Sustainability

Walmart and Sam’s Club are scheduled to hold the 8th Annual Sustainable Packaging Exposition next week at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, Ar.

BOSTON & ORRVILLE, Ohio — A collaboration between Life is good Company and J.M. Smucker Company will bring a line of coffee products to retail shelves throughout North America.

MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills has released its 2013 Global Responsibility Report, which outlines the company's progress and commitments in the areas of health, environment, sourcing, workplace and community engagement. 

When describing Destiny USA – the 2.4 million-sq.-ft. dining, entertainment, shopping and outlet megaplex in Syracuse, N.Y. – it’s a toss-up whether to emphasize the offerings and amenities, or highlight the project’s own brand of environmental consciousness.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Global appliance leader Whirlpool Corporation has launched a line of smart appliances with 6th Sense Live technology. 

The company’s flagship Whirlpool brand is making smart home management a reality in the Chicagoland area with the release of a suite of smart appliances along with a free mysmartappliances app, which is already available in the iTunes app store.

Walmart and other retailers are facing renewed criticism over their global sourcing practices following another factory disaster in Bangladesh.

Reuters is reporting that a block of garment factories and shops collapsed in Savar, 20 miles outside Dhaka, on Wednesday, killing 251 people and injuring more than a thousand. According to the report, an unknown number of the more than 3,000 people who work at the factory remain trapped inside. For more information, go to:

EMERYVILLE, Calif. — Clif Bar & Company has promoted president and COO Kevin Cleary to CEO. In his new role, Cleary will focus on expanding Clif Bar’s growth in the sports nutrition and healthy snacks category while continuing to lead the company’s day-to-day business operations. 

Owners Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford will continue as co-chairs of Clif Bar & Company’s board of directors and become co-chief visionary officers guiding the company’s Five Aspirations business model.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores released its 2012 corporate social responsibility report, providing updates on the company’s programs and accomplishments in sustainability, community relations and social compliance. The company noted that, as of the end of fiscal 2012, it has achieved 752 Energy Star-certified locations, adding 75 stores in 2012 with a goal to reach 800 certified locations by 2015.

In other sustainability highlights, at the end of fiscal 2012:

Starbucks Coffee Company's  two-level store at the corner of Chicago's Oak and Rush Streets has a distinct Chicago feel, and reinforces the company's recycled, reclaimed and reused materials philosophy and coffee origins theme. The walls are lined with reclaimed local brick; salvaged wood from disused boxcars clads walls, ceilings and fixtures. A floor-to-ceiling diagram of the world’s coffee-growing regions, done by a local artist, is featured downstairs.

Bentonville, Ark. -- For the first time in the retailer’s history, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said that, through Walmart and the Walmart Foundation, it has given more than $1 billion in cash and in-kind contributions.

The Monday announcement makes Walmart the first U.S. retailer to achieve the $1 billion in giving mark, up from $872.7 million last year. The growth in global giving was largely due to increased in-kind donations in the U.S. to local food banks and families impacted by disasters.