Costco makes the environment a priority

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://thepacker.com/icms/_dtaa2/content/wrapper.asp?alink=2008-133556-494.asp&stype=topnews&fb=

Costco makes the environment a priority

By Brian Frederick

(Feb. 7) Costco Wholesale Corporation’s mission has always been clear — buy large quantities of goods from the manufacturer and pass the savings on to club members.

But now the Issaqua, Wash.-based wholesale giant is focused on sustainability and environmentalism.

Intent on reducing its carbon footprint and cutting energy consumption, Costco is installing skylights and solar panels at warehouse club locations in Hawaii and California.

“Financially, it makes sense and it’s a good thing for the environment,” said Craig Peal, assistant vice president for energy and building controls. “We’ve tracked their (the solar power systems’) performance and they’re right on track — exactly what we expected.”

...

[nightrider767]

1. Environmental Hero's!!! Costco!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. I've never been to one

I understand however, that (unlike Wal~Mart for example) they treat their employees reasonably well, because it make good business sense to do so. It doesn't surprise me that they might also treat the environment well (especially if they can cut costs at the same time.)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/166680_costco29.html
http://www.laborresearch.org/print.php?id=391
http://www.slate.com/id/2104988/

[bananas]

4. Yup - costco are great.

edit to add: lots of DUers love costco: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ademocraticunderground.com+costco

[NNadir]

3. Yeah, they're going take parking lots and put up a paradise.

If they want to Greenwash themselves they ought to just hire Amory Lovins.

But then they'd have to outbid Walmart.

[nightrider767]

5. Here's my follow up to the "giggly guys"

Any big retailer is a disaster to the environment. Here's a store that's stuffed to the gills with Chinese goods. Now they all look fairly innocent on the shelves, but make no mistake about it, in the process of making products as cheaply as possible, environmental concerns go out the door. Dangerous chemicals are dumped into the earth, and dangerous gases are released into the atmosphere, all in the name of providing new wealth to the Chinese aristocracy.

Not to mention the human toll, where Chinese workers in the deeper regions are practically slave labor.

Oh yeah,, let's be fair, I'm not only going to only implicate the drug dealer, I'll also point my finger at the "user". In this case that is us.

It's a crappy system, but for Costco to try to come out and white-wash themselves with some bullshit environmentally friendly, phony candy wrapping makes me want to puke.

Helping the environment in a real way is going to take sacrifice, not bull crap.

[bananas]

6. How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco.html?pagewanted=all

<snip>

But not everyone is happy with Costco's business strategy. Some Wall Street analysts assert that Mr. Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costco's customers but to its workers as well.

Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder."

Mr. Sinegal begs to differ. He rejects Wall Street's assumption that to succeed in discount retailing, companies must pay poorly and skimp on benefits, or must ratchet up prices to meet Wall Street's profit demands.

<snip>

[nightrider767]

7. Well thank you for that!

I do tip my hat to that information.

I especially like the theme of Wallstreet being unhappy.

Those scumbag!

I trade stocks and have to listen to their idiotic themes on a daily basis on CNBC.

Cheers.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Check out the links I provided in my earlier post

As we were watching a debate, John Edwards mentioned Costco favorably, and m'Lady scoffed. (We have none in our area.) I said, "No, I've heard good things about them from a labor standpoint." and did some research.


When it comes to having Chinese made goods on their shelves, boy, I'd like to condemn them, but I try real hard to find domestically made items in all sorts of stores, and it's hard! Wal~Mart has explicitly sent their suppliers to China.

Check out the videos here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/