Retailers’ Ethics Respond to Consumer Outcry

Activists and consumers are successfully pressuring retailers to improve their earth-friendly practices by targeting their supply chains. McDonald's Europe provided a recent example when it helped persuade international agribusiness giants to stop buying soybeans from newly deforested tracts in protected regions of the Amazon. Wal-Mart is urging its hundreds of suppliers to combat global warming by turning to alternative energy sources and using less energy. And Tiffany & Co. has been calling on gold miners to end waste dumping in pristine lakes and adhere to international labor standards.

Computer recycling took a step in the right direction in recent years when customers got Hewlett Packard, Apple and Dell to begin taking back used computers, printers and other hardware. The ultimate goal is convincing the chemical industry to furnish more sustainable materials. And shoppers’ moves to protect endangered forests by buying recycled paper and avoiding paper products sold by Staples and Office Depot earlier prompted these goliaths to begin demanding stronger forest conservation practices by their suppliers.

Consumers can keep the ball rolling by logging onto these companies’ websites and sending emails to say "Thank you" for demanding higher standards from suppliers. "The internal champions of that change need those kinds of emails to reinforce their stand against the more bottom-line champions who don’t want to make those changes," says Michael Marx, director of Business Ethics Network. This non-governmental organization works to bring corporations back to their original purpose of serving the common good....Watch for more to come.

Source: The Christian Science Monitor