Comments on: Retailers adopting renewable energy

Wal-Mart is among a growing number of big-box brands pushing to power stores with solar and wind energy.

[OregonFirewalls]

Don't forget the thousands of small business such as mine that have also determined to convert to greener initiatives. For example, my company deals in electronic software delivery over the internet wherever possible. All of our gas is biogas. All of our electricity derived from wind, solar, and biogas sources. The hardware we sell and service is designed with minimal or better yet, no moving parts. It also is designed to perform multiple functions of previous equipment, so our customers have to purchase only 1 unit vs. 3, 4, 5 units in the past. Being Green isn't hard. The savings are substantial. So, in closing please choose to do business with companies that are local to you, that are conscientious of their decisions to support sustainability and practice effective methods such as the ones we have chosen. Thank you.

[RideMan]

I don't see any mention of the non-photovoltaic solar energy that some stores (Wal-Mart in particular, but I have seen it in a few other big boxes) have turned to: skylights make it possible to turn most of the overhead lights off during much of the day. Not quite as cool as PV's, and not really generating any power, but any energy not used is as good as generated, right?

[mahurshi]

This is a very good move.

Now, I'd like to see big stores like Walmart, Target, etc give out free grocery bags to customers and encourage them to bring the bags the next time around (for "goodie points" or whatever) instead of using plastic/paper bags. These kinds of things have a potential of going a long way. ;-)

Mahurshi Akilla

[Tierrapath]

This report is encouraging - retailers need to take more of a leadership position in the move toward managing our resources more effectively. We are looking to help reduce carbon emissions through promoting the usage of better building products. We are also looking for ideas on products that make a difference and the public would like to see us carry. I invite you and your community to weigh in.

Regards,

Brian Townsend
Tierrapath.com

Building products for a green world