity to one store that’s almost 250,000 square feet. It’s being accomplished through a trio of methods: the use of fuel cells; skylights that provide 70% of store lighting during the day; and painting the roof of the store white to reduce energy consumption, a technique that’s popular in hot climates.

But it’s not just Wal-Mart making waves. A lot of companies are going green to save green. Amazon has gotten a lot of positive press for their reduced packaging. What’s in it for Amazon in doing this? Well, they live and die by free shipping, so it matters greatly how big a package is and how much it weighs.  By pushing their suppliers on packaging, they save dough.

Why not look at how making changes in your life can make you more green or save you more green?  For example, I have solar at our house. Our power consumption has dropped from about $8.50 a day before we put it in to $2 a day after the install. So we’ve gone from a power bill of $260 a month to $70 a month, with all the junk fees added in. Over time, that’s gonna pay!