The “greening of America” is on, and some major mainstream corporations continue to lead. While The Home Depot declared a full-time dedicated staff to environmental issues way back in 1990, their actions continue to prove their sustained interest.
From producing progressive consumer education programs to their ultra generous corporate contributions, it seems every time I turn around, The Home Depot is sponsoring sustainable building initiatives. In addition, they announced back in August that “products that meet the criteria will be tagged Eco Options to make them easier to find.” While this past years onslaught of mega-stores providing “green” options has no doubt acted as an incentive for this product attention, the positive outcomes continue to be the real story.
I know that without The Home Depot’s involvement, our local Habitat for Humanity would be unable to accomplish much of their work. The continued efforts and huge contributions of the orange DIY store makes me reconsider going anywhere else for my home improvement needs.
(This, by the way, is much more than any ad campaign would hope to accomplish. Although, their You Can Do It, We Can Help tagline IS excellent.
Charles says
Home Depot has consistently been one of the largest retail contributors to the Republican party (see opensecrets.org) during election years. During the Clinton administration they were giving more than 80% of contributions to Republicans. Their last CEO, Bob Nardelli, was one of George Bush’s largest single contributors – almost as much as Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron.
Home Depot is only reacting to what the market wants – which is “good business” (like Wal-Mart?) – but don’t be fooled into thinking they’re doing it out of the goodness of their “heart” (if they have one). They consistently have worked behind the scenes to support a Republican administration hell bent on denying man’s cause of Global Warming and any sort of regulation of the energy sector or businesses in general.
dB says
don’t be fooled into thinking they’re doing it out of the goodness of their “heart”
The best reason for corporations to go green has everything to do with it being the right business decision. As more and more companies come to this realization, from a cost/benefit analysis, rather than from a PR perspective, then we’ll be getting somewhere.
Green isn’t about politics, it’s much bigger than that. It’s about life on this planet and our need to find balance, so we don’t needlessly destroy ourselves and thousands of other species. It’s about transcending stupidity.
If companies can make money from cleaning up their business practices, I’m all for it. Especially since transcending stupidity is a much tougher sell than the desire to make money.