What is Digg?Sponsored by Activision
Band Hero view!
guitarhero.com - The biggest event music event of the year is now in your living room.
173 Comments
- diggit83, on 11/21/2008, -7/+45(E) Overstepping their goddamn boundaries
- robEstyles, on 11/21/2008, -2/+28Buried for misleading headline. It's OPTIONAL not mandated.
- DesertSquirrel, on 11/21/2008, -0/+23Did anyone actually read the article before commenting? There's nothing really all that damning in it. It just says that Wal-Mart is encouraging their employees to do a bunch of "green" stuff. There's plenty of things to get upset at Wal-mart for; this isn't one of those things.
- BrandonEagan, on 11/21/2008, -3/+19How would they change themselves to show they actually give a damn about the environment? I mean, other than running one of the cleanest, most fuel-efficient trucking fleets in the entire world; using super-efficient lighting, HVAC, and refrigeration equipment and all of their stores; experimenting with super-advanced eco technology at "green" stores; being the world's number one seller of organic products, purchasing its seafood from sustainable fisheries; conducting "energy" audits at all of their stores to reduce waste; single-handedly pressuring most of the world's major manufacturers to reduce packaging and transportation waste; and encouraging their customers and employees to be green?
Oh, WAIT, Wal-Mart can't start doing any of this... because these are ALL things that Wal-Mart ALREADY does and has been doing for a long time. But I guess you just don't know about that because WMT cares more about actually doing these things than making a big deal out of it--because WMT isn't looking to "greenwash" (like, say, Whole Foods), it's looking to actually make a difference. And it is making a huge positive difference.
It never ceases to amaze me how cynics and critics will COMPLAIN when an organization tries to do something POSITIVE for the world. SO WHAT if by doing good for the world, they also do good for themselves. That's how the world is supposed to work. When someone does something good, the response should be "attaboy, keep it up, great job, let's see more of that." It shouldn't be "Pff... I'd rather they build smokestacks so I can hate them with greater ease." - stevensj2, on 11/21/2008, -2/+17I really think I am going to invest stock in companies which produce green paint and other printing materials in similar hues.
The advertisement surplus which has resulted from the "green" bandwagon is obnoxious, with every known company is falling all over themselves trying to be "greener" than their neighbors.
It's like the Web 2.0 fad, only this time it is on the internet AND the real world. - MorganMghee, on 11/21/2008, -12/+25It's creepy, it's hypocrisy, and I still want to see an air quality test result from inside the stores.
- firefly2271, on 11/21/2008, -5/+16heart's in the right place but forcing it on someone's life outside work is wrong.
- ironhide, on 11/21/2008, -3/+13Just from personal experience - working for Wal-Mart was the worst year of my life.
- Vandon, on 11/21/2008, -2/+11wait, wait, wait....What the F**K????
If a local government MANDATES that you recycle, it gets cheered and applauded?
But if a business ASKS its employees to recycle, it's hypocrisy and evilness???
Are you dumbass people that retarded that the instant you hear Wal-Mart, the idea MUST be bad and evil? - dxprog, on 11/21/2008, -2/+11I remember when they started this initiative back when I was working there over a year ago. They never did explain what it was all about (at least when I was there). But, then again, Wal-Mart never really explained anything to me.
- BrandonEagan, on 11/21/2008, -0/+8Already done. And I've read other books with an anti-Walmart slant, and books that have a pro-Walmart slant, and looked at the facts myself.... Maybe you should try doing that. You can't just buy into whatever some hipster trying to hit the bestseller list tells you...
- adkenc, on 11/21/2008, -0/+7If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
- plainOldFool, on 11/21/2008, -1/+8Wal-Marx... cute. Remember that this is the same Wal-Mart, that while ranked #1 on the Fortune 500, they are also ranked at #339 on the same list for profit margins. They only made 3.4% profit. Compare that to Apple's 14.6% (ranked #58th in profit margin).
- inactive, on 11/21/2008, -8/+15I've been boycotting Wal-Mart for years.
This is just another great reason to support local businesses. - imasuperDOTcom, on 11/21/2008, -4/+10You know, it's not surprising big corporations are turning towards "green" agendas. And there is nothing wrong with it either.
But for a lot of corporations, and a lot of people, embracing "green" is simply an economically sound thing to do. You don't have to be a tree hugger to green - there are finanical benefits that large corporations just shouldn't ignore - and it looks like Wal-Mart is smart enough to know that. - Noliaboy75, on 11/21/2008, -10/+16I have a strange feeling that digg users will still find a way to bash wal-mart, even though they are doing the very thing that posters cry about "Big companies" not doing, trying to help out the environment.
I highly doubt the sierra club guy has bad intentions - inactive, on 11/21/2008, -5/+11Walmart can do whatever they want. The employees can quit. This isn't big brother.
It IS however, ***** hilarious that a company making it's living off of China is shoving "going green" down it's employees throats. - azhura, on 11/21/2008, -2/+8I agree with you since the article stated that they are often asked to do these green projects off the clock and without pay while they reap the benefits.
"For Wal-Mart itself, the psps also mean big savings."
If they are going to save money from these green projects, while not use the PSP as paid bonuses or something? I probably wouldn't care if it were any other company, but Walmart is notorious for unpaying its workers and stripping their benefits while the CEOs live fat on the hog. They SHOULD get paid for any extra work spent that helps save that company money!! - inactive, on 11/21/2008, -3/+9Wal-Mart doesn't pay enough to make demands of the employees outside of the workplace. I worked there in college and I was pissed I had to buy khaki pants with part of my $6.25 an hour. Considering they only gave me about 32 hours a week as a "full time" employee, I would not take any ***** from them and was looking for an excuse to quit every single day I was there
- BrandonEagan, on 11/21/2008, -2/+8Why is he getting buried for speaking the truth?
Wal-Mart is doing something RIGHT, they are doing something POSITIVE. The retail industry isn't going to go away, so we should be hoping to get companies to do good. This article describes a lot of really positive things. I know Digg users tend to hate Wal-Mart, but give them their due when they due something right. You don't have to be *completely* irrational in your hatred.
Besides, if a company gets criticized everytime it does something good.... what incentive does it have to do anything good? - solistus, on 11/21/2008, -5/+10Don't feed the trolls, folks.
- monoa, on 11/21/2008, -0/+5It's evident that, as usual, most commenters did not read the article.
> ...all Wal-Mart employees in the US have been asked to take a simple, concrete step to benefit their health, their local community, or the earth.
Note: they were *asked* to make a small change, at work or home that helps their environment. Not 'mandated', not 'forced', not 'coerced'. 45% of employees joined in - voluntarily. End of story.
As usual, the Digg mob have managed to spin this in to some attack on their personal freedom. Never let the facts get in the way of a good Libertarian tinfoil hat rant, eh? - BrandonEagan, on 11/21/2008, -2/+7Quiet! The anti-Walmart zombies don't want to hear facts, figures, and truth that might call their worldview into question! They've based their whole self-worth on hating a company that has a better environmental, social, and labor track record than the "good" companies they shop at. Things like the truth might cause their brains to self destruct.
- satyr9us, on 11/21/2008, -0/+5God forbid that the world's largest retailer would use its perch to actually do anything about the slave labor sweatshops dumping rivers of pollutants into the Chinese landscape... to produce cheap plastic crap... to be barged halfway around the world and marketed to poor people whose towns have been destroyed by the store's existence.
Nah... just tell your employees to give up smoking. How courageous! - GoneGreen, on 11/21/2008, -0/+5You fools have got to be retarded. Let us not talk about the Billions of dollars the US pays annually to provide their under paid workers free health care.... lets not talk about how many mom and pop stores they have put out of business. Lets not talk about how they force their employees into working overtime without pay. Lets not talk about how they fly in attorneys everytime a Wal-Marx store tries to unionize... and please let's not talk about all of the American entreprenuers wal-marx has nickled and dimed or discontinued forcing them into bankruptcy. Or how about the plastic ***** they import from our communist friends in China... You ***** people are the problem not the solution... so shut the ***** up!
- inactive, on 11/21/2008, -2/+7greenwashing for sure. creepy or innovative? eh not really, i doubt they actually give a ***** what their employees do as long as the can make a press release and put it in their ads.
- brjndr, on 11/21/2008, -3/+8The headline is wrong, this program is not mandatory. I may not like some of their other practices, but I can get behind suggesting sustainability and recycling to your employees.
- BrandonEagan, on 11/21/2008, -0/+41. Why are you boycotting Walmart?
2. Have you done the research necessary to be sure that wherever you do shop isn't even worse than Walmart in those respects?
I've found many people boycott Walmart because the "greedy" company makes "huge profits" while paying its employees "nothing" and getting "crappy products from China." But then, it turns out, they shop at a store that has greenwashed marketing, but has a higher profit margin, lower employee wages and benefits, and sells the same products from the same manufacturers.... - inactive, on 11/21/2008, -0/+4FTA: "This is, after all, the same company that held mandatory meetings for managers and department heads this summer, warning that Democratic victories would hurt its business by bolstering unions."
Isn't it illegal for a company to directly influence their employee's votes? - inactive, on 11/21/2008, -0/+4Just ignore him, NoLibs. The guy actually types that with a straight face, after driving to the grocery store using the publicly funded road, buying food that was ensured to be safe by a federal watchdog agency, only to make a meal using city provided water.
- bandoni, on 11/21/2008, -2/+6technically this is working off the clock a BIG no no according to wal-mart workplace policy. plus they had a class action lawsuit against them for associates working off the clock. they don't put a gun to your head, or tell you to recycle or lose your job. All they do is to educate and promote sustainability, nothing wrong with that. article buried for making mountains out of mole hills.
- ruarctb, on 11/21/2008, -0/+4I'm a Wal-Mart associate. They don't make the PSPs manditory. Its just something they encourage their associates to do. Wal-Mart is the world's largest private employer, and I think they realize if they can get even half their associates to live in a more "green" and/or healthier manner, it would make a large difference.
I don't think its a bad thing for any employer to encourage their employees to live in a healthier or more environmentally sound way. - Sornos, on 11/21/2008, -2/+6Well to be fair and libertarian, as most diggers deem to be the highest form of morality, Wal-Mart can do what ever the ***** they want. They could request you to ***** in a hat and wear it before you shop. There'd be nothing at all wrong with that since you choose whether you shop or work there. It's not like they hold you hostage. And don't give me any of that "Well they hold you hostage by out competing the little guys!" crap.
- monoa, on 11/21/2008, -0/+4'Forcing'? Did you read the article:
> ...all Wal-Mart employees in the US have been asked to take a simple, concrete step to benefit their health, their local community, or the earth.
45% of employees have joined in - voluntarily. - inactive, on 11/21/2008, -2/+6The election is over. Get a life.
- cubicledrone, on 11/21/2008, -7/+11Does this mandate apply to the factories in China that are soaking the land in poison? Does it apply to the millions of Americans who lost their jobs because Wal-Mart put their employers out of business?
- spyd3rweb, on 11/21/2008, -2/+5Its probably full of lead from all their Chinese products.
- BrandonEagan, on 11/21/2008, -2/+5What's wrong with doing well by doing good?
- bratterscain, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3Cheap products at the expense of its employees' pay and at the expense of the mom and pop stores and its employees' pay. Also at the expense of the factory workers involved to make the products. Need I go on? For every good, there is a bad. Let's not forget that.
- AriaStar, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3Especially since everyone knows green living costs more and WalMart pays *****. I don't see WalMart giving raises to help employees comply with this.
Bet you anything WalMart thought they'd ge good publicity for claiming to be and encourage green, but really they're looking like a bunch of dictating ***** more than usual. - steve693, on 11/21/2008, -1/+4So the ***** what? If being environmentally friendly allows Wal-Mart to become a more efficiently run business, which is turn passes savings on to the consumer, what's the problem? We pay less, the environment is better off, everyone wins.
Or do neo-liberals only support environmentally friendly practice if it's imposed by the iron fist of federal government? As far as I can tell their PSP program is entirely voluntary. . . - PecanHead, on 11/21/2008, -1/+4You know what. Every time I go to a local business, they:
a) Don't have what I need.
b) Charge 20% more than Amazon or Walmart.
c) Are staffed by people that don't know what they're doing (like Walmart).
I have yet to figure out what the hell I'm going to miss about these local businesses that Walmart is supposedly supplanting. - smacksaw, on 11/21/2008, -2/+5You hear a lot of talk about "green jobs" these days. I've always thought there'd be people who dug up landfills and dumpster-dived as real jobs, eventually. Looks like Wal-Mart is there.
- JerichoKS, on 11/21/2008, -1/+4Walmart also tells you how to vote. At least their Black Friday ad is good though. :)
- NoLibertarians, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3Barac, you didn't lose it..How many of the services government provides for you could you do economically
- inactive, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3"I believe."
You believe wrongly. Take the time to go to your local Walmart and ask. Unless you live in Santa Barbara or New England or whatever. - stevensj2, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3Ever hear of 28 0 47 0?
C+Y = Green. - inactive, on 11/21/2008, -1/+4Buried as inaccurate as anyone who actually reads the article (and understands it I suppose) would do.
- and303, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3None of this is mandatory, so buried as inaccurate.
Wal-Mart could donate all profits to charity and Digg would still find a way to turn it into a negative thing. - GoneGreen, on 11/21/2008, -10/+13Follow the money.... Going green can save Wal-Marx billions. I ***** hate that company!!!
-
Show 51 - 100 of 176 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is