Since launching its sustainability program in 2005, Walmart has tried to position itself as a leader on corporate environmental responsibility. In frequent press announcements and annual ”Global Responsibility” reports, Walmart touts its activities on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, waste reduction, and product improvements.

While Walmart’s sustainability campaign has done wonders for its public image, it has done little for the environment. In fact, Walmart’s environmental impact has only grown over the last seven years. Its business practices remain highly polluting, while its relentless expansion and consolidation of the market have come at the expense of more sustainable enterprises and systems of production and distribution.

Here are 10 ways Walmart is failing on sustainability:

1. Selling Shoddy Products
2. Reducing Waste According to Who?
3. Lagging on Renewable Energy
4. Increasing Greenhouse Gases
5. Voraciously Consuming Land
6. Financing Anti-Environment Candidates
7. Consolidating & Industrializing Food Production
8. Redefining Local
9. Degrading Organic
10. Spreading Poverty

For more details, read more in our fact sheet: Top 10 Ways Walmart Fails on Sustainability.

For further reading: 

Walmart’s Greenwash: How the company’s much-publicized sustainability campaign falls short, while its relentless growth devastates the environment.

Institute for Local Self-Reliance, March 2012

Why Walmart Can’t Fix the Food System

Food & Water Watch, February 2012