Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear

I recently claimed that the funds committed to social good by businesses may be larger than those committed by philanthropy – institutional and individual. In an article ("Code Green," by Amanda Griscom Little) on Wal-Mart’s eco-commitments in the December issue of Outside Magazine, a found these tidbit to further my hypothesis:
• The company has committed $500 million ANNUALLY to meeting the company’s eco goals (described by the head of Greenpeace USA as “remarkable…hopeful, even if they’re just goals at this point.” Wal-Mart is getting help from Adam Werbach, former Sierra Club President, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the folks at Conservation International)
• Wal-Mart has started a program to help its suppliers cut packaging, waste, and fuel use. The five-year effort is pegged to save $3.4 billion over five years.
• Those are big dollar figures. Certainly more than environmental funders spend each year and – I’d guess, more than the cumulative budgets of most environmental organizations around the globe.

So, doesn’t someone want to help us figure out the rest of the revenue map?

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